BYE BYE RUMMY
Do let the door hit you on the way out...

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

A&M's GATES TO REPLACE RUMSFELD

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped down as defense secretary today, one day after midterm elections in which opposition to the war in Iraq contributed to heavy Republican losses.

President Bush said he would nominate Robert Gates, a former CIA director, to replace Rumsfeld at the Pentagon.

Asked whether his announcement signaled a new direction in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 U.S. troops, Bush said, "Well, there's certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon."

Bush lavished praise on Rumsfeld, who has spent six stormy years at his post. The president disclosed he met with Gates last Sunday, two days before the elections in which Democrats swept to control of the House and possibly the Senate.

Last week, as he campaigned to save the Republican majority, Bush declared that Rumsfeld would remain at the Pentagon through the end of his term.

Click here for the rest.

Rumsfeld, for me, completely typified the style and overall persona of the Bush administration. He's arrogant, authoritarian, bullying, incompetent, and totally unwilling to admit to any mistake at all. In short, he's a stupid asshole, much more suited to giving wedgies and swirlies to 9th graders in a football locker room than to commanding the most powerful military in world history. When you get right down to it, that's the real problem with the current White House: it's run by seventeen year old asshole jocks.

Rumsfeld's departure can only be a good thing.

It is fun to note, though ultimately inconsequential in the grand scheme, that Rummy's exit signals yet another Bush lie: "Last week...Bush declared that Rumsfeld would remain at the Pentagon through the remainder of his term." Whatever. Looks like the monkey's running scared. I'm loving it.

I don't know much about Gates, but I do know that, unlike so many other Bush appointees, he's a professional, with some real experience. He's inheriting a veritable monstrosity in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he won't be an idiot with it the way his predecessor was. This is definitely an improvement. Of course, it doesn't take much to be better than shit.

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