In Russia, they wore the same uniforms as other military officers, but the
zampolit were political officers - ensuring that soldiers within the unit toed the Communist Party line.
Commissars, as they were originally titled, were first commissioned in the Russian Revolution - by the Imperial Army! The Red Army soon adopted the position and early in their careers Stalin, Kruschev, and Brezchnev all served as zampolit.
American Commissars: The Bush Administration seems to have adopted its own version of the zampolit. Look under any rock in this government you'll find another Bush crony or political hack whose only qualifications are loyalty to Bush and extremist ideology.
Even Republicans questioned the wisdom of making Julie Myers - niece of former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Richard B. Myers - head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau at the Department of Homeland Security. She immediately started off on the wrong foot - unable several times at a recent press conference to pronounce "Nuevo Laredo". Bush knew he probably couldn't get her through the Senate confirmation process - so he made her a recess appointment.
We've seen Emily Miller trying to keep Colin Powell on a short leash. Has a SECRETARY OF STATE ever had a junior level staffer try to to pull the plug on an interview before? And what do you want to bet she was rewarded, not reprimanded, for the attempt...
We've read about George Deutsch trying to make sure NASA scientists don't diss intelligent design.
Michael Brown. FEMA. Need any more be said on that?
Many regarded Bush's nomination of Harriet Myers as nothing more than an attempt to reward another unqualified crony.
Almost every Department in the government seems staffed by people who are either unqualified or ideologically opposed to what the American people believe their mission should be. We've got foxes guarding the henhouse and The Project for the Old American Century has a list of some of the worst offenders.