We've long felt that a lot of Nixon's problems were caused by his ceaseless desire to appoint cronies to positions of public responsibility. Take E.Coli-Gate for example: Nixon's incompetent appointees took the Department of Natural Resources and turned it into one of the most dysfunctional government agencies we've ever seen. It will take years to repair the damage they did in just a few months.
For Nixon, who polishes his image to the point of narcissism, it's almost surprising that he appoints individuals who are so blatantly unqualified or unfit to perform their jobs. But then again some things, like cronyism, are more important than others.
According to the Post-Dispatch (via MOPNS), Nixon's latest appointee, Michael Calvin, has a long history with the St. Louis Collector of Revenue.
Their relationship mostly consists of Michael Calvin not paying his taxes and being sued for it. It stretches on for two decades, so there's no mistaking this for a one time incident. It’s a repeated and sustained pattern of behavior.
The ironic part is that Calvin’s appointment is to the Police Board of Commissioners. We can't figure out how his long history with the law possibly qualifies him for this position, unless they're looking for insight into his methods.
To make it worse, this isn't the first time that Nixon has appointed a tax cheat. It just goes to show... getting his cronies jobs in state government is more important than maintaining the public's trust.
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