Donald Rumsfeld has announced his resignation as defense secretary. Don’t let the door hit you in the behind on the way out.
(Side note to this: Former CIA Director Robert Gates is being nominated to replace him — not exactly a huge upgrade, but we’ll have to take it.)
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Want analysis of last night’s public flogging of the Republicans? Forget the gibberish being offered by all those useless talking heads on the cable shows, just read this post by David Corn on his Capital Games blog on The Nation‘s Web site. A sample:
There is no way to spin the election results. They were a repudiation of George W. Bush, his party, his agenda, and his war. The commander in chief argues that he is fighting a war in Iraq that is essential to the survival of the United States. The electorate sent a message: we don’t buy it. Political genius Karl Rove and GOP chieftain Ken Mehlman, with their scare tactics (defeatist Democrats will surrender to the terrorists; Nancy Pelosi will destroy the nation) and below-the-belt ads, were not able to defy popular sentiment. Comeuppance was the order of the day. Because of Bush, R became a scarlet letter. In Rhode Island, incumbent Republican Senator Lincoln Chaffee, a moderate who voted against the war in 2002 and against Bush in 2004, enjoyed a 66 percent approval rating; still, voters sent him packing. Children, pay attention. If you’re a president who misleads the nation into war and then mismanages that war, you might sneak past a reelection but then bring ruin upon your party. The Bush-wreaked reality trumped the Rove-designed rhetoric–finally. The voters chose not to stay his course. The market worked.
Yes. It certianly did.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Bob Menendez, as The Opinion Mill points out, voted against the war and has remained against the war ever since.
Jim Tester was critical of the war and appears to have defeated Conrad Burns in Montana.
Sheldon Whitehouse opposed the war and while his opponent, the incumbent Republican Lincoln Chafee, is rather independent, that big fat R on his chest and the party’s responsibility for the war was the “decider” here.
I could go on, but it might be better to just read this from John Nichols.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
First, it was weapons of mass destruction.
Then, it was to fight terrorism.
Then, it was to foster democracy.
Then, it was human rights.
Then, it was terrorism again.
And now, what?? What? Oil? It couldn’t be.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Fifteen was the magic number and it appears the Democrats are there.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
