Bush Administration mining fundamentalist recruits

The former Dean of Academic Affairs at the fundamentalist Christian Patrick Henry College is appointed to oversee USAID's democracy and governance programs

Paul Bonicelli, who most recently was the dean of academic affairs at Patrick Henry College, a small fundamentalist Christian college located in rural Virginia, has moved on to oversee USAID's democracy and governance programs. Given his apparent lack of experience in these areas, it appears that Bonicelli could be another Michael Brown-like appointment. Brown, called "Brownie" by President Bush before the administration rather unceremoniously dumped him, was the head of FEMA during the run-up to, and the aftermath of, Hurricane Katrina.

For sheer shock value, it is difficult to top recent headlines about the Pentagon paying Iraqi news outlets to print the "good news" about the U.S. occupation, or Bush threatening to bomb Al-Jazeera. Yet a recent headline, "Ex-FEMA chief to sell disaster advice," soared to the top of the charts of astonishing developments.