Hillary at State. Gates at Defense. Holder at Justice. Jones at the NSC. Important stuff, right? Yes. But let’s not overlook the fact that — you know, I’m just going to quote my new Washington Independent piece:

…all the focus on who will sit in Obama’s cabinet overlooks a basic fact of governance. Much, if not most, of the actual substance of policy — from its detailed conception to its experimentation to its implementation — doesn’t come from the heads of the federal agencies. It comes from deep in their guts.

 To wit, I take you on a journey through those guts. We’ll look at five critical posts: Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel; Ambassador to Iraq; Undersecretary of Defense for Policy; Middle East Director at the National Security Council; and my personal favorite, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, Low-Intensity Conflict and Interdependent Capabilities. Join us, won’t you? OK, great, while you read that, I’m late to do Crappy Hour.