In her “60 Minutes” interview, Valerie Jarrett partially reveals the sway and power she possesses in the Obama White House.  The full disclosure of her power must wait for another time, perhaps in a “tell all” book, post Obama administration.  It is clear she is very proud of her effect on the Obama presidency, its decisions, its attitudes, and its resultant force upon Constitutional boundaries and the racial injustices she perceives in America.

In a surprisingly blunt “60 Minutes”  interview, CBS’s ‘This Morning” co-host Norah O’Donnell took Ms. Jarrett to task on several issues.  Much was revealed, much unspoken yet suggested.

Ms. O’Donnell opens,

“Rarely does one person in the White House have the influence that Valerie Jarrett has had. She holds the job title of senior advisor, but she is more than that.” 

Now there is an understatement. Ms O’Donnell continues;

“Jarrett has said she is involved in nearly every decision that is made including who should be Chief of Staff or who should sit on the Supreme Court.” 

It is reasonable to add other considerations such as Attorney General appointments, Iran Nuclear deals, and transgender issues.

Ms. O’Donnell notes that Valerie Jarrett has at least three formal job titles, including senior advisor and best friend.  Jarrett has clashed with Robert Gibbs, Rahm Emanuel, Bill Daley, …”in all five chiefs of staff but only one Valerie Jarrett”  remains.

“She has also made a commitment to push the issues she cares about.”

“She helped write executive actions on gun control and immigration that went around Congress…”  “She is at the center of the administrations efforts to raise the minimum wage around the country and to expand paid parental leave. She has also pushed criminal justice reform.”

Jarrett offers this snippet, a peek inside the two person think tank that is Valerie and Barack.  They share, a world view shaped by childhoods spent abroad.  Obama’s four years in Indonesia and the fact that she was born in Iran and spent five years there.

She says in the interview, “That bond we had from having lived in cultures very different than our own, and how that shaped our view of the world, was a bond we had that day.”

One may conclude that Valerie Jarrett enjoys a unique and intrinsic input into the Obama administration’s policies and actions.  She promotes the issues she cares about, actually authors executive action language that pushes constitutional boundaries, and her views of America are shaded and shaped by her time abroad as are the President’s.  But who is who here, exactly?