There has been a lot of news lately about shuffling of line-ups at the White House and within the Administration. Rumors seem to fly fast and furious these days. They range from the impending firing of Karl Rove, to the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld, to Dick Cheney stepping down and being replaced by Condoleeza Rice, to Condoleeza Rice's resignation and subsequently taking the job as Commissioner of the NFL.
Certainly in this lull before the storm of the midterm elections the talking faces need something to blither about, but my question is this: why the hell do we care? Do you really think we would get anyone better to replace the fool that's leaving? To my mind, the devil you know is better then the devil you don't!
In recent days we have seen the resignation of Andrew Card and his subsequent replacement by Joshua Bolten, the former Director of the Office of Management and Budget. I would die of shock if this crew hired anyone who was not incestuously related to their little cabal of corruption. It has been under Joshua Bolten that the United States has driven up record budget deficits. I have an idea lets replace stale with tired.
As for the rumors of Karl Rove stepping aside, I just don't see anything like that happening before the midterm elections in November. Republicans may be wary of being too closely tied to the President right now, but the one thing they fear more is running for re-election without the wisdom of Bush's Brain. Assertions that Rove would step down or that Bush would ask him to step down would in some way indicate that they acknowledge that their policies are not resonating. They don't for a second believe that. Replacing Andrew Card was the easy step. Card was the White House scheduler and gate-keeper. He held everything together from a administrative perspective. I think that it is obvious that he was NOT intimately involved in making policy or shaping a policy direction. Sure, he was at the table, but did anyone listen? Rove trust a Mass-hole? Surely you jest!
My personal favorites deal with the future of Condoleeza Rice. One rumor has Cheney stepping down as the Vice President making way for Rice to be the VP and launch her Presidential Campaign. The press are wishing for a Hilary vs. Condoleeza to the extent where one would imagine that the debates would be settled in a mud wrestling ring. As if these two women weren't serious intellects with very important thoughts. It's not enough to have a female President, we have to have an estrogen-off for Presidency of the United States. It is amazing that in this country, which purports to being so wise and modern, that we still regard female politicians as something quaint and cute. How disgusting!
As for Condi being the Commissioner of the NFL, well, if she approaches that job as she does her current one, she will go out of her way to alienate the Players Association, the owners and sponsors. If there is one thing that is abundantly clear, Rice is a very intelligent woman with an incredible work ethic but an aloofness that leaves people not particularly moved. President Rice? First she should try answer the question that she is being asked. She doesn't have the knack for outright lying like the rest of the "good ol' boys". It sets her on the outside.
In the end, any changes in the Administration would not address the one glaringly obvious problem: the President is a buffoon who simply lacks the delicate hand that is required to do his job with even mediocre results. He says he wants a line item veto but would he dare actually veto any pork spending. If he takes away the Senator Byrd and Senator Stevens memorial bridges and the disgusting pork handed out by this "fiscally conservative" Congress they would in turn stall his agenda. How do you pronounce "Lame Duck"?
