By Carol Lucas
I want to toss out a question to all my dear readers. Please, give it some thought before you formulate your answer.
Assume you were just declared head of a very important organization, one whose impact would be felt throughout the world. Now you are faced with hiring some of the finest minds, not only to get you off and running, but to sustain a very high level of success, hopefully for years to come.
Where do you look for this brain trust? Assuming you have some connections, you probably send out feelers immediately in hopes of gaining feedback that will assist you in this daunting task.
You recognize that the people you choose must be experts in their field. They must know how to plan, to strategize and to work together to solve complex problems.
Privately, you admit to yourself that while your goal is to make this organization run smoothly, you also want the best people who will make you look good. Yes, there is that underlying motivation felt by any successful business person worth his or her salt.
So how do you begin your quest?
The five paragraph introduction I just presented is geared toward a specific audience this week, those who contend they were compelled to vote for 47 because of his business acumen. They saw the Biden administration as a business failure; furthermore, they refused to even contemplate that a black woman could do the job they envisioned.
So, beginning with that hypothetical organization and those hired to bring it to the pinnacle of success, let’s use our current administration and those put into place to bring us to said “pinnacle.”
Given that we find ourselves embroiled in a war, something 47 ran against, we will begin with the Department of Defense, although the new title, Department of War, is sadly appropriate. What we have here is a former Fox News host who paid to settle a sexual assault case. Additionally he was accused of financial mismanagement and excessive drinking. Even his own mother once accused him of being abusive to women.
But moving on to those brought on board to create a smooth running organization, we have the former head of World Wrestling Entertainment, who is accused of covering up the sexual abuse of minors. She is over the Department of Education. It makes one ponder exactly what kind of education is being underwritten, but I digress.
And then we have the heroin addict accused of sexual assault by the family babysitter, who is in charge of the Department of Health & Human Services. A single article, in and of itself, could be devoted to this miscreant, and all the histrionics that have emanated from him. Dropping off a dead bear cub in Central Park; railing against vaccinations in the face of an escalating measles epidemic; swimming in waters known to be polluted and bringing his grandchildren with him … the list goes on.
He says he has a parasitic worm in his brain. Now that isn’t difficult to believe.
Moving on to the “best and the brightest”, we must look at Kash Patel. For those of you with delicate ears and eyes, you might want to scroll on.
I can’t get past the fact that every time I see him, he looks as though someone has come from behind and done something untoward. It’s that “deer in the headlights” look. If it was only that look … but again, I digress.
In researching this appointee to head the FBI, I found that perhaps the most egregious thing Patel has done deals with the Epstein case.
For nearly three years, the Epstein case had moved through the slow machinery of federal inquiry — subpoenas, forensic accounting, and interagency coordination designed to trace the funding architecture surrounding Epstein’s operations. Then, according to a document Ted Lieu displayed during the hearing, the investigation ended abruptly. The authorization carried a single signature at the bottom: Kash Patel. It was he who stopped the FBI investigation.
Add to this the fact that Patel has fired people, en masse, earning him the name Keystone Kash. In fact, just days before 47’s attack on Iran, Patel fired 12 key specialists on Iran.
The fact that he has used his private jet several times to court his little honey almost seems irrelevant … almost.
What I haven’t addressed in my little business mock-up is the business history of the whiz kid, himself — our own convicted felon and adjudicated rapist who heads the real “organization,” the United States of America.
It’s enough to say his appointees certainly do nothing to elevate his stature.
I will simply conclude by saying, “If you have been one to complain about “DEI hires,” I’d put a lid on it. And if you voted for the present organization of “efficiency,” likewise.
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”