President Bush said Wednesday he wants Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney to remain in his administration until the end of his presidency, extending a job guarantee to two of the most-criticized members of his team. ....Listening to the soft bigotry of Bush's lowered expectations, I'm reminded of a nice old post by John Rogers at Kung Fu Monkey:
Democrats and Republicans alike have called for Rumsfeld's resignation, arguing he has mishandled the war in Iraq where more than 2,800 members of the U.S. military have died since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Cheney has faced sharp criticism for his hardline views and is viewed favorably by only about a third of Americans in polls. Bush said that "both those men are doing fantastic jobs and I strongly support them."
One of the great mysteries of the last six years was how and when the Bush Administration turned public policy into Special Olympics. "Oh, I know Donny knocked over all the hurdles, but HE LOVES THE RACE, so you SHUT YOUR FILTHY, CYNICAL MOUTH." Jesus H. Christ.While the vast majority of the country thinks Rumsfeld should go, Bush isn't alone in insisting Rumsfeld is doing a heckuva job. In a notable example, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Permatan) agrees that the buck stops squarely with the generals in Iraq. Very brave of you, sir. Very brave.
Whatever happened to all that Republican talk about personal responsibility? Did that only apply to blowjobs?
3 comments:
This is more of the same Medal of Freedom for absolute failures. Not surprising. It's actually sort of silly. He gets up and makes proclamations as if anyone a) gives a shit; and b) thinks it matters at this point.
So great. Go ahead and affirm the people who are losing things for you. Know how to fix a sinking hip? Drill more holes in it.
What worries me is what plans Rummy and Cheney have for the next 2 years. What do they need to yet accomplish either privately or professionally that they needed to make sure Bush wouldn't fire them? 2 more years of dividends from contracts? 2 more years of "education or equivalent experience" for a job application somewhere?
A big part of Bush's refusal to dump these turkeys is that he doesn't want them off giving interviews and writing books, especially Rumsfeld.
Another part of it has to do with replacements. He would have an embarrassingly hard time finding suitable ones, especially for Cheney. Ken Mehlman or Scott McClellan, maybe? Tony Blankley? Bill O'Reilly?
Last but not least, Bush enjoys keeping Cheney and Rumsfeld for pure, damned spite. The man has a strong, well-documented perverse streak.
After years of unaccountability, state of denial and dodging his direct responsibility, we can say, referring to his own words directed at Belgium in 2003 after threatening to move the NATO HQ out of Brussels: 'Rumsfeld has learned his lesson: there are consequences to his actions'.
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