You're saying Obama should hire people who actually have knowledge and could actually accomplish things?

That's strange. After the last 8 years I thought that only people who were either unqualified or who actively opposed their agencies mission were in the running.

Competence, what a concept.

Yeah, let's hire some guy that has only judged a horse show to run FEMA. That can't possibly be damaging to the nation as a whole, can it?

progressivebulldog:

You're saying Obama should hire people who actually have knowledge and could actually accomplish things?

That's strange. After the last 8 years I thought that only people who were either unqualified or who actively opposed their agencies mission were in the running.

Competence, what a concept.

Let's shutter the partisan blinds for a moment and take a look at Bush's initial cabinet, shall we?

His initial cabinet consisted for folks like Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul O'Neill. These are not 'amateurs' by any stretch of the imagination, no matter how much you might disagree with them on matters of policy.

Powell was just used because he had the credibility to help sell the Iraq war and was ignored by the administration on everything else. From day one, Rumsfeld tried to run foreign policy from the Defense Department and Cheney continued to undermine Powell at every turn. It was clear that the Bush administration regarded Powell as little more than a "face" with no real authority.

Likewise, O'Neill was ignored and undermined by Bush at virtually every turn. He was one of the first of Bush's cabinet to resign once he realized what an idiot he was working for. Like Powell, he may have had the expertise to do his job, but he never got the chance to actually do it.

Rumsfeld: I'll grant you that he had both the resume and the support for his job, but no one today will argue in favor of him actually being good at it.

So, while a few of Bush's appointees may have had the qualifications, it was clear from day one that Bush preferred yes men over competent leaders. If you're weren't willing to help Bush create his own reality, you're weren't part of the inner circle. And if you weren't in the inner circle, then it didn't matter how smart or qualified you were, you weren't going to be able to actually do your job.