The Art of Cronyism
Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:50:01 PM PDT
By now you've heard that the head of the Smithsonian, Lawrence Small, was yesterday forced to resign (my emphasis).
What you may not know is that the former, late, Chief Justice Rehnquist was chair of the Board of Regents that put Small in his position in 2000. As is the case with: multiple choice, you pick... (almost all), (many), (too many to count), (every friggin one) of the Republic candidates elevated to high positions, his credentials and history are suspect.
His credentials for this cushy job: his previous banking/finance experience with Citicorp and with Fannie Mae (no problems there that might question his competence) Can't think of more appropriate qualifications for who should run the Smithsonian, no? Problem is, in the January issue of the Smithsonian, photos of Larry's private collection of South American masks, headdresses, and costumes appeared and US Fish & Wildlife service initiated an investigation because they believed the collection included feathers from protected bird species and teeth from endangered cats. The investigation was closed, then reopened again. As far as I can tell, it's still open.
http://www.archaeology.org/...
From this same link:
During his tenure, directors of seven museums have submitted their resignations. Congress has intervened after Small's cutbacks included the proposed closure of the institution's animal biodiversity research facility. Small seemed to raise hackles wherever he went, even on his home turf.
His self-serving, pie-in-the-sky spending while employed are soon to become legendary, even in the annals of Republics previously indicted for greed, waste & fraud. Here's just a small selection:
Small has also received $1.15 million in housing allowances over a six-year period in return for agreeing to use his 6,500-square-foot home in Woodley Park for Smithsonian functions. To justify those expenses, Small has submitted receipts for $152,000 in utility bills, $273,000 in housekeeping services and $203,000 in maintenance charges, including $2,535 to clean a chandelier. The home-repair invoices show $12,000 for upkeep and service on his backyard swimming pool, including $4,000 to replace the lap pool's natural gas heater and pump. The office expenses were permitted under Smithsonian policies and procedures, and the housing allowance was part of Small's employment agreement. The $160,000 in office renovations are part of $846,000 in total office expenses Small filed between 2000 and 2005.
http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/...
So just because Rehnquist placed him, does that make him a Republic? Hell no, but this does:
He owes his appointment to Chief Justice William Renquist, who as chair of the Board of regents at the Smithsonian appointed him as secretary even though he had no obvious qualifications for the job. Over the years he has donated to George Bush, Bob Ney, Tom DeLay, Trent Lott, Rick Santorum and Americans for a Republican (sic) Majority, among others. None are exactly strong supporters of evolutionary theory, preferring the pseudo-science of "Intelligent Design". So it isn't surprising that Small presided over the decision to show the ID propoganda movie "The Privileged Planet: The Search for Purpose in the Universe" at America's premier scientific museum. The good news is that Small has been replaced by an actual scientist - Christian Samper, a biologist who heads the National Museum of Natural History.
As Cernig @ NewsHog aptly stated:
What a perfect Republican (sic) scandal?
Now just in case you might see this little diary as just "piling on", what with so many other scandals (of which cronyism leading to organizational breakdown caused by incompetence) that are breaking, you would be right. I intend to be piling on. The fact that six years have gone by with nary a blink (more like a wink & a nod), should tell us that we need to keep piling on. Keep every sleezy, incompetent act perpetrated by the Republics in the open lest all those newly planted, partisan USA's seek to control the ballot box in 2008. The results of that election need to be very one-sided to counter this criminal behavior. We need to be front & center from now until then.
My new catch-phrase: Piling on since 2007...
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