Apparently there are groups calling for Obama to appoint a Latino to fill Richardson's slot at Commerce. This is silly. Just as silly as:
-Demanding David Patterson replace Hillary with a woman.
-Demanding Blago replace O with a black.
-Demanding David Patterson replace Hillary with a woman.
No position, whether Cabinet Sec or CEO, should be reserved for a specific demographic. I applaud Bush (whose cabinet was more diverse than Clintons) and Obama for recognizing the importance of diversity, but there is a line between real diversity and overt pandering.
Real Diversity: Decision makers - like Art Rooney - recognize prejudices in their hiring/appointing processes and institute effective measures to counteract them.
Pandering: Decision makers create a placatory executive level position for Community Outreach and give to a black dude.
To analogize...if there is a qualified Condi Rice waiting in the wings, then I'm all for it, otherwise find a capable Commerce Secretary and get on with it.
