So long, Rummy

Editor’s note: The author of this blog has been absolutely out of his mind with stress due to the recent elections. The author’s patron was re-elected by nearly 20 pts. Also, the author wants to congratulate the Great state of Pennsylvania for dumping Sen. Santorum.
The rats have begun to turn on each-other.
"Don Rumsfeld has been a superb leader during a time of change," Bush said Wednesday. "Yet he also appreciates the value of bringing in a fresh perspective during a critical period in this war."
I suppose it is only a co-incidence that this happens the day after a Democratic orgy of electoral success.
Rummy resigned, but that is Washington code for fired. The irony is that if Rummy had gotten himself resigned before the election rather than after it may have saved a few GOP hides.
I firmly believe that the failures of the administration are as much style as substance.
All presidents make mistakes, but none have refused to learn any lessons from them. Bush refuses to adjust policy to fit reality. Furthermore, he refuses to make heads roll when monumental mistakes are made.
BOLD PREDICTION: Rummy will win a Presidential Medal of Honor. Actually, that is pretty obvious.
George Tenet got a medal, Brownie got to resign and also get paid as a FEMA consultant, Condi got promoted… and the list goes on.
Rumsfeld was the most important member of the inner circle, and he is gone.
Part of this is a bone thrown to Speaker Pelosi and part of it is an attempt to deflect criticism about being unwavering in the face of reality. But I think there is a little part of it that is W turning on the person who has done the most to destroy him. The Iraq War has been a catastrophe. It has wiped out most of his agenda, and his hope for a legacy beyond the War.
This makes the “resignation” timing so significant. It feels like the closest the President can come to admitting any sort of mistake. It is the closest he can come to holding himself accountable. The real test is whether or not the administration can make a serious change of policy in Iraq, or if this is only cosmetic. After all, Powell turned out to be mostly eye-candy for moderates.
Let’s hope that the new secretary turns out to be a NEW secretary, because the President is right on one point: The stakes in Iraq are too high to get it wrong.