There are plenty of things to blame Barack Obama for. But I was hoping that the godawful performance of Katherine Archuleta, who is resigning as head of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) after the transcendentally huge hacking of personal data files from the government computer systems she oversaw, would not be one of them.
Though I did not know a lot about Ms. Archuleta, I had it in mind that she might have been a highly capable person who just got in over her head, in a way no one could have anticipated.
And maybe that is exactly what happened. But, reading her biography on the OPM web site, I have to say I doubt it.
Here are a couple of snippets:
On May 23, 2013, President Obama appointed Director Archuleta to lead the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency responsible for attracting and retaining an innovative, diverse and talented workforce to make the Federal government a model employer for the 21st century.
On November 4th, Archuleta was sworn in to begin her tenure as the 10th Director of OPM, and the first Latina to head this federal agency.
As the Director of OPM, Archuleta is committed to building an innovative and inclusive workforce that reflects the diversity of America. As a long-time public servant, she is a champion of Federal employees.
What does it tell you that the biography makes such a point of her ancestry and her commitment to “diversity”?
Personally, I do not care if Ms. Archuleta is Latina, and neither should the government. If she\’s qualified, she\’s qualified.
And the second time I am told that her commitment is to diversity, I can\’t help thinking that race and ancestry just might supersede the effort to hire an “innovative” and “talented” workforce.
Well, now that well over 20 million people have their most personal information hacked under her “leadership”, is it reasonable to surmise that a competent professional, charged with hiring the best people available without regard to race and ancestry might have been a better idea?
Barack Obama\’s administration was supposed to bring us to a post-racial status. Yet in my entire life I do not remember us ever being as divided by race as we are now…nor do I remember any President making his intention to divide us by race any clearer.
I cannot wait to see him leave office.
