President Bush has struggled in the last few days to fill several Cabinet positions after his re-election spawned an exodus of sorts from inside the Beltway. Notably gone are his secretaries of State, Education and Agriculture; in all, six of his 15 Cabinet advisors have announced their plans to leave the administration since Nov. 2.
So what has Bush done in light of the mass exodus? He has appointed people far more loyal to him than the last time around. Apparently, the best way to quell dissent in Washington is to surround yourself with people who won't tell you that you're wrong. Ever.
To his Cabinet, he has added the White House Counsel as Attorney General, and his National Security Advisor as Secretary of State. Chances are, he'll run out of personnel before the Beltway troop shuffle is complete, but that probably won't stop him.
During last month's presidential debate in St. Louis, Bush claimed his only mistakes during his first term were in his appointments, though he said: "I'm not going to name them." Funny thing is, he didn't have to.
Bush is notorious for removing those who don't follow the presidential line to the letter of the law. Had he not been in the middle of a war and a re-election bid, the presidential purge probably would have taken place a lot sooner.
Unfortunately, in scaring some of this country's best and brightest minds out of Washington, the president has missed the larger point. The answer to dissent is not to surround yourself with like-minded ideologues. If this many people so wholeheartedly disagree with the role they're supposed to play in politics, the fault is with the administration that appointed them, not with the Cabinet members themselves.
If no one is around to tell you you're wrong, strife and discord may be the first things to go, but progress is soon to follow. That is, after all, why you have advisors, Mr. President; these are people paid to see outside of the box.
After a hotly contested and narrowly won election, mainstreaming your administration may not be the way to win hearts and minds, and it's certainly not the way to move this nation forward.
The mandate the president secured on Nov. 2 does not give him carte blanche to be this nation's sole voice on policy issues -- be they foreign or domestic. The spoils of victory should not include surrounding yourself with legions of yes-men and women who applaud your every move. If the absolute voice of authority were to emanate from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., there wouldn't be Cabinet posts to fill.
One of the few things Bush had going right in his last term was the variety of opinions swirling around him. Without that, his narrow mandate may be the only leg he has to stand on. The sky will not fall and Dick Cheney will surely still be around to pull the puppet strings of power (give or take another heart attack), but the single-minded nature that has misguided the last four years will certainly not win the U.S. any friends when it is kicked into overdrive.
Brian Clapp is a biology and political science senior. Reach him at brian.clapp@asu.edu.
