The tentacles of diplomatic cronyism

George Bush's approach to selecting ambassadors -- his buddies with the biggest wallets -- doesn't define his administration because it was going on before, but it's certainly symptomatic of it. Consider two side notes to a couple of current messes: Dick Cheney shooting a hunting colleague in Texas and Bush's nomination of an inexperienced 35 year old to the board of the Federal Reserve:

The ranch where Deadeye Dick struck:

Anne Armstrong, the matriarch of the family that owns the ranch, is a Republican Party stalwart who served in the Nixon and Ford administrations and also as ambassador to Great Britain. When her husband, Tobin Armstrong, died in October, Mr. Cheney and James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state, spoke at the funeral.

The Fed nominee:

The nomination of Warsh, who has been executive secretary of the president's National Economic Council, was one of two that Bush made ... Warsh is married to Jane Lauder, a granddaughter of cosmetics pioneer Estee Lauder; Jane Lauder's father, Ronald Lauder, was U.S. ambassador to Austria under Reagan and has donated $104,000 to the Republican National Committee since the 2000 election campaign...

UPDATE: How many ambassadors does Texas have?

[WSJ Law Blog] Another participant in the ill-fated hunting trip, Pamela Willeford, has held the cushy diplomatic post of ambassador to Switzerland since July 2003. Willeford is described as a longtime friend of the Bush family; in 1997, then-Governor Bush appointed her as chair of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. She’s also an oilwoman, serving as president of Colorado-based Pico Drilling Co.