They condemned Russia (without proposing specific punishment). They proclaimed heartfelt support for President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, the congressional darling (without any questioning whether he was culpable in inviting the attacks). And they publicly voiced strong backing for Georgia’s entry into NATO, a possibility that most of these same foreign policy experts acknowledge privately is as likely as a warm winter in Moscow.

“At a time when we really needed penetrating, thoughtful foreign policy analysis about what we should be doing towards Russia, all the people who work on this and wanted to be in the next administration were saying nothing but domestic political posturing,” said George Perkovich, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who makes clear that he is not seeking a job in the next White House. “They were all protecting themselves and positioning themselves for confirmation hearings.”

That’s because everyone here remembers what happened to Strobe Talbott back in 1994, when Mr. Talbott’s nomination to be deputy secretary of state was almost derailed after some congressional critics dug up a few of his writings from his tenure at Time magazine that were critical of Israel. While Democrats will have a majority in the Senate in the coming Obama administration, it will not be difficult for congressional critics to tie up Mr. Obama’s nominations if they see something they don’t like.

So, for now, mum will continue to be the word for the aspirants to the national security team; indeed, a good way to tell that someone is no longer up for a job is that they suddenly start blabbing.

In the meantime, here are lists of possibilities for some of the top national security jobs. Remember, the quieter they are, the better chance they have. And don’t forget this disclaimer  mentioning someone for a top job usually guarantees that they won’t get it.