No Job Search At The Arabian Horse Shows

President Obama today announced Craig Fugate as his head of FEMA, and he's not a former college roommate, business partner, Bible-study group colleague, or friend of a friend. What's more, he actually has a background in disaster relief as the Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and he's actually done a decent job in that capacity.

Will wonders never cease.

Pardon Them

This unpardoning story is not only bizarre in its own right, with its own set of legal questions, such as "when does a pardon become official?" But it shows a true flaw in Bush-era hubris, their failure to apply any of the mistakes of the past to themselves.

The reason for the unpardoning, I take it, is that the father of Isaac Toussie, the unpardoned, made a large political donation to the national Republican Party recently, and the subsequent pardon, done in haste and without going through proper channels, smacked of a corrupt bargain between elites. In other words, the change of heart was entirely for reasons of perception, not the fact that Toussie was a predatory lender who preyed on minority homebuyers.

Right now the right is gearing up to fight the nomination of Eric Holder for Attorney General, and his role in the Marc Rich pardon, which had similar allegations of corruption and political payback, is going to be prominent. So the Administration didn't want to gum up that looming fight with their own Rich-like pardon. Again, this has nothing to do with the competence of Holder, who even the prosecutor in the Rich case and former top Bush Justice Department official James Comey thinks is eminently qualified, but everything to do with perception.

But do the Bushies REALLY think that reversing themselves on ONE pardon will save them from any perception of cronyism? I mean, just today it was revealed that a different man pardoned the other day by the President, at the same time as Toussie, gave contributions directly to the President in 2004.

USA Today reports that Alan Maisse, a former gambling executive who was pardoned this week by President Bush, had made two contributions to Bush’s re-election campaign in 2003 and 2004 totaling $1,500. White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto declined to comment on the case but said “[w]e do not look into political contributions” in reviewing pardon requests. “We think it would be inappropriate to do that. They should have no influence over our decision-making,” Fratto added.

I mean, this is how the pardon power is used in contemporary America. There are always dispensations made for friends and friends of friends. I don't think anyone is blind to this. It is supremely arrogant on the part of the Bush White House to think that they could clean up their conduct by revoking one pardon. Furthermore, it's politically stupid, because it will just invite investigations into the background, and donations, of all the others pardoned during his tenure. I expect the Pro Publica report on contributions by pardoned criminals any day now.

The remedy for this is strict limits on pardon power. As for now, the right's Holder strategy is permanently disabled.

Leaving To Spend More Time With His Lawyers

It's a good thing that we're not in the midst of a housing crisis that's threatening to swamp the economy, and thus we have no real need for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development:

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned Monday, amid multiple ethics investigations and criticism from top lawmakers.

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson speaks at a news conference in December.

Jackson said he will step down on April 18. He did not mention the allegations in his brief statement Monday, saying only that he wanted to attend to personal and family matters.

The resignation came after criticism from members of Congress that Jackson has refused to respond adequately to allegations of impropriety.

Some Republican tried to tell me a few weeks back that there is no indication of corruption in the Bush White House, just incompetence. Alphonso Jackson, under grand jury investigation for giving contracts to political cronies, is Exhibit A against such a view. In addition, he punished the housing director in Philadelphia when he didn't deliver contracts to Jackson's buddies.

I just can't imagine why we're in such a crisis when we have a HUD director almost singularly concerned with profit-taking for him and his friends.

Pimp My Campaign Coffers

Come on, this can't be true, can it? Our governor is going on "Pimp My Ride" to pimp his own environmental policies, by overseeing the conversion of a classic Chevy Impala to biodiesel... but he can't even do something like that unless he gets paid?

It might appear that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to appear on MTV's popular reality show "Pimp My Ride" later this month is just another of his Hollywood crossover moves. But a closer look shows one of Schwarzenegger's big campaign donors is also getting a boost in the April 22 episode -- Galpin Motors.

One of Galpin's Southern California showrooms is where the hit TV show is filmed. Owners of the company, H.F. Boeckmann and Jane Boeckmann, are also among the governor's big supporters.

The Boeckmann's gave $44,600 to the governor's re-election committee last year and in 2005, they also gave another $44,600 to the governor's primary ballot committee, the California Recovery Team.

Also, Alan Skobin, general counsel for Galpin Motors is one of Schwarzenegger's appointees to the state's New Motor Vehicle Board.

Seriously, you have to be kidding me. Is there an political appointee who isn't one of Arnold's personal friends or cronies? Is there a single appearance that doesn't have campaign dollars involved? I know this is how Hollywood works, but does it have to be how Sacramento works?