Edit, I'm pretty jaded.. So anything good is shocking to me..
Give that this "is the complete opposite of everything else I do. Maybe I'll learn something.", maybe he'll learn that he's doesn't like the ways of Washington vs. the task at hand, in which case it'll be an unforced error.
If he's not able to prevent the board that this panel is advising from publishing chartjunk or worse ... what can he do, especially in the light of the brand he's established? Hard to see how he could avoid explicitly or implicitly telling us the reason(s) he resigned and that they reflect badly on the administration.
He's appointed several RIAA laywers to positions at the Department of Justice.
He picked Janet Napolitano to run Homeland Security. (I'm a 'Zonie of 10 years.)
While he may also be picking some good people, I'm not seeing "best of the best" as any sort of theme.
This also cripples one of the most important positions in the government in a time of economic troubles.
"California's farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday."
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/04/local/me-warming4
So were to believe within 90 years all the farms and vineyards will vanish from California if we do nothing?
That's just headlining grabbing bunk, hardly befitting a "scientist".