There is an article in the Washington Post today about Giuliani’s penchance for appointing close allies and friends to top administration posts despite their not being remotely qualified for them. They are qualified only in the sense that they are good friends and supporters of Giuliani. This all sounds just a bit too familiar to me and hopefully to others. Bush has spent his presidency appointing people who, in many ways, are unqualified for the jobs.
Take the former head of FEMA during the Katrina disaster Michael Brown; ‘Brownie’ to his friend the president. The man was originally in charge of horse shows! He was Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association. That is surely plenty of qualification to run the federal disaster relief organisation!
One of Giuliani’s own people, Bernard Kerik, was put forward to be secretary of the Homeland Security Department. Bush supported him wholeheartedly only to later have Kerik remove his name while he faced corruption allegations. By the way, Kerik was apparently originally Giuliani’s chauffeur before becoming New York police commissioner.
The prime example of Giuliani’s cronyism was his appointment of Russell Harding appointed head of the Housing Development Corp whose only qualification was supporting Giuliani’s mayoral campaign. He had no college degree and was later convicted of embezzling $300,000 and sentenced to five years in prison for possessing child pornography. Fantastic credentials there, Rude.
So it appears to me that Giuliani would be a bit too much like Bush for my liking. Appointing supporters is the name of the game but you must also ensure that these supporters are well-qualified to do the jobs they are appointed to do. I’ve previously stated reasons why Giuliani would not be a good president; these are just some additions to the growing list.