It’s official: Tsars have jumped the shark as surely as the phrase “jumped the shark” has itself jumped the shark. We’ve reached the end of an era since, frankly, I’m not sure you can beat the Obama administration’s appointment of, wait for it, an Asian Carp Tsar:
The White House has tapped a former leader of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Wildlife Federation as the Asian carp czar to oversee the federal response to keeping the invasive species out of the Great Lakes.
On a conference call today with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and other congressional leaders, President Obama’s Council on Environmental Quality announced the selection of John Goss to lead the near $80 million, multi-pronged federal attack against Asian carp.
Fair enough. Time-honoured observation, however: why are such appointments always “Tsars” when the Tsars were hardly famous for their ability, organisational skills or results? Alternative Theory: it’s fitting since government is a sprawling, unmanageavle business that almost always ends badly for all concerned…“This is a serious challenge, a serious threat,” Durbin said. “When it comes to the Asian carp threat, we are not in denial. We are not in a go-slow mode. We are in a full attack, full-speed ahead mode. We want to stop this carp from advancing.”
Comments