When former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe left for Poland as an GWBush appointee, one had to seriously question W's judgment. The ambassador job went to the best person for the job, right? Well ... let's just say if you knew Mayor Ashe's style, imagining him as an ambassador was highly dubious given his "diplomatic" skills.

Prior to his current position, W had placed Mayor Ashe on the Fannie Mae Board - appointed 2001. Now the latest on Ashe's stint as a Fannie Mae board member puts W's record of meritocracy in double doubt. While on the board, Ashe's fiduciary oversight was apparently nonexistent.

from the NYT
Fannie Mae to Pay $400 Million in Fines

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Accusing former Fannie Mae executives of operating an "arrogant and unethical" corporate culture, federal regulators condemned the mortgage giant today for inflating its earnings to reward senior mangers with rich bonuses.
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As the report concludes, Fannie Mae's financial results during that time were "illusions deliberately and systematically created by senior management."

The report also accused Fannie Mae's board of allowing the financial mismanagement to go undetected by failing to scrutinize the business decisions of senior executives.