Re-Vamping the White House?

Now that Josh Bolten is firmly in control of all things staff like in the West Wing, it seems he’s making changes. The New York Times reports the story here: Rove Loses Post in Shake-up

The problem I have with this is that these changes are not the introduction of “new blood”, but the shuffling of old hands. No one is being brought in from the outside. Maybe that’s because the current insiders are paranoid about the light shining in on the secretive world. Or maybe it’s because no one on the outside wants to jump aboard a floundering ship.

Think about it: even though Donald Rumsfeld is a failure all the effort seems to be on sustaining him. That’s not just out of loyalty or because everyone thinks he’s done a great job, it’s because to get a replacement means that there would have to be confirmation hearings. Presumably those hearings would range over such topics as the current mess in Iraq. No one in the White House wants to open that can of worms up to public scrutiny, so we can expect a vigorous defense for a while yet. Similarly replacing the totally ineffective John Snow will take time because no one with any credibility in the financial world wants to be associated with the disastrous fiscal policies Bush et al have followed. Explaining burgeoning deficits and the hocus pocus of supply side economics is not a sound resume padder for anyone who would want to return to the private sector later on.

Finally my advice to Josh Bolten: before replacing Scott McClellan as spokesman and head of communications try to get something worth communication. Like a policy or something!