“When cronyism meets catastrophe”
According to the World Health Organization, a massive influenza pandemic is not a question of “if,” but “when.” Now, Avian Flu is poised to slaughter anywhere from five million to 150 million people worldwide, making Hurricane Katrina, Asian earthquakes and AIDS look like a bad day at the beach.
The H5N1 influenza has claimed 60 lives in Asia since 2003, but scientists say the virus is rapidly mutating. So far, all reported cases have involved bird-to-human contact, which will inevitably lead to human-to-human contact, spawning the ultimate doomsday scenario.
Looming in the back of the minds of doctors, scientists and politicians is 1918, the year the Spanish Flu pandemic killed more than 60 million worldwide, including 675,000 Americans or about six percent of the population.
Who has the government entrusted with the enormous responsibility of U.S. pandemic preparedness? You guessed it– another crony– another Michael Brown.
There’s an old saying that goes, “the one thing history teaches us is that history teaches us nothing.” When observing Washington’s current collection of cronies and the disasters placed in their hands, it appears that to the Bush Administration, this applies to history as recent as last month.
Meet another one of Bush’s inexperienced sidekicks: Stewart Simonson, 42, is secretary for public health emergency preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services. According to the HHS web-site, that makes him Bush’s right-hand man on matters of bio-terrorism and health emergencies.
His “qualifications” consist of serving as staff lawyer for former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, working on Wisconsin’s prison policy and serving as head honcho of Amtrak, where Thompson was board chairman. While these are impressive accomplishments, they say nothing of his ability to handle any medical crisis, much less a global pandemic. When Bush appointed Thompson head of the HHS department, his old pal Simonson just came along for the ride.
Simonson replaced Jerome Hauer, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, who oversaw emergency management for New York City and led the Response to Emergencies and Disasters Institute at George Washington University. The only qualification Hauer lacked was being an inside chum.
Giving the country’s most important jobs to family members, big donors and old buddies rather than seeking out those most qualified is nothing new.
But with these critical circumstances, now, more than ever, is the time for cronyism to find its limitations. Inexperienced hacks hold the greatest responsibilities in Washington.
It is mind-boggling to know Bush didn’t learn his lesson with ex-FEMA Director Michael Brown, a man we now know had none of the qualifications needed for his post.
Loyalty to friends and supporters is an admirable trait, but when it comes to life and death, the people should be gaining the favors, and sometimes bureaucrats need to be fired.
If Avian Flu reaches it’s full devastating potential, by the time Bush stands on television telling the world his incompetent crony has been doing “a heck of a job,” by the time a congressional panel investigates how the government failed, many of us will not be here.
Brian Shreve, Columnist
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 14 2005. Filed under Opinion.
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