A friend said she heard it on the news. Can it be confirmed?

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), July 30, 1999

Answers

This would settle things, now wouldn't it. Did anybody else listen to that testimony yesterday? Notice how nervous that chubby guy was?

-- Tim Castleman (aztc@earthlink.net), July 30, 1999.

No freakin' way.

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), July 30, 1999.

I'd be very surprised. Are you saying that Clinton doesn't know how to pick a goat?

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), July 30, 1999.

Sure, probably effective in 2000 after the rollover or after the lynching.

-- daryl (rushmore@dailypost.com), July 30, 1999.

After trying to find something in the news to confirm that Koskinen resigned (there was nothing), I called my friend back to get more details. She said she watched C Span yesterday and Koskinen gave the impression he would be resigning to pursue other interests.

Since I did not see the Senate Hearings which she was watching I don't know if he is resiging or not. If he does, what would it mean?

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), July 30, 1999.

Daryl, can one resign after being LYNCHED ????

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), July 30, 1999.

Read FM's notes. Kosky has not resigned. We should be so lucky.

-- bump of adrenaline (not@to.be), July 30, 1999.

FWIW, in a post such as this, it might be good to include a question mark in the topic.

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), July 30, 1999.

SEVERAL question marks.

R.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), July 30, 1999.

Ray, yes. After being lynched one can resign to a restful state in a box or someones garden. Or, if Clinton tries to run again in 2000, one could resign to become a voter or campaign contributor, as the dead do with Clinton (and in Chicago).

-- daryl (rushmore@dailypost.com), July 30, 1999.

I asked this question about 10 months ago and I'll do it again now...

Instead of submitting a sophomoric slam at Mr. Koskinen (who didn't ask for the job), tell us what you would do differently. And why don't you follow it up with a letter or email to him when you're finished? Wouldn't that be the responsible thing to do as a citizen or resident?

And why didn't you apply for the job? Please include your qualifications and experience with your recommendations so we can evaluate your credibility. There's no reason to post this anonymously - unless you're embarrassed to see your words above your name...

I must be crazy. What in the world was I thinking? Responsible people taking responsibility for their actions and words? That's too hard. Throwing out anonymous cheap shots from the cheap seats is much easier. I don't think any of the signers of the Declaration of Independence used an anonymous handle? But they were different. They were human beings. Anonymous ankle biters are nobody. They don't exist. They are the problem.

Well, I probably killed this thread.

-- PNG (Peter Gauthier) (png@gol.com), July 30, 1999.

LINDA A..

This is a perfect example of why we get so much sardonic response from the Polly side of the Y2K issues. A friend of yours tell you that after watching Mr. Kosinen on C-Span that he sounded like he was leaving his position. You rush to the forum and post your KOSINEN RESIGNS thread, based on WHAT? This is irresponsible at best and just plain stupid on your part. Think it through!

-- For (your@info.com), July 30, 1999.

It's funny to me how people rail against Koskinen and the government, share fears of a big power grab underway in DC and then complain that the government isn't doing enough to prepare people.

Koskinen is doing his job which is to control perception of what ever disruptions are coming. Nothing is written in stone, it's all seat-of-your-pants speculation right now and the bottom line is that the panic about panic is valid.

Government over-reaction can be more or less as harmful as public over-reaction. The very fact that the tone and content of his recent statements has changed should give everyone more than enough to consider.

The fact that Koskinen along with both the Red Cross and FEMA have asked people to prepare as if Y2k is a winter storm and that is about all they can do right now. What legal means do TPTB have to force people to prepare? What scientific evidence can they offer to show that disruptions will cause what we all speculate about?

Personal responsibility. That's what it boils down to. I'm sending out article after article trying to get my family to become GIs. I send them testimony before the Senate, the GAO, etc. to no avail. The message is out there but the audience is asleep. And, it's evident to me that the message is changing again.

At the beginning of the year Y2k was a high priority on the radar. It suddenly seemed to drop off the screen and confidence seemed to surge. Well, things seem to be shifting again.

I'm no fan of the man but Koskinen is doing his job very well. He's managing the situation and trying to keep anxiety down in both the public and private sector and throughout the world.

Think about what might have happened if the world's programmers decided a few months ago that the situation was hopeless and decided to leave their jobs and bug out? Where would we be?

If Koskinen does resign soon then I think the writing is on the wall and, well, we're toast.

Mike

=============================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), July 30, 1999.

PNG, just so you'll know that you didn't kill the thread:

I believe that Kosky's job has nothing to do with solving y2k. Clinton looked for a goat and, apparently, found someone who was perfectly willing to take on that job. Most of us on this forum would never have gotten past the initial interview for the job because we would have let it slip that we wanted to warn people. "Thank you, we'll be in touch." If you think that Kosky was hired to do something other than herd sheep, then you and I have a fundamental disagreement on that issue.

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), July 30, 1999.

One of the FEW attributes that this Admonistration looks for when hiring is "LOYALTY". No matter what one must remain LOYAL to the cause !!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), July 30, 1999.

I think Mr. Koskinen has a very difficult juggling act of a job. In fact, (like any kind of bureaucratic job) he's bound to piss some people off. I don't know, and would rather not speculate on whether or not he's doing a good job. Too many forces at play here. Time will tell. In the long run, either corporatia will hail him as the guy who kept panic from ruining the economy, and he'll get some nice fat directorships, or the public will revile him for lying about the situation, and he'll go down in history as a scapegoat. He is, afterall, just following orders.

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), July 30, 1999.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0019hm

Yesterday FM posted this thread for a 'Head's Up' about the CSPAN coverage. There is a paragraph in it where Mr. K says he will not be available for a permanent information officer post, that Sally Katzen aready has that position.

My guess is the above was extrapolated into this current thread.

Good point PNG!

-- flora (***@__._), July 30, 1999.

Anyone notice that Koskinen kin of looks like James Watt?

-- Dave (aaa@aaa.com), July 30, 1999.

"just following orders" was determined at Nuremberg trials as not a good enough excuse.

-- h (h@h.h), July 30, 1999.

I wonder if any of the "monitors" of this forum called him to ask what's up..........

-- long week (lisa@go.home), July 30, 1999.

He may have just been refering to the fact that when 2000 arrives that he will be looking for work, not unlike a lot of other people?

-- Army Girl (aGirl@ag.com), August 01, 1999.

There's a newer thread about (the slightly more pessimistic?) John Koskinen at this link:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001AdE

"Koskinen on CNN Headline News"

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), August 01, 1999.