May 24, 2007

This is the letter Mike Baroody sent to President George Bush yesterday after Mike found himself made the subject of some Senators' opposition to his former employer, The National Association of Manufacturers.  Also shown is Tom Condon's note to a friend in Senator Joe Lieberman's office.

                                                                                       May 23, 2007

The President

The White House

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. President:

               I was honored by your nomination and energized by the prospect of chairing the Consumer Product Safety Commission and leading it to more effectively carry out its mandate of saving lives and keeping America’s families safe.

               Accordingly, it is with singular regret that I write to ask that you withdraw my nomination from the United States Senate. 

               Mr. President, I have thought often recently of some words of the late Senator Daniel Moynihan.  Among his many memorable state-ments was this one about what passes for debate these days:  One is “either serious about something,” he said, “or serious about something else.”  In the current supercharged environment, I am persuaded that prospects for my confirmation by the Senate as CPSC chairman are at best remote but assure you that if confirmed, I would have been very serious about consumer product safety and the mission of the CPSC.  It seems to me that some of the opponents of my confirmation, if serious at all, must be serious about something else. 

               Again, Mr. President, thank you.  May God bestow his blessings on you and on our great, good country. 

                                                                           Sincerely,

                                                                           Michael E Baroody

Sherry,
So my friend of 40 years, Mike Baroody, gets nominated to head the
Consumer Products Safety Commission. You can't find a better candidate –
he is very smart, has a ton of integrity, courage, wit – everything
you'd want. But he became the subject of blog mania, and today asked the
president to withdraw his nomination. His offense? He used to work for
the National Assocaition of Manufacturers. No hearing on the merits,
just guilt by his former association.
I pass this along because it might sound faintly familiar.
Your friend,
Tom C