WASHINGTON, D.C. Under fire for assembling a transition team heavily populated with former Clinton administration officials, President-elect Barack Obama today announced that he would appoint the Chi-Lites, a Chicago doo-wop group, to four positions in his cabinet.
The Chi-Lites on their way to Senate confirmation hearing
"I'm tired of people saying I'm just the third Clinton administration," Obama said to reporters as he emerged from a second day of meetings at the White House during which President Bush showed him how to work the stereo system and remote controls to the home entertainment center. "The Chi-Lites have been part of the warp and woof of Chicago since 1959," Obama said, "and at no time have they been in any way associated with Bill Clinton, who plays saxophone like Boots Randolph."
Boots Randolph, not Bill Clinton
Obama's transition team includes John Podesta, Clinton's chief of staff, Carol Browner, Clinton's EPA Administrator, Federico Pena, Clinton's Secretary of Transportation and Energy, and Monica Lewinsky, Secretary of Domestic Affairs.
The Chi-Lites are currently composed of three males--Marshall Thompson, Robert "Squirrel" Lester and Frank Reed--and one female, Tara Thompson. The city of Chicago, with a population of approximately three million, took its name from the group, but the foursome forced the return of the first three letters after paying off sewer and water inspectors on the city's South Side.
Chi-Lites Francis Scott Key
Obama has lived in Chicago since 1991, and is reportedly considering changing the national anthem from Francis Scott Key's best-selling "Star-Spangled Banner" to the Chi-Lites' hit "Oh Girl", which reached the number one spot on both the Billboard Hot 100 and its R&B Singles Chart. "I can think of no other song that has so united black and white Americans," Obama said, "except for maybe the Commodores' 'Brick House'."
Copyright 2008, Con Chapman
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Comments: 7
"but the foursome forced the return of the first three letters" -- man, it's that kind of warped humor that makes me consider flying out to Boston just for a lock of your hair.
If I could do it without setting foot in an airport. Or actually doing anything illegal. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what I'd do with your hair. Best if I just stay here and get my near-daily cackle from a safe distance.