There is literally nothing that the Bush administration won’t politicize, even the Office of Personnel Management’s slide shows.
The Washington Post’s Al Kamen reported today that Bush’s OPM, which is legally required to be a no-npartisan, merit-based civil service agency that trains federal employees to do executive branch work regardless of which party occupied the White House, has taken to politicizing its slide-show presentations for Bush’s benefit.
“If you are preparing a slide show,” the HRPS guidance says, “your presentation must, at a minimum, include the following:
* “President’s Presence: The President’s presence needs to be prevalent on all materials for presentation. ‘Presence’ could mean quote, letter, etc., but it must be relevant to the subject matter. You can visit www.whitehouse.gov for material.
* “President’s Picture: The President’s picture needs to be included on all presentation materials. The easiest way to get this is to go to the OPM website . . . and copy and paste his photograph . . .
* “Director’s Presence”: Same as for the president, but rather than the White House Web site, “you can check out brochures that we have in which” Director Kay Coles James “is quoted, letters she has signed, etc.”
* “Director’s Picture”: Unlike any old picture of the president, the guidance requires that “the most recent picture” be included. (It really is quite nice.) Folks must use covers, posters and such “that meet OPM branding standards,” and don’t forget to use the proper OPM logo.
And, just to make sure you’ve glorified the president to the agency’s satisfaction, they check your work.
“[O]nce your presentation is fully prepared, it must be approved. Please route through your Deputy Associate Director (DAD) to the Associate Director, then to Office of Communications (OC). If it needs further approval, OC will forward to the appropriate office. Please allow at least one week for the review process once it leaves your Deputy Associate Director’s office.”
They…have…no…shame.