Horse Association Commissioners Need Not Apply

Not a donor, not a party apparatchik, not even a Democrat! President Obama selected a FEMA Director that's an actual qualified, experienced manager of a major emergency response agency...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — President Barack Obama plans to name Florida's state emergency director Craig Fugate to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, an official familiar with the appointment said Wednesday.

Fugate has served as director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management since 2001, when he was tapped by former Gov. Jeb Bush. He was retained by current Gov. Charlie Crist. Both governors are Republicans.

Fugate previously served as the agency's assistant director for nearly five years. Fugate has been praised for his efforts steering Florida through numerous hurricanes in the past decade.

With rare exception, Obama's appointments have been people who are arguably the best-qualified person for the job, regardless of almost anything else. I could get used to this...

Same As The Old Boss?

President Bush's Energy Secretary—Spencer Abraham:

As a Republican senator from Michigan, Abraham once called for dismantling the Energy Department.

President Obama's Energy Secretary—Steven Chu:

Chu is director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics. He was an early advocate for scientific solutions to climate change.

Can people stop complaining about Obama's appointments already? Bush didn't merely appoint foxes to henhouses, he appointed the Big Bad Wolf to Construction Foreman—think Abraham, John Bolton—these guys didn't just want to line their pockets, their missions in life were to destroy the agencies they were appointed to.

Obama is tapping cutting-edge experts and progressives where he can, and powerful, effective people who can advance his agenda where he has to.

Don't make me break out the picture again.

[h/t Cesca]