The Larry Kane Report

President George W. Bush has been a President who has placed the comfort of friends above the need for competence in government. Flame thrower Karl Rove elected the President and then all but destroyed his administration. The President’s FEMA chief was an embarrassment. He stayed with a faulty Donald Rumsfeld through six years of mistakes. Any cabinet member who disagreed was shown the door. Some, like Christie Whitman, got out before the pink slip came.

This has been a sad game in Washington - a President misled by clearly incompetent people. a variety of “yes” men.

Now, his good friend, Alberto Gonzalez, is leaving as Attorney General. The President calls it “sad.” It is sad, for who, the President, or the people who voted to elect him.

Great leadership is all about hiring good people and trusting them and their instincts. Abe Lincoln hired his political enemes, realizing that their brilliance was more important than their loyalty as friends.

One of the real startling aspects of this administration has been its failure to use what was once a fantastic communications team to really make contact with voters. Instead, the communicators have spent most of the time defending, not promoting the government.

At the top of the “most troubled” list is the Vice President who has led the right wing of American politics to repudiation and doubt because of his delusionary arguments about Iraq.  The VP is going nowhere. but his incredible impact on the President’s decisions is making this part of our history a period that historians will shake their heads at, wondering why opportunity was squandered.