03 October 2005

and cronies...

Everyone is posting on the nomination of Bush's chief counsel, Harriet Miers, as the replacement for Justice O'Connor. Most of the blogs refer to her nomination as "cronyism." Living in Chicagoland all of my life, I'm used to this as a daily occurrence. However, except for the Chicago Sun-Times, it's not thought to be anything really bad. It's the way things are.

There has long been a tradition of "taking care of family" in Chicago and I don't think that anyone would really be opposed to taking care of "family" before anyone else. It's just that here, in Chicago, it is a large extended family. It includes and encompasses more and more people than the traditional family. It is also a hotbed of diversity. It has extended itself to all races, ethnic groups, sexual orientation groups, corporations, etc. Any entity that lends itself to the fostering of the family "tradition" is welcome and the main focus of this family is the continued existence of itself.

There are many people in Chicago who are against this type of governmental set-up. There are legitimate reasons for it to continue and other reasons to place it under control. One thing that can definitely be said for it is that it works. Anyone who has visited Chicago remarks about how beautiful the city is, how friendly the people are and how well taken care of the city is. I even get these comments in my visits to Paris when people find out I'm from Chicago.

So, if Mr. Bush is taking care of his "family," it is a way of taking care of the continued existence of the "family." In a way, it is survival of the fittest.

Yeah, right..., but what about family that lives in New Orleans and Mississippi or that is in Iraq and Afghanistan or is elderly or is approaching retirement age or is in need of medication or is put out of their homes because of their race or sexual orientation or is needing help finding a job or....

...enough said.

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