The B Team

The Bush team is second-rate and America pays the price. Who but second-raters would agree to mindlessly parroting the talking points written by political zealots in the White House? They are required to reference the President often in testimony and interviews. The top appointments have been disasters. VP Cheney snarls in his bunker. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was convinced of his own ideas and no facts or deaths could alter them. Secretary Gates seems more rational and he is having trouble cheerleading questionable policies. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice might have been a good history professor but her knowledge of the Soviet Union was no preparation for 9/11 and she has proven a very slow learner. Secretary of State Colin Powell followed orders long enough to convince many people in his now-discredited UN testimony, then he bailed. The Director of the CIA Tenet is either a liar or a fool – and maybe both.

There is a saying in human resources: A types hire A types, B types hire C types. So maybe that should be third-rate.