
 |
|
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
March 13, 2007
/ 23 Adar, 5767
Over-educated public servants
By
Jack Kelly
| >
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
George W. Bush is the first president to have a master's degree in business administration. Let's hope he's the last.
I like President Bush, and I support most of what he's trying to do. But friends as
well as critics of this administration have reason to wonder whether these guys can
organize a two car funeral.
I think President Bush made the right decision when he went to war in Iraq. But
once the decision was made, one egregious mistake was piled on top of another.
One of the most disturbing aspects of Mr. Bush's management style is that he neither
rewards success nor punishes failure. This tends to result in less success and more
failure.
Another unfortunate tendency is to appoint mediocrities to critical positions. Few
on either the left or right have kind things to say about Attorney General Alberto
Gonzalez, with good reason. Karen Hughes is brilliant as a strategist in domestic
politics, but is dangerously out of her depth as Undersecretary of State for public
diplomacy. And then there was Michael Brown at the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.
The flaws in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina existed mostly in the fevered
imaginations of journalists and Democratic politicians. The most egregious mistakes
were made by the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana, not by federal
officials.
But while the Coast Guard and the military were magnificent, and most at the worker
bee level in FEMA performed well, those at or near the top did not. President
Bush's praise of the hapless Mr. Brown (Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job) belongs
in the managerial cluelessness hall of fame.
New Defense Secretary Robert Gates responded appropriately to the revelations in the
Washington Post of the squalid conditions in which some of our wounded soldiers are
being kept. He fired the general commanding Walter Reed Army hospital, and demanded
the resignation of the Secretary of the Army.
But the problems at the hospital didn't arise yesterday. How could Army officials,
military and civilian, have overlooked them for so long?
Even when the president does his job well, he does a poor job of telling the
American people what he is doing and why. This leaves the shaping of the narrative
to his enemies. Wasn't there anything on the syllabus at the Harvard Business
School about the importance of communicating with customers?
President Bush's greatest flaw as a manager is the extent to which he has permitted
people who ostensibly work for him to buffalo, bamboozle and betray him, without
consequence. The president is supposed to run the government. But this president
is intimidated by his bureaucracies.
All of the president's flaws as a manager are displayed in the conviction of I.
Lewis "Scooter" Libby for allegedly lying about something that wasn't a crime.
That this case went to trial is chiefly the product of truly awesome mendacity by
Joseph C. Wilson IV, many journalists, Democrats in Congress, and Special Prosecutor
Patrick Fitzgerald. But missteps by the Bushies played a significant role.
The "Bush lied" meme essentially began when Mr. Wilson charged that President Bush
was lying when he said in his 2003 State of the Union address that "the British
government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of
uranium from Africa." The president poured gasoline on the fire when he apologized
for the sentence, even though every word of it was true. (Saddam did try to buy
uranium in Africa, concluded the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Robb-Silberman
commission on prewar intelligence, and the British Butler Commission.)
Despite the fact his subordinates didn't think a crime had been committed, Attorney
General John Ashcroft (another mediocrity) appointed a special prosecutor. Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage never bothered to mention to the White House
that he was the source of the leak, and the White House evidently had no clue.
Why was Mr. Libby prosecuted, but not those who leaked about the National Security
Agency's interception of terrorist phone calls, or the Treasury Department's
monitoring of terrorist financing? Why is Mr. Libby facing a decade in jail, when
former Clinton National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, caught stealing top secret
documents from the National Archives, got off with a slap on the wrist?
I'm attracted to Rudy Giuliani in part because, for better or worse (and it was
mostly very much for the better), he ran the city of New York. It's nice to have a
president who means well. It'd be nicer to have a president who actually does well.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a
deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan
administration. Comment by clicking here.
Jack Kelly Archives
© 2007, Jack Kelly
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Tony Blankley
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Alan Douglas
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
Marybeth Hicks
David Horowitz
Jeff Jacoby
Renee James
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Ben Wattenberg
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

Mr. Know-It-All
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
Tech Maven
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|