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In The Blog's-Eye: All The Presidents Cronies

If President Bush thought he would hear a chorus of amens from the right side of the blogosphere when he picked Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court, he was sorely mistaken. Instead, he has heard a steady stream of catcalls about cronyism -- an increasingly common complaint from Bush's conservative allies.

Bitter charges of cronyism by Bush first surfaced when word spread that former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown had last headed the International Arabian Horse Association -- and was forced to resign the post. That strange career path went unnoticed until Hurricane Katrina hit, but then Brown's qualifications to be the top emergency manager suddenly seemed relevant.

Conservative bloggers were among those leading the charge against Brown, whom Bush praised in the early days after Katrina. "This is not the time to give a weak performer the benefit of the doubt," Michelle Malkin wrote. "The FEMA director's role in the ongoing recovery effort is too important to be entrusted to a clueless political hack with such poor judgment. Rather than praise Michael Brown, Bush should fire him."

The president ultimately did just that, although Brown technically is still working for FEMA.

Bush apparently did not take the bloggers' complaints about Brown as a broader condemnation of cronyism, though. Soon after Brown was booted from FEMA's top job, Bush picked Julie Myers to head immigration and customs enforcement at the Homeland Security Department. She has little immigration or customs experience but has held various administration posts and most recently served as an assistant to Bush on personnel issues.

In a post headlined "No More Cronyism," Malkin called Myers' selection "a monumental political and policy blunder" and later urged Bush to withdraw the nomination.

The "outrageous Bush cronyism" convinced Rod Dreher of The Corner that neither the administration nor congressional Republicans are serious about enforcing immigration laws. "And I find it impossible to believe that this doesn't matter. A lot," he wrote.

TalkLeft and other liberal blogs also decried Bush's hiring decisions, noting more instances of alleged cronyism, but their protests were to be expected. The real news was the increasing frustration voiced from the right.

Then came Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court today. The current White House counsel has never served as a judge; she apparently has no substantial paper trail that would enable conservatives to vet her record; and perhaps worst of all, she contributed money to Bush's 2000 nemesis, Democrat Al Gore, when Gore sought the presidency in 1988.

The rhetorical dam burst wide open after Bush announced her nomination, and the flood of criticism is thick with conservative voices.

Once again, Malkin is at the forefront. Numerous blogs are quoting her refrain: "What Julie Myers is to the Department of Homeland Security, Harriet Miers is to the Supreme Court." And Mike Krempasky of RedState said bluntly: "Mr. President, you've got some explaining to do. And please remember -- we've been defending you these five years because of this moment."

Right Thinking from the Left Coast eloquently connected the cronyism dots from Brown to Miers. "I'd like to take a moment to coin a new phrase: Brownie moment. A Brownie moment can be defined simply as the moment when a supporter of President Bush is smacked in the head by reality and loses any and all faith in the president from that moment forward. ... This was my Brownie moment," Lee wrote of the Miers nomination.

Democratic blogs like Swing State Project are relishing the conservative outcry, seeing it as proof of their longstanding complaint about Bush. "The storyline of Bush giving key jobs to completely unqualified political hacks is connecting with the American people," Bob Brigham wrote. "By picking people on the basis of loyalty, rather than effectiveness, Bush has set the stage for the Culture of Corruption that engulfs the entire Republican Party."

Posted by | 05:07 PM

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The consensus is established: Bush is a lame duck and the reaction to Harriet Miers is nothing but angst from the Republican base. Because President George Bush is a "Lame Duck" who fears the Democrats more than the loss of his base. Here is the raw po... [Read More]

Tracked on October 4, 2005 12:58 AM

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