Cronyism

A good, short piece from The New Republic connecting the Katrina disaster to conservativism and cronyism. Here is an excerpt:

The implication from Dowd and Sullivan is that, while cronyism is a constant feature of presidential politics--both cite Bill Clinton specifically--Bush has practiced a particularly egregious version. Krugman blames the pervasiveness of cronyism in the Bush administration on its lack of intellectual seriousness. But all of this may be a little too hard on Bush, if such a thing is possible. The problem may have less to do with the current president than with conservatism itself.

I think this article has something to it. Top level career public servants are vital to passing on lessons learned in the decades preceding and they allow for a certain amount of stability. I think events like Katrina, and both parties are to blame, are caused by politics over policy. Something that is so prevalent in the Bush Administration.....unfortunately.