BUSH'S CROCODILE TEARS AND GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS

Where does Dubya get the names of the people he appoints? From those attending Karl Rove's birthday party and/or from James Dobson's Christmas card list?

The list of Bush appointees who seem to be rising on political connections rather than expertise continues to grow. A recent example is President George W. Bush's choice to head a key State Department office that coordinates the delivery of emergency aid to refugees of foreign wars, persecution and natural disasters.
 
The nominee is Ellen Sauerbrey, the former Maryland state legislator who was state chairman of Bush's 2000 campaign. In 2002, Bush nominated her for another patronage job as the American representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, where she has relentlessly pressed an anti-abortion and anti-family-planning agenda.
 
Sauerbrey has no experience responding to major crises calling for international relief. As assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, she would oversee a vital $700-million-a-year bureau that coordinates with private relief groups and other international players like the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to set up refugee camps and arrange for other crucial assistance. This is a post for an established expert in the field.

Coming immediately upon the heels of the Michael Brown FEMA fiasco, it is clearly a thumb-your-nose gesture on the part of the pResident not to replace Sauerbrey's name with someone with credible experience for this position that bears so directly upon life-and-death matters. I'm tired of hearing what a decent guy the Chimpster is, when he is so cavalier about issues critically affecting the most vulnerable members of our society. So what if the guy gets emotional about dead soldiers and hurricane victims? It's all crocodile tears -- his actions belie his histrionics.