At last the glorious day has arrived. He writes:
BETTER CRONYISM, PLEASE. I appreciate the desire to associate the president with the highly successful invasion of Afghanistan, but the notion being floated here that General Tommy Franks would be a good candidate for Gulf Coast Reconstruction Czar (or whatever) doesn't really withstand cursory scrutiny. Running CENTCOM is nothing like running the sort of project that's being envisioned.
Obviously, it would be asking too much to ask George W. Bush to reach outside his circle of political allies to find a competent professional, but really all a president needs to do is think a little about the cronies he has at his disposal. USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios has done disaster relief, has worked in administration, financial management, and urban infrastructure. And that's just off the top of my head; surely the White House has access to some personnel files that could let them find somebody.
But this assumes that the White House's goal here is to find the person who can most efficiently rebuild the Gulf Coast. It isn't. It's to find the person who can best "project strength" and thereby give the public the impression that the White House is spearheading an effective response. Looked at in that way, choosing Tommy Franks makes perfect sense.
