Bush and His Bouquet of Recess Appointments

These smell, don't they?

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo links to the list of Bush's 17 recess appointments. The Republicans control the Senate but Bush doesn't have enough confidence in his choices to put them through the confirmation process? These are indeed strange days.

Here's more from the Washington Post:

President Bush yesterday made a raft of controversial recess appointments, including Julie L. Myers to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau at the Department of Homeland Security, in a maneuver circumventing the need for approval by the Senate.

Myers, a niece of former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Richard B. Myers and the wife of the chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, had been criticized by Republicans and Democrats who charged that she lacked experience in immigration matters.

Etc., etc., etc. In other words, the usual cronies and hacks we have come to expect from our president. I notice some on the list are being appointed to positions in Homeland Security, State and Defense.

If the House and the Senate are incapable of holding Bush accountable, or at the very least providing oversight of the executive branch, it's time to elect people who will.