Following Up On Farmer

Now that Paul Farmer's nomination to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development has been scotched, Spencer Ackerman reports that there are efforts under way by a group outside of government to crowdsource a candidate. It's kind of a crazy idea: after all, it's not a vetting process, nonsense suggestions could easily creep in, etc. But it's also a way of demonstrating that there's a constituency for candidates for the job that might not otherwise have been visible. And it keeps the conversation about the position going. That's something that most political appointment slots don't have going for them: folks don't even know they exist, so no one puts pressure on anyone to fill those jobs.