Interesting nugget in yesterday's Playbook that I meant to highlight at the time:
SPOTTED: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Arianna Huffington (who has been très critical) enjoying red wine and an off-the-record dinner last night at Central Michel Richard.
That would of course be the same Arianna Huffington who, back in March, dashed off a column entitled "Take the Steering Wheel Out of Geithner's Hands," which included such rhetorical air kisses as:
But the issue isn't Geithner's delivery, it's what he's delivering: an approach to the crisis that is as toxic as the assets that have hamstrung the economy. Geithner, brilliant and hardworking though he is, is trapped within a Wall Street-centric view of the world and seems incapable of escaping. ...
He just can't change who he is: a creature of Wall Street, habitually sympathetic to the people at the top of the financial system, who he clearly thinks were born to run the world.
Geithner's actions throughout his career are proof that the toxic thinking that got us into this mess is part of his DNA.
Etc.
Something tells me it was Geithner who initiated this get-together, which would be consistent with his under-appreciated political savviness over the years.