Time: “You’re doing a heck of a job, [insert name here]“

Time goes after the administration but good this week, alleging (and then making a pretty damn good case for) cronyism in the Bush administraition. It asks darkly “HOW MANY MORE MICHAEL BROWNS ARE OUT THERE?” and answers its own question with a few examples of dicey out-of-the-blue appointments that seem to put “connections before experience” (along with some damning quotes by experts). To wit:

• Scott Gottlieb, Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific affairs at the FDA: “The appointment comes out of nowhere. I’ve never seen anything like that”(former FDA Commissioner Donald Kennedy)

• David Safavian at the Office of Management and Budget (until his resignation Sept. 16th and arrest last week): “Safavian is a good example of a person who had great party credentials, but no substantive credentials” (Danielle Brian, executive director of DC watchdog group the Project on Government Oversight)
• Julie Myers, current White House aide/niece of Air Force General Richard Myers, outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/wife of Michael Chertoff’s chief of staff John Wood, up for head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency at the Department of Homeland Security: “I’d really like to have [Michael Chertoff] spend some time with us, telling us personally why he thinks you’re qualified for the job. Because based on the r&#233sum&#233, I don’t think you are.” (Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich to Myers)

For some variety, elsewhere in the mag Matt Cooper portrays Bush’s response to Rita as a calculating PR-op. A far cry from “Man of the Year,” no?

Meanwhile, this week’s Newsweek has a double-whammy of a headline: “Government officials’ overreaction to Hurricane Rita still not enough to convince Americans U.S. Government is competent” — a nice follow-up to last week when Fareed Zakaria called Bush the most fiscally irresponsible president ever (NB this issue also has a damning interview with Hugo Chavez where he claims the administration has a plan — “Operation Balboa” — to invade Venezuela, and calls it a “Terrorist Administration.” Wondering about the backlash on him for that).

Upshot: The newsweeklies are clearly going after the administration. It should be interesting — if depressing — to see what they come up with going forward.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.