From the news:
John Kasich, like any other chief executive, deserves an essentially free hand to choose his Cabinet and inner circle. After all, voters elected Kasich as Ohio's 69th governor, and they will judge will him on how well his administration performs.
That said, it is disconcerting -- in 2011 -- to look at a composite of the 20 permanent state agency heads whom Kasich has hired so far and see only white faces and barely a handful of women.
Kasich, a former congressman, Wall Street executive, and Fox News personality, has hired 20 full-time agency directors to make up his cabinet. Of the 20, 16 are white men, four are white women. No African Americans, no Hispanics, no Asians.
Keep in mind, in the last half-century, Ohio has had 10 governors, most of whom have been Republicans. All of them had at least some racial diversity in their cabinet -- until Kasich, who's the first Ohio governor since 1962 to have so far picked an all-white cabinet.
It's always best to be cautious before throwing around casual accusations of racism. That said, Kasich's move is hard to understand, especially given the size and diversity of a state like Ohio.
John Kasich, like any other chief executive, deserves an essentially free hand to choose his Cabinet and inner circle. After all, voters elected Kasich as Ohio's 69th governor, and they will judge will him on how well his administration performs.
That said, it is disconcerting -- in 2011 -- to look at a composite of the 20 permanent state agency heads whom Kasich has hired so far and see only white faces and barely a handful of women.
Kasich, a former congressman, Wall Street executive, and Fox News personality, has hired 20 full-time agency directors to make up his cabinet. Of the 20, 16 are white men, four are white women. No African Americans, no Hispanics, no Asians.
Keep in mind, in the last half-century, Ohio has had 10 governors, most of whom have been Republicans. All of them had at least some racial diversity in their cabinet -- until Kasich, who's the first Ohio governor since 1962 to have so far picked an all-white cabinet.
It's always best to be cautious before throwing around casual accusations of racism. That said, Kasich's move is hard to understand, especially given the size and diversity of a state like Ohio.
~ Steve Benen (Washington Monthly)
One wonders, how can someone with Kasich's resume be so tone deaf? Big business (Wall St.), government (US Congress), and media cred (Fox News). I guess there are a lot of politicians, Republicans and Democrats alike, that don't know what to stand for once they govern. During their election campaigns, they have a lot of advisors and help to not stick their feet in the mud (that's a nice, diverse photo above) and tell them what it takes to get elected..... Kasich's running mate was a woman......after they get there, in many ways, they need more help than as a candidate, and a lot of them don't get it.
One wonders, how can someone with Kasich's resume be so tone deaf? Big business (Wall St.), government (US Congress), and media cred (Fox News). I guess there are a lot of politicians, Republicans and Democrats alike, that don't know what to stand for once they govern. During their election campaigns, they have a lot of advisors and help to not stick their feet in the mud (that's a nice, diverse photo above) and tell them what it takes to get elected..... Kasich's running mate was a woman......after they get there, in many ways, they need more help than as a candidate, and a lot of them don't get it.
Maybe I'm just too politically correct. But with no minority representation in a 20 person candidate, I'd have to say that Kasich starts out with a blunder.
Did I mention...Kasich worked for Lehman Brothers from 2001 to 2008. In the year they failed and took our banking system with them, Kasich earned $587,178 from Lehman. That same year, the state of Ohio lost the $480 million in their pension fund that they'd invested with Lehman. Sigh.
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