wbur.org
support wbur today!
Listen to this story
Cronyism
photo

By Host Tom Ashbrook:

Republican Christopher Shays went right at ex-FEMA chief Michael Brown yesterday on Capitol Hill, calling his testimony on the Katrina disaster “clueless,” “feeble,” “shocking” and “beyond belief.” But the blistering critique of Bush administration appointees that has broken out since the hurricane hit has raced far beyond the halls of FEMA.

The charge is “cronyism” — key jobs packed with hacks, slackers and inept loyalists. It is a politically-loaded charge, and no one should be naive here. All presidents bring their own crew to Washington. But is there something different this time? Something wrong?

Hear about the charge of “cronyism” and lethal incompetence in the Bush administration.

Guests:

Mark Thompson of Time magazine who co-wrote the article “How Many More Mike Browns Are There?” for this week’s issue.

 
 

Comments are closed.

On Point Today
The Bandwidth Crunch
Monday, March 22, 2010

The coming bandwidth crunch. Does the U.S. economy have the broadband Internet capacity to surge again?

 
Health Care Reform and History
Monday, March 22, 2010

We’ll look at how the epic battle over health care compares to other defining reform moments in U.S. history.

Comments [1]

Recent Shows
The Stieg Larsson Story
Friday, March 19, 2010

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” the Swedish thriller that’s sweeping the globe — and the death of its author, Stieg Larsson.

Comments [8]
 
Week in the News
Friday, March 19, 2010

The health care climax looms. The president signs a jobs bill. And murder in Mexico hits home. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Comments [90]
On Point Blog
Sonny Rollins on Race and Jazz’s Future

Jazz legend Sonny Rollins joined us to reflect on his storied career and give us his thoughts on the future of music. To celebrate his 80th birthday, the hugely influential tenor saxophonist is embarking on yet another national tour.

More »
 
IED’s in Afghanistan: Hard Numbers

The Department of Defense provided On Point with some statistics about IED attacks in Afghanistan, where there has been an increase in the use of such weapons over the past 14 months. It’s striking to see the spike in numbers — from 2,677 IED incidents in 2007 to 8,159 last year.

More » | Comments [2]
 
Christopher Hill: U.S. Troop Withdrawal ‘On Schedule’

U.S. Ambassaor to Iraq Christopher Hill spoke with On Point live from Baghdad today as early voting gets underway, part of the run-up to Sunday’s elections. “So far so good,” Hill said, despite scattered violence. Hill said that the plan to withdraw U.S. combat troops by Sept. 1, and to leave only a residual advisory force of 50,000 or fewer, remains “very much on schedule.” Observers worry that a spike in violence could derail that timeline.

More »