All the King's Men Want a Slice of Pie

[J.K. Gregg]

I'd dish out the assignments based on the merit of the individual, their skill, and the demands of the post. If an ambassadorship didn't require much effort, I'd put a newbie diplomat in there to gain experience or something.

I wouldn't put the editor of Vogue magazine.

[Precocity]

Quid pro quo. Politics lives in it.

[eynon81]

[J.K. Gregg]

[The Comrade]

[The dane]

This is what you get when your political system is based on legalized bribery.

[eynon81]

[Professor]

It's not as bad as all that. All political appointees need to have some proficiency in their field. However, a very important qualification is to have the trust of the man appointing you. A person may well be extremely qualified for a spot. But, if the President doesn't know them and trust them, then there is no way that he'll listen to them and entrust America to their opinion.

After all, that's what is happening. You think that President Obama (or any President) knows more about some specific field than the Secretary of that department? It happens, but they certainly don't know more about ALL the departments than ALL the Secretaries. So, at some point, a Secretary says, "Mr. President, this is what needs to happen." And, the President responds, "Well, if that's what you think is best." If a President doesn't have a long relationship with that person, then he'll never say that.

Please, view this with a bit of pragmatism and common sense. I'm not saying that the President's aunt, whom he's known his whole life and trusts, should be made Secretary of State. What I'm saying is that the person who gets the job is usually the one with the best combination of area-specific knowledge PLUS trust.

[The dane]

[Davethulhu]