I’m just here to bitch about the outcry, not start a debate so if others start one, don’t blame me.
George W. Bush is going to be our President. He is a Republican and of a conservative mindset. He is in the process of stocking his cabinet and has picked people of different races. He has a couple of blacks, an Asian, a few hispanics, some women, an Arab, and even some white European males. These people for the most part, except for the lone Democract, share his political views.
Now I hear from Democratic pundits and politicians that while the cabinet is ethnically diverse, it’s not politically diverse. Where the fuck have these idiots been? Since when does a President have to stock his cabinet with people he doesn’t agree with? This isn’t a parliament. He’s the President. He can pick whoever he wants to be in his cabinet. I don’t think Dubyah made these picks with race or gender in mind. Most of these picks were people he’d worked with in the past. Powell was an obvious choice. Rice has been his advisor for a few years and worked for his dad. Spence Abraham lost his Senate seat so he needed something to do. Chavez worked for his dad. Why can’t he get credit for picking qualified people who happen to be from different races?
I didn’t hear these people complain about Clinton’s cabinet. Indeed, he was praised for it. His cabinet ‘looked like America’. He picked his cabinet based on race and gender. Clinton had to have a female Attorney General. Our former Gov. Jim Blanchard was told on Christmas day in 1992 that ‘everything is in motion’ for him to get his cabinet post, transportation I think. All of a sudden, something happened with another post so Clinton needed a minority again, so Blanchard was out.
These pundits and politicians didn’t say “Yeah, it’s ethnically diverse, but not politically diverse, and that’s important”. Are they so arrogant that they think anybody who isn’t a liberal is a damn fool and the world will blow it if they aren’t in charge?
I guess diversity only matters to the liberal crowd when the tokens are left wingers. Is it so hard to comprehend that a minority might have conservative views?
I think you’re wrong. Clinton was criticized by Republicans, and even a couple Democrats for being Mr. Affirmative Action when it came to cabinet picks.
I think the slam is justified when it’s obvious that a President is picking people based first and foremost on their race, like W is now and Clinton did at first.
Of course he can pick people with the same political mindset, that’s expected. I think the danger comes from looking at the diversity of the cabinet’s faces and assuming that the President is getting any diversity of opinion.
Clinton set a bad precedent with his cabinet posts, but worst of all was Poppy Bush appointing a grossly underqualified bureaucrat to the Supreme Court just because he was black.
OK, I’ll accept the criticism for picking people on race and gender, I did it to Clinton myself and you can’t really know if Dubyah is doing it now.
But my beef is with the criticism that it’s not politically diverse. I doubt these same critics complained when Clinton’s diverse cabinet didn’t have diversity in opinion.
Lessee…it was a few years ago, and some cabinetmember (Agriculture, maybe?) made some remark about a group having women, hispanics, two blacks, and a jew (I’m sure that’s not the exact quote). Was it Butz?
Seems to me he was asked to find a new position shortly thereafter. Does that mean we can fire Dubyah? Maybe dip into the gene pool and appoint someone other than a Bush or a Gore.
Seems that various ethnic mixtures have been PC for some time. And, there has been criticism of having ethnic mixtures for at least that long. It’s hardly groundbreaking news.
I don’t think you can criticize the Powell and Rice picks and “solely on race”. Both are highly competent professionals…if Powell HADN’T been picked for state we’d be scratching our heads. Powell could have run for president and won, except he doesn’t want the job or any elected position. Sec’y of State is the job he really wants, and he’s very qualified. Realistically, what prominent republican do you think would be a better choice?
However, I accept the characterization of Clarence Thomas. Sure, he’s conservative, but he’s not exactly a bright light on the Supreme Court. “I agree with everything Scalia said”. I would have hoped that someone nominated to the Supreme Court would have their own opinions.
Wasn’t the “A black, two jews, a woman, and a cripple” guy James Watt, Reagan’s Secretary of Interior?
Bush is picking people first and foremost based on race, RTA? I’d say that the “affirmative action” picks in this cabinet are generally white male–the minorities appear to be among the most qualified. BTW, David Broder had a very good column on this in today’s Post.
Melanin content and epicanthinc folds shouldn’t have anything to do with it. Competence is key, and to that end he should bring back some real heavy hitters like B-1 Bob Dornan and Danny Quayle.