IF I COULD CHOOSE THE PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, AND CABINET IN 2008

We can all dream a little…

Every once in a while (and don’t tell me you haven’t done this yourself) I allow my mind to drift off into fantasy-land for a brief period of time, where I begin to envision what this great nation of ours would be like if the most qualified and intelligent people around actually held positions of authority in our government. Earlier today I lapsed into that exact mental state, so I decided to take a few notes while I was there, and I came up with the following list of folks who, in my humble opinion, would best be suited to run the Executive branch in 2008.

Keep in mind, however, that some of the individuals mentioned in this article were added to it several hours after my daydreaming session had ended, because, at the time I couldn’t remember the titles of some of our nation’s less well-known Cabinet posts. I trust you’ll forgive me if a few of my choices are somewhat less impressive than the rest. After all, who would YOU pick to be the Secretary of Agriculture?

By any means, I now present to you my personal fantasy picks for President, Vice President, and the various Cabinet Secretaries of the United States. After each person listed below I’ve included a simple paragraph outlining their respective qualifications… except for the bottom five individuals, whom I’d never heard of before today, but who appear to be pretty decent public servants nonetheless. Of course, you don’t have to take my word for that. You can always click on the links I’ve placed below each of their names, which should provide you with all the pertinent biographical information you may require.

President — Newt Gingrich

Of all the leading conservative politicians in America, I can think of no one who is more intelligent, articulate, knowledgeable, or serious-minded than former House Speaker Gingrich. Since leaving office in 1999, Mr. Gingrich has written many articles, policy papers, and books on a wide variety of subjects, and few politicians can match this former history professor’s speech-making abilities. If there is any Republican in America who is more hated by leftists than George W. Bush, it’s Newt… and for good reason; when compared to him, every liberal in Washington D.C. sounds like a babbling nitwit.

Vice President — Bill Owens

Simply put, this popular, two-term, Colorado Governor, former state House member, former state Senator, and former state Treasurer is one of the most effective elected officials in the nation today. He holds a Masters degree in public administration from the University of Texas, and is considered an expert on Russian affairs. Known for his fiscal responsibility, predilection for lowering taxes, and an unwavering determination to improve the public school system, Mr. Owens is widely regarded as one of the rising stars of the Republican party.

Attorney General — Mark Levin

What can I say about this man that Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and practically every well-informed conservative in America hasn’t already said? This accomplished author, Constitutional Law expert, and talk radio host isn’t called “The Great One” for nothing. Known for his brilliant legal mind, as well as an acerbic wit and abhorrence for judicial activism, Mark Levin, who currently heads the Landmark Legal Foundation, is uniquely qualified to head the U.S. Department of Justice… and if you don’t believe me, just ask him!

Secretary Of Defense — General John Abizaid

If hands-on leadership and over three decades of experience fighting for our country are what you’re looking for in a Defense Department head, you need look no further than the current U.S. CentCom Commander. As a West Point graduate and four-star Army General, whose service decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), John Abizaid stands out as one of the finest military leaders of our time.

Secretary Of State — Dinesh D’Souza

Any American who has ever heard this man deliver a speech on the virtues of this, his adoptive country, would be hard pressed to walk away from the event feeling anything but pride. A native of Mumbai, India, Dinesh moved to the U. S. as a youth, and is now a naturalized American citizen. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dartmouth College, a former Senior Policy Analyst for the Reagan White House, a former Editor of various political affairs magazines, a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a former Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a best-selling author of - among other books - ‘What’s So Great about America’ and ‘The End of Racism ‘.

Secretary Of Homeland Security — David McIntyre

Dr. McIntyre is a retired Army Colonel who holds a BS in Engineering from West Point, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Maryland. He is the former Deputy Director of the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security, and currently heads the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M University. He has taught national security/homeland security strategy at senior levels of government for nearly two decades, has worked in the office of the Army Chief of Staff in Washington, DC, and lectured at the Maxwell School of National Security Studies, the National War College, the Naval War College, and George Washington University.

