# Can the President pick em or what? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 17, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859 "2006-11-17T18:08:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/41 "2006-11-17T22:22:12Z")
Wouldn’t he qualify as an executive officer? That means the president can fire him (likely limited by Congress for good cause, because he’s not head of an EA) or Congress could go ahead and impeach him. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/42 "2006-11-17T23:41:09Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] Didn’t he also nominate a Senator who tried repeatedly to dismantle the Dept of Energy to head. . . the Dept of Energy? [/QUOTE] Eyup.. that would be ol’ Spence Abraham may of us in Michigan sputtered mightily when we heard of his nomination. He was a single term Senator, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/43 "2006-11-18T01:44:54Z")
[QUOTE=Beadalin] [quote] Really, who does he report to? When could he reasonably be fired? > [@](#): > > Hello? Is this thing on? Put it this way: Anyone who has independent authority to fire Keroack without W’s permission is probably someone who reports to, and can be fired by, W. There might be one or two more layers in there but that’s what it comes down to. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/44 "2006-11-18T01:58:02Z")
He reports to Mike Leavitt, head of Health & Human Services. My husband met Leavitt once, and reports he seemed like a pretty decent guy. However, I can’t see the new appointee getting kicked to the curb while the Republicans are still in the White House, unless he is caught with a dead girl or a live boy, as the saying goes. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/45 "2006-11-18T01:58:16Z")
I never liked Bush’s policies. From pandering to right-wing fundamentalists, throwing bones to big oil and finally invading Iraq. I know the guy sounds embarrassing when he tries to express himself, but we must still be objective about this appointment. So birth control is an invention of the devil and all right thinking people must get behind Bush before the terrorists win. It’s not too late to save the world from Godless commie gays who think a woman has rights. No, somehow that argument doesn’t appeal. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/46 "2006-11-18T02:05:50Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] I don’t know if it was postponed so much as [/QUOTE] didn’t care enough to finish typing? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/47 "2006-11-18T02:30:40Z")
[GD thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=396746) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/48 "2006-11-18T03:34:07Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [GD thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=396746) [/QUOTE] When I retire and have a gazillion hours to devote to it, I’m gonna be a GD demon! I wanna know how in the name of any diety that can be named do people find the time to start and maintain a GD thread? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/49 "2006-11-18T03:45:46Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] I wanna know how in the name of any diety that can be named do people find the time to start and maintain a GD thread? [/QUOTE] Who says you have to **maintain** it? Sometimes, it’s like tossing a stinkbomb into a crowded room. Then you just sit back and watch the fun! 🙂 And then sometimes . . . well, there’s more than one **kind** of addiction . . . ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/50 "2006-11-18T04:14:10Z")
Y’all are being to hard on Shrub. He had to appoint somebody, and it’s really not his fault that his first choice has been dead since 1979… > **[Josef Mengele](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mengele)** > > Josef Rudolf Mengele (\[ˈjoːzɛf ˈmɛŋələ\] ⓘ; 16 March 1911 – 7 February 1979) was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) officer and physician during World War II. Nicknamed the "Angel of Death" (German: Todesengel), he performed deadly experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz II (Birkenau) concentration camp, where he was a member of the team of doctors who selected victims to be murdered in the gas chambers,\[a\] and was one of the doctors who administered the gas. > Before the war, Mengele received docto... ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/51 "2006-11-18T04:17:58Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] Think of the worst person to head national family planning. [Did a guy who thinks giving birth control to women is demeaning come to mind?](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111700766.html) [/QUOTE] I thought you libs didn’t want the government in our bedrooms. Why are you railing against this particular appointee, then, instead of against the very existence of a national family planning agency? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/52 "2006-11-18T04:27:09Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Sure, Kerry’s daughter with the transparent blouse was fun This is a terrible thing to say in GD, but…cite? Pics? Inquiring mind wants to know! ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/53 "2006-11-18T04:28:56Z")
Ah, you can always count on **Carol Stream** for some insightful comment in any Pit thread. Anyway, thanks **BrainGlutton**. > [@](#): > > Put it this way: Anyone who has independent authority to fire Keroack without W’s permission is probably someone who reports to, and can be fired by, W. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/54 "2006-11-18T04:30:00Z")
Read 'em and weep, **Captain Carrot** : > **[Alexandra Kerry](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alexandra-kerry/)** > > Does a photograph show Alexandra Kerry in a see-through dress? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/55 "2006-11-18T04:30:27Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] I thought you libs didn’t want the government in our bedrooms. Why are you railing against this particular appointee, then, instead of against the very existence of a national family planning agency? [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: People go that agency for advise and help after the bedroom item. People like this appointee(headed) has decided what is good for all before and after the bedroom item. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/56 "2006-11-18T04:38:55Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] I thought you libs didn’t want the government in our bedrooms. Why are you railing against this particular appointee, then, instead of against the very existence of a national family planning agency? [/QUOTE] 1. Politics is the art of the possible. So long as that agency **exists,** it matters a whole lot who is running it. 2. A family planning agency is not necessarily intrusive upon personal liberty. Whether it is or not depends in large measure on who is running it. 3. News to me **Biggirl** is a libertarian, as distinct from a liberal (you **did** mean libertarian when you typed “lib,” didn’t you?), but I’ll take your word for that unless and until she corrects us. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/57 "2006-11-18T04:59:37Z")
Well, I’ll be dipped! And she seemed like such a level-headed and sensible person, too! Boy, you just never know… ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/58 "2006-11-18T05:00:54Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] I thought you libs didn’t want the government in our bedrooms. Why are you railing against this particular appointee, then, instead of against the very existence of a national family planning agency? [/QUOTE] I don’t get this. I should rail against planned parenthood? Because I’m a lib? What in the bloody blue hell are you talking about? Look **Carol** , I’ve encountered you in other threads I’ve started and, quite frankly, I find you to be-- how shall I put this?-- out of what little fucking mind your God saw fit to give you. What is your point? I’d like to get into a good old fashioned lib vs con argument with you. Really, I would. There would be nothing I’d enjoy more than calling you names and trying to slice your ass into little peices and serving it to you with a side platter of civil liberties. Let me explain to you why I am “railing against this particular appointee”. The head of the national agency in charged of planned parenthood should know at least a little of how regular human beings procreate. Let me explain to you why I am not “railing. . . against the very existance of a national family planning agency”. Because the people of this nation will have families and it is in our best interest as a nation to try to make sure our citizens plan at least a little for this. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/59 "2006-11-18T05:25:20Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] I thought you libs didn’t want the government in our bedrooms. Why are you railing against this particular appointee, then, instead of against the very existence of a national family planning agency? [/QUOTE] You are truly an astonishingly stupid human being. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859/60 "2006-11-18T05:42:47Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] You are truly an astonishingly stupid human being. [/QUOTE] Deliberately and provocatively so, I do believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-the-president-pick-em-or-what/380859.md?page=4)