(Cross-posted at My Left Wing, ePluribus Media and my blog)I'm dead serious. I was reading Welshman's fabulous diary over lunch and I really started thinking about what he was trying to accomplish and why he needed to accomplish it at all.
I understand that, generally, Welshman's diary was geared towards the Democratic party and an effort to structure the message so that the Bush administration couldn't gain advantage from North Korea's nuclear teat. Going a bit further, I think that, generally speaking, most Americans either can't or don't want to consider this President as a total package. In other words, what is his job, exactly, what responsibilities are entailed in that job, and how is he performing against them?
So I did an appraisal and I sent it to the White House. Make the jump.
As I read Welshman's diary and considered the questions outlined in the introduction to this diary, the idea of a traditional performance appraisal just popped into my head. I have to submit to one of these, where my performance against my job's roles and responsibilities is evaluated. It can be a daunting process - but I always find it helpful whether I am being reviewed or reviewing someone else.
So why not a Presidential Performance Appraisal? I'm qualified to write it - he works for me. And YOU are qualified to write it, too. If you're a US Citizen, he works for you as well. Essentially, he is our employee - we throw that idea around but rarely act like a traditional employer would under similar circumstances.
So I took a basic performance appraisal and did on for George W. Bush. I've had to transcribe it here, and it has lost some of its formatting, but you'll get the idea. I'll link to the individual pages of the actual appraisal towards the end of the diary.
So read on - here's my stab at evaluating George W. Bush.
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UNITED STATES EXECUTIVE BRANCH - CITIZEN'S PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Employee: George W. Bush
Date of Appointment to Current Job: January 2001
Title: POTUS
Evaluation Period: From January 2001 To October 2006
Supervisor: RenaRF
Date of Evaluation: October 9, 2006
I. Job Description
A. The first major responsibility of the POTUS is to govern the United States of America in alignment with the US Constitution. To wit, the POTUS may not violate the US Constitution nor may the POTUS attempt actions that violate the US Constitution or US laws. The POTUS must, at a minimum, do the following:
- Responsibly manage the US Department of the Treasury and fiscal policies.
- Compassionately manage the US Department of the Interior and the environmental quality of the United States.
- Manage the US Department of Labor and ensure that labor laws are observed and adhered to.
- Direct and manage the US Department of Health and Human Services and ensure the physical health of American citizens.
- Formulate plans with the US Department of Education that ensure the achievement of American students.
- Oversee reasonable intelligence-gathering activities by US intelligence agencies that adhere to current laws while mitigating the risk of threats, foreign and domestic.
- Formulate and administer the policy of the United States with respect to other sovereign nations through the US Department of State.
- Respect all treaties to which the United States is a party.
- Ensure all US policies protect the rights inherent in the US Constitution.
- Manage the US Department of Homeland Security to minimize risks to US interests at home and abroad.
- Serve as Commander in Chief to the US Armed Forces and ensure policies that take into account the sanctity of human life and the gravity of any decision to use deadly military force.
NOTE: This list is not exhaustive but will serve as a basis for evaluation.
B. Did the employee meet the responsibilities of the job as defined by the job description? Rate the employee's performance on each duty on the job description.
The rating factors are as follows:
Outstanding - Indicates exceptional performance.
Commendable - Performance is beyond normal requirements and competence.
Effective - Fulfills the normal job requirements with some strong points.
Need Improvement - Performance is below job requirements, but improvement is anticipated.
Unsatisfactory - Job performance must be improved substantially to be acceptable.
II. Evaluation of Performance
Consider each performance criterion below and indicate the rating factor that most nearly describes the employee's performance during the evaluation period. (Refer to "Professional Employee Performance Criteria" for illustrative aspects of each criterion.)
A. Communications (oral and written):
Comments: While many find George's use of language and often fumbling attempt to articulate himself "quaint" or "regular", it is this evaluator's judgment that effective communication is a central responsibility and is core to the success of the POTUS. George cannot continue to misuse language without serious misunderstanding resulting from these communications. Some of these misunderstandings could have international implications.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
B. Job Knowledge:
Comments: George was not fully qualified for the position when he was granted the job. However, possessing a culture that strives to nurture personal growth and accomplishment, it was hoped that George would knuckle down and learn the issues critical to successful job performance in a timely fashion. It is unfortunate, but it has to be said that this job knowledge is sadly lacking even today.
George is overly-reliant on the knowledge and opinions of those who surround him. Moreover, he does not appear open to seeking additional opinions or to learning more than the barest surface details on his own. This places him in a position where he can be led very easily, and often provided with information upon which to base a decision that is fundamentally incorrect. There is evidence of this problem early on in his tenure as POTUS which led to critical, deadly decisions being made for the wrong reasons and based on incorrect information. If George were more diligent in his approach as POTUS, he would be able to rely on his own knowledge and augment that knowledge with the advice of others.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
C. Organization and Planning:
Comments: George's problems with organization and planning stem from the problems inherent not only his lack of job knowledge, but in his unwillingness to learn the critical items necessary to success in his job as POTUS.
Unfortunately, a myriad of issues can be cited where George fundamentally failed to organize and plan critical actions:
- Successful occupation and rebuilding of Afghanistan
- Successful planning associated with fiscal decisions
- Successful organization and planning of the voluntary incursion into Iraq.
