Generals at the State Department

The President has been filling top appointments with retired military.

Finding people to fill top positions is tough when at that point in an administration when there is deep trouble. People who make good Under Secretaries have to have a serious background in an area to even want the job - and those sorts of highly skilled people are not inclinded to work for a basic amatuer President like Bush, or a hack political like Clinton that can't keep his sex private. Good people know those are loser appointments - by the President, or not.

Ex-Generals and high ranked military officers are easily bored when they retire, and are handy appointments for the President that can't get other candidates to say yes. I know the White House atmosphere well enough to know that the key movers at the top know that they screwed up in Iraq - and like a person in a bad marriage with a half-dozen kids, can't get out easily. Military appointments at the State Department as so so, probably not a threat - but not very interesting either.

The Bush crew is in trouble in about every way - politically - economically - and can't get out - except by ending their term in 23 months. Retired military are the easy way out to fill a huge number of vacant positions.

Part of the Bush problem is that the super-conservative crowd behind the throne don't wash very well in public - in short - they can't get past the Senate confirmation.

We deal with these problems every day at Presidential-Appointments.org and know the real game in appointments at this point is January 20 - 2009. The present political horse is a dead horse.

John Isaacson
Director@Presidential-Appointments.org