Clean house

The resignation of Mike Brown is a rare step in the right direction for the Bush administration. Of course, it came far too late, and tragedy was the result.

Considering that Brown was but one of many loyalists, donors and friends Bush has appointed to key positions in his administration, one wonders what has to happen to get him to rethink the policy of hiring the unqualified.

By not learning the lesson of the dangers of hiring loyalists and friends instead of professionals, by not cleaning house and replacing all of these hangers-on who are still collecting a government paycheck, Bush is setting the stage for not only similarly bungled responses to every ememrgency this country faces between now and that wonderful day in January 2009 when he no longer will be president of this great but damaged nation, but also for needless suffering as avoidable emergencies are not avoided.

Unfortunately, this after-the-fact firing (and let's not kid ourselves, Brown was fired) is something we'll probably see replayed as unqualified appointees inevitably blunder to the detriment of our country. This administration is only proactive when it comes to creating suffering, not alleviating it.

I expect we'll see a continuation of the pattern of bumbling in a moment of crisis, followed by assurances that all is well, blame-shifting to anyone other than the president and, in instances of collosal up-fucking, resignation of the loyalist in question. Bush's inaction guarantees that the federal response to every crisis for the next 3 and a half years will be a day late -- at the soonest.

That, of course, will be followed by profiteering -- what else can we hire Halliburton to do?