Above are only a few examples. George seems to gravitate towards an idea that he or his staff has and he makes his decision to implement that idea based on his "gut". Unfortunately, he does not appear willing to do the forward planning and analysis to ensure the decision is a sound one. Often George's decisions have caused dire consequences to the people he is charged with leading and protecting.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
D. Leadership and Supervision:
Comments: George seems confused about the real meaning and separation of leadership and supervision. While George certainly fancies himself a leader, he shows very little intellectual depth or curiosity necessary to lead effectively. With George, leadership is more of a "do what I say because I say so" exercise, rather than true leadership. Moreover, George has a heavy hand with those he supervises. It is well known that George doesn't relish bad news or news that might indicate that one of his ideas or policies is not working. In fact, his reaction with his staff has been so severe that staff members are unwilling to provide George with information that might be construed as negative or necessitate a change in George's approach.
George is undeniably loyal to those who toe the line within in his office, often promoting those who are unqualified to positions of import. George has gotten by with this, but many of his leadership decisions and personnel decisions are starting to accumulate vastly negative consequences. Moreover, George is unwilling to take corrective action with respect to these decisions, investing so much of himself in the defense of these decisions that any change would be construed as weak-minded.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
E. Dependability:
Comments: George has taken too much vacation time for his tenure in his position as POTUS.
Ranking: Need Improvement
F. Initiative:
Comments: George certainly takes the initiative on a wide variety of subjects. However, initiative should be scored with respect to this performance appraisal in line with the effectiveness of the decisions being made. Because of George's lack of interest in the complexities of the requirements of being POTUS, and because of the observations of George's conduct with respect to organization, planning, leadership and supervisory abilities, George's initiatives are typically poorly thought-out and poorly executed.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
G. Problem Solving Ability:
Comments: This particular issue boggles the mind, and is one of the most serious flaws of George's performance in his role as POTUS. For some reason, George can't see consequences that are obvious to everyone around him. He simply can't seem to solve or rectify problems created by his own policy initiatives. It's as if he has problem dyslexia - every suggestion he makes to remove the problem is exactly the opposite of what reasonable people believe would be effective.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
H. Adaptability:
Comments: George seems either unable or unwilling to adapt to new information as he receives it. Instead of assimilating new, contradictory information, George stubbornly digs in behind his original decision all evidence to the contrary. This has created real problems in his role as POTUS. He seems driven to stay with his chosen course of action regardless of the harm to the US and its citizens, never considering the very human possibility that he simply made a mistake, and one that is corrected by adapting to reality.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
I. Professional Attitude:
Comments: Unfortunately, this is another area where George needs a lot of work. In his capacity as POTUS, it is imperative for George to maintain as professional and statesmanlike an air as possible, even under difficult circumstances. Criticisms and value judgments on other heads of state should be reserved strictly to private conversations. He has referred to other leaders as "Pygmies", he has characterized other nations as belonging to an "axis of evil" (the fact that this may be true is irrelevant - he should not have publicly characterized these nations as such), and he has willfully adopted unprofessional language and an unprofessional tone with those he perceives do not support his policy agenda.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
J. Productivity:
Comments: George knew prior to campaigning for his position as POTUS that it would be a very time-consuming, demanding job. George knew he should make personal sacrifices due to the impact his job would have on others. Yet George spends too much time exercising, vacationing, and sleeping to be considered "productive" in the way his job demands.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
K. Relationship with Others:
Comments: The characterization of George's relationships with others depends entirely on the mindset of the "other" in question. If you are behind George, if you don't question his judgment, argue his decisions, or bring him bad news, his relationship skills are satisfactory. But if you're someone that opposes George, publicly or privately, beware. He has a mean-spirited need to publicly humiliate and defame those who disagree with him. He has made personnel decisions where the employee in question was more than qualified for the position at hand yet George has fired them for something as simple as a disagreement on how to proceed. The targets of George's wrath do not have to be pure opponents - he turns his petty bullying on those with whom he is aligned if they have the temerity to question his judgment.
Ranking: Unsatisfactory
III. Achievement of Goals
Please refer to goals and objectives set at the time of the last performance evaluation and comment on each of the following:
Were goals for this period fully achieved? This reviewer can't overlook 9/11, the condition of both Afghanistan and Iraq, the aggressive moves by Iran and North Korea, or the events following Hurricane Katrina. George's goals (spelled out in his job responsibilities at the start of this document) were not satisfactorily met.
Were significant accomplishments achieved that were not stated goals? No. Sadly, this reviewer cannot point to one good thing that has happened during George's tenure as POTUS.
If some goals were not achieved, or were not achieved in a timely fashion, explain the reason. Please review section II for the reasons none of George's goals were achieved.
IV. Overall Rating (a short statement of your total evaluation of the employee):
UNSATISFACTORY - We should consider how we can remove George from his job as POTUS.
Date of next regular evaluation: NOVEMBER 7, 2006
Supervisor's Signature: RenaRF
Date: October 9, 2006
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Link to Page 1
Link to Page 2
Link to Page 3
Link to Page 4
Now - here's where you come in. If you click here, you should be able to download a Word Document of the same evaluation for you to fill in and send along. I strongly suggest paper mail. The address is:
George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Bonus points if you send it to both of your Senators and your Representative.
Update [2006-10-9 18:28:16 by RenaRF]: I am assured that the download link is working. It's just a standard Corporate template for a performance review. I realize that this might come off as snarky, but I took time when I wrote it and I really meant it in a non-snarky way. I think it would be fabulous if some of you downloaded the template, customized it how you see fit, and sent it along. Imagine if 100 of us sent this roughly during the same period of time... Someone would notice and there's value to that if for no other reason than it would irk the administration lackeys!!