Bizzy mentions something I've been meaning to highlight as something that irks me about the mainstream media. He quotes Reuters as saying: The Treasury shake-up was the latest in a series of staff changes Bush has made to try to shore up his popularity, starting with the move of Bolten, the former budget director, to the job of chief of staff.To which, he rightly calls BS:
Again, presupposes that personnel moves are all about popularity and not about getting a job done. Totally, absurd. Reuters should simply report the news (but it won’t).Quite right.
Now, what irritates me about this sort of thing is that if the changes in the staff had anything at all to do with the president's popularity, he'd make changes to a position somewhat more visible than Treasury don't you think?
Look, Snow replaced Paul O'Neill (not the former Cincinnati Red and New York Yankee, the other one). That sure wasn't about boosting Bush's popularity as O'Neill went out and wrote a horrible book in the run up to the election.
Nixon had FOUR SecTreas cabinet members. Did it help him any???
Only one guy since Kennedy has had one person man this post. Do you know who it was?
Wait for it...
George Herbert Walker Bush.
He was so popular, he lost to Bill Clinton after "winning" the Persian Gulf War...but his SecTreas sure helped him out...
