RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Here's one thing that has probably been going on since The Pleistocene, so as much as I disapprove of a lot of what's happened during his administration, in this he's probably no better or worse than any other politician or leader, and the Brownie debacle aside, it's pretty low on the totem pole as far as the items on this list go, and not specifically a Bush issue.

The level of cronyism in Dear Leader's administration is probably no more than in any other. It's just the intensity of incompetence and corruption exhibited by these cronies that is so unprecedented: from Chertoff and "Brownies" ineptness shown during Katrina to Rumsfeld's micromanagement of the military and his flawed architecture of an unecessary War, the resulting spotlight being shone on our presidents hiring practices has led to an exaggerated perception of cronyism....that's all. Welcome to politics.

There's a difference between hiring your friends and cronyism. The distinction lies in competence or ability. Bush puts a very high premium on loyalty, perhaps too high of one. He prefers to feel comfortable with the people around him, rather than employing a more intellectually diverse staff that gives him many different viewpoints. Using devils advocates effectively is a helpful tactic in detecting political potholes early on before they become a problem. FDR, JFK, and Nixon early on all used this with some success. Bush needs more diversity on his cabinet, people who will give him raw, unvarnished advice, but it seems that he's having a hard time processing this need. Reagan in the wake of Iran-Contra acknowledged the need for a staff shake-up and was able to salvage his final term with notable accomplishments, especially in foreign policy. Admittedly, the Iraq situation is a huge weight for Bush, and it's possible that there's no real win-win outcome here. Politically, the best strategy would be to force a political solution and begin a gradual pullout of the troops.

Harriet Miers and Michael Brown in the public conscience are the two primary examples of Bush cronyism. By itself, the charge of cronyism isn't that heavy or damaging, but when you combine it with other major problems like Iraq, then it becomes fuel which adds to the fire.

SAY IT AIN'T SO! He hires his friends? Welcome to reality. I hire my friends, you hire your friends, and politicians hire their friends. Thank you, Captain Obvious!

There's always been cronyism, but Bush seems to have taken it to new heights of blatancy.

Isn't it telling how the defenders of Bush all respond to the issue of Cronyism? "The Dems do it Too!" As if That makes it OK!!!! I say we musy STOP tolerating CORRUPTION! From whom is not the issue! Otherwise,the downward spiral we are on will land us in the position of a fallen empire-like post WWII Germany.Tyrants and Despots MUST BE removed:I don't care WHAT "party" they belong to.

This is politics people - Republican or Democrat - they're all part of the same obnoxious game. What public figure HASN'T practiced cronyism while holding office? My wager is, nobody.

This charge is stupid. The Democrats are the grand champions, in fact they retired the trophy, of cronyism!

You want to talk about cronyism? Lets talk about John Conyers of Michigan using his staff to babysit and housesit for him or lets talk about Chuckie Shumer illegally getting copies of people's credit reports and distributing them. Do I even have to go into the Cintons?

Wow, here's a hot item. Right, he should've followed Bill Clinton's example.

Certainly not great but nothing out of the ordinary.

Cronyism happens with all presidents - just not to the extreme that we've seen with this President. For better or for worse, President Bush seems to value the loyalty of his inner circle over all else - including qualifications to do a job.

Sometimes a strength in an extreme can turn into a weakness.