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Cronyism
"I remember in middle school P.E. when it was my turn to be a volleyball captain. I could have picked the tall kid, but instead, I chose my friend Lena."
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By Alix Black
Picking your friends for your volleyball team can lead to controversial playground politics. However, these are practices that may reflect those in the greater political spectrum. Youth Radio's Alix Black tells us how the recent political action in Washington reminds her of her childhood days on the playground.
I’ve recently seen a connection between national politics and child's play. I remember in middle school P.E. when it was my turn to be a volleyball captain. I could have picked the tall kid, but instead, I chose my friend Lena. I wasn’t aware of the SAT word for it at the time, but I was practicing “cronyism”. I was doing things the same way the Bush White House operates.
Look at the example of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. Her primary qualification for the job was that she was the president’s lawyer and more importantly, his friend. And what about all those no-bid contracts awarded to Vice President Cheney’s old friends at Halliburton? Or the disastrous Hurricane Katrina relief effort by the former head of FEMA, who was connected by the president's 2000 campaign manager? And Bush's recent choice to head immigration enforcement seems to be qualified only by her marriage to the 'right person'. Surely there were other more experienced people to be considered for these positions.
I know cronyism isn't only a Republican tendency, but it's difficult to ignore the current examples in the White House. When did our founding fathers’ dream of ‘government by the people’ turn into ‘government by the well-connected’? Running a country isn't as simple as a kids' volleyball game-- when will President Bush learn to pick the best people for his team?
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