December 17, 2004
BIG CABINET SECRETARIES, SMALL-MINDED EMPLOYEES:
Tight Little Cabinet (David S. Broder, December 15, 2004, Washington Post)
President Bush's second-term Cabinet choices pronounce a clear preference for continuity and control. The striking thing about his reshuffle is the priority he has given to familiarity and loyalty over fresh ideas and novel perspectives.
Huh? It can't happen due to the nature of bureaucracies and the disastrous civil service protections the progressives stuck us with, but imagine for a moment that just CIA, State and Education were to have forced upon them the ideas and perspectives of George W. Bush. It would mark the most radical transformation in each departments history. Mr. Broder would appear to be one of those who think bureaucrats should represent the special interests they are supposed to oversee rather than the administration we elect. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 17, 2004 1:58 PM
"The striking thing about his reshuffle is the priority he has given to familiarity and loyalty over fresh ideas and novel perspectives."
Gotta like all those fresh ideas and novel perspectives offered by the WaPost, with Mr. Broder being Exhibit A.
Broder hasn't had a fresh idea since Eisenhower was President. He is the voice of the conventional Washington establishment, a group of people who are definitely not relevant to this Administration.
If the Washington Post had any respect for its readership, Broder would have long since been wheeled out to a dog track and left for dead, or handed a pair of Bermuda shorts, white socks, penny loafers, a sun hat, a metal detector and a one-way ticket to South Florida.
Posted by: Bart at December 17, 2004 5:52 PMMmmm, I'm thinking those would be black socks -- you know, the knee-high kind, with garters. And wingtips. Otherwise you're spot on.
Posted by: joe shropshire at December 17, 2004 11:25 PM