A smart move

Gotta give Bush credit: He made the exact right move at the exact right time. Ditching Rumsfeld, the single most visible symbol of the Iraq debacle short of Bush himself, was perfectly timed. Had he dumped Rummy shortly before the election, it would have been seen as a desperation move. I suppose there’s a possibility that it might have changed the outcome, which has been seen as a voter repudiation of the war. But I don’t think it’s a sizable chance, and probably would have been seen as a case of “too little, too late.” In this instance, though, it managed to grab headlines from the Democratic triumph back to the White House. Bush has snared the spin cycle before the election dust has settled. He did the right thing in getting rid of an advisor who has given him nothing but bad advice and been a PR catastrophe on more than one occasion, and he did it at a time when his support base is at an all-time moral low. He has sent a definite message: He’s not going to be spending the next two years with more of the same and staying the course, steering the remainder of his presidency into irrelevancy.

With a smartening-up Bush and a newly energized Democratic majority, let’s see if the government finally gets on the right track.

PAD

I have every confidence in the President

The people have spoken. They have put the Democrats back in charge of the House, and–as of this writing–are two seats away from retaking the Senate. Furthermore, on the state level, another attempt at banning gay marriage was voted down, along with a ban on abortion and a nod for stem cell research. Virtually all of this can be attributed to Bush’s policies on everything from Iraq to science to morality.

President Bush, the acclaimed uniter, not divider, now has a choice: To honor the will of the people and do everything he can over the next two years to work with the new political landscape and try to give the people what they want and need. Or to do everything possible to block any and all progress on any number of issues the Democrats may try to make while foisting the blame for gridlock onto the Dems in an attempt to put the GOP in position to retake their power base in the next election.

I have every confidence in which direction he’ll go.

PAD

Discussion Election here

As the voting unfolds, I figured I should just have a separate place for folks to discuss the results. So far the Democrats seem to be kicking ášš and taking names, despite the GOP’s desperate attempts to turn John Kerry into a cause celebre.

Looking forward to the Daily Show’s live episode. It’ll be interesting to see Colbert’s reaction if it’s a Democratic sweep.

PAD

The only thing that could get me to vote Republican

I am so freaking sick of getting recorded phone calls from Democratic candidates urging me to vote for them. What is the POINT of this? Is there really anyone out there who remains undecided the day before election day and suddenly a recorded phone call from Hillary Clinton is going to make them say, “Well, I was waffling before, but this settled it for me!”

If any of these people want to call me themselves and chat for a couple minutes, thatwould interest me, just as it does when local candidates come knocking on my door and want to talk about the issues and ask for my vote. But this recorded stuff just makes me want to go vote for whoever isn’t derailing my train of thought with these annoying interruptions.

PAD

Our job

This should be interesting. Saddam Hussein, whose gun is a trophy in the Oval Office (am I the only one creeped out by that?) has been sentenced to death, along with several of his co-conspirators, for crimes against humanity.

Obviously I ain’t shedding a tear over his fate. I am reminded, though, that he was once an ally of the United States. And I am also pondering the repeated assertions by the President and all his spokesmen that we cannot “cut and run” and must instead remain in Iraq “until the job is done.”

Well…it’s done. Buh bye.

Well, that explains it

According to the US military, things are increasingly going down the tubes in Iraq. Check out who’s predicting disaster:

” The analysis was prepared by the command’s intelligence directorate, which is overseen by Brig. Gen. John M. Custer.”

General Custer. No wonder we’re screwed.

PAD