Comments Posted By Doug M.
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ANOTHER PERPLEXING BUSH APPOINTMENT
Bonicelli is a biblical literalist.
"And what is Bonicelli's own view? He smiles. 'I am basically persuaded by the young Earth. I believe in six literal days, but I remain open to someone persuading me otherwise.'
But that's neither here nor there.
I'm tolerably familiar with his new job. He's going to be the #3 guy at USAID, which is the major dispenser of US foreign aid and assistance. It has about 4,000 employees and a budget of around 7.6 billion. Bonicelli will be running the Democracy and Governance section, which is USAID's biggest component; it has a budget of about $3 billion.
What's disturbing about this appointment isn't the creationism. That by itself hardly matters. No, the problem here is that Bonicelli has no relevant experience. Basically, he's been a House staffer and academic dean at a small Bible college. Think of it this way: if you were choosing someone to run a $3 billion company in the private sector, would you accept these as valid qualifications?
USAID is no small thing. It's the agency most central to rebuilding US "soft power" around the world. It's not a trivial job, and we should have good people in charge.
Rich is right: this appointment reeks of political correctness (Republican version) and cronyism.
Doug M.
Comment Posted By Doug M. On 30.11.2005 @ 23:23