Secretary Of The Treasury — Thomas Sowell

Aside from Alan Greenspan and the recently deceased Milton Friedman, no American economist is better known or more well-respected than Thomas Sowell, whose syndicated columns are published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, and Capitalism Magazine. He holds an A.B. in Economics from Harvard College, an A.M. in Economics from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago, were he studied under Nobel Prize-winning economist George Stigler. He has written 5 books on economics, as well as two dozen more on various other topics, and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Secretary Of Education — William Bennett

Dr. Bennett is a former Reagan Administration Secretary of Education, as well as former Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H. W. Bush. He holds a Law degree from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Political Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a best-selling book author and highly valued speaker on the topics of American culture and morality, among others. He believes in competency tests for educators, performance-based pay, ending tenure, allowing knowledgeable professionals with no formal education training to teach, and providing parents with greater school choices.

Secretary Of Energy — Pete Domenici

With 33 years of continuous Senatorial service under his belt, Pete Domenici holds the record for the longest tenure of any New Mexican elected to the upper house of the U.S. Congress, wherein he recently cast his 13,000th vote. He is a former junior high school mathematics teacher, lawyer, and author of two books on the subject of nuclear power. He currently serves as the Chairman of both the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development, and is co-sponsor of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Secretary Of Health And Human Services — Phyllis Schlafly

Radical feminists HATE Phyllis, who headed a successful grassroots campaign to prevent passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. She believed that such an amendment would lead to negative cultural shifts which would inevitably result in things like homosexual marriage and government-funded abortions. Mrs. Schlafly is a lawyer who has authored 21 books on subjects ranging from child abuse to judicial tyranny, and has testified before 50 Congressional and State Legislative committees on Constitutional, family, and national defense issues. At 81 years of age, she is as spry as most 20-year-olds, giving daily radio commentaries, writing a widely published syndicated column, running a national volunteer organization known as the Eagle Forum, publishing a monthly newsletter, and debating cultural issues on college campuses across the country.

Secretary Of Commerce — Jeb Bush

While he may be best known as the younger brother of the President, Jeb is no Billy Carter. In 1973 he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Texas at Austin, later taking a job with the Texas Commerce Bank. Several years later he moved to Florida, where he worked as a real estate developer and consultant, and eventually a political lobbyist. Today he is the Governor of Florida, with a long and distinguished record of accomplishments which include maintaining a 3.0 unemployment rate in his state, and cutting taxes every year since 1998. Often characterized as brilliant, he is also a man of high principles, and his hard work and determination have transformed Florida into one of the most successful states in the union.

Secretary Of Labor — Elizabeth Dole

Senator Dole is the wife of former Senator and former Republican Presidential nominee Bob Dole, and she currently Chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee. She was Deputy Assistant to President Nixon for Consumer Affairs, later being appointed to the Federal Trade Commission. Afterward, she became the nation’s first female Secretary of Transportation under the Reagan Administration, and then Secretary of Labor under the first Bush Administration. Prior to being elected to the U.S. Senate, she headed the American Red Cross, and holds a Masters degree in Education and Government, as well as a Law degree from Harvard University.

A Few Parting Thoughts
After having proofread everything I’ve written above, it strikes me that there are only two female members of my White House “dream team”, and most of the male members are white. I suppose it’s possible that if race or sex had been on my mind at the time I was formulating my list, I might have been tempted to drop a couple of those caucasian fellows and replace them with men or women of some other race… but I doubt it. Call me unconventional, but physical characteristics usually don’t enter into my thought processes when I’m considering a person’s qualifications for an administrative job, and once I’ve made a decision on such an issue, I require a better reason for changing my mind than simply satisfying the whims of the pc-police.

Since race-baiters and left-wing ideologues do not intimidate me, anyone who feels the need to call me a racist, sexist, or some other ‘ist’ just because this article doesn’t pass their personal diversity test, is hereby encouraged to email me at his or her earliest convenience. However, be forewarned that my response to you may not be exactly pleasant. You see, it’s precisely because I’m not a bigot that I’ve selected the people I have to run my imaginary government, despite the fact that every ACLU fan out there will probably consider me to be more hateful than Hitler for not creating a mock Cabinet that “looks like America.” If you ask me, choosing political leaders who “stand for America” is far more important than keeping up appearances, and anyone who can’t appreciate that is truly prejudiced.

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Edward L. Daley is the owner of the Daley Times-Post - http://www.times-post.com