[Unam Sanctam]

He appointed some bad bishops, but also some very good ones, e.g., Ratzinger, Bruskewitz, Dolan, Burke, O'Malley. He has made some errors of judgment and perhaps his strategy of allowing the tares to grow up with the wheat is too lenient, but that does not make him unorthodox, as you so falsely claim. You refuse to admit the positive things that he has done, and falsely claim that he is unorthodox. Your criticism is not constructive, it is destructive.

[Cicero]

I think the problem with bad bishop appointments was a) bad recommendations from the American hierarchy to the Vatican; b) bad cultural vibes in the western world beginning in the 1960s and pervading every institution; c) Jean Jadot and Pio Laghi, the longtime Vatican representatives to America. Jadot nominated Hunthausen and Weakland, among others. Laghi was said to have nominated better and theologically sounder appointments than Jadot, but he was still responsible for the Bernardin and Law appointments, among others. After Pio Laghi went back to Rome, bishop appointments finally improved, IMHO.