Author Topic: Rumsfeld resigning (Read 5403 times)

Perd Hapley · « **on:** November 08, 2006, 07:54:22 AM »

According to a GOP official via the Rush Limbaugh Show.

Limbaugh's comment: "Well, why didn't he just resign last week, then?"

fistful's comment: Let's see how well his replacement will do.

The Rabbi · « **Reply #1 on:** November 08, 2006, 07:56:30 AM »

I seriously doubt it. Rumsfeld serves one master, the President. As long as Bush wants him there he will be there.
FWIW, I consider him the best cabinet member and the best SecDef we've ever had. How ya like them apples!

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #2 on:** November 08, 2006, 07:57:43 AM »

Rabbi, if this is true, it means Bush asked him to resign.

mtnbkr · « **Reply #3 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:07:41 AM »

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FWIW, I consider him the best cabinet member and the best SecDef we've ever had

I'm not quite so sure. FWIW, I have no military experience, but I do work with a lot (as in half or more of this office) retired and reservist military. I never hear anybody sing his praises, but I have heard a lot of folks complain about him. Some of the folks here have been to Iraq since the war started. None of them doubt our mission, just how he's running things.

Chris

The Rabbi · « **Reply #4 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:12:08 AM »

Rumsfeld is an a-hole. If he doesnt like something, he will tell them. Forcefully. Look what happened to Undersecretary White who tried to get the Crusader around him.
The military has many entrenched interests and they dont take kindly to people interfering in that. Even people who are their superiors.
Special forces love him btw.

The Rabbi · « **Reply #5 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:14:12 AM »

Oops. O.K. It is on the wires now that he is resigning. Too bad. But I guess he felt he would have been the lightening rod for a lot of criticism of the administration.

wingnutx · « **Reply #6 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:17:53 AM »

He'll be spending too much time in congressional investigations to have time to be secdef, anyway.

charby · « **Reply #7 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:21:08 AM »

Quote from: wingnutx on November 08, 2006, 07:17:53 AM

He'll be spending too much time in congressional investigations to have time to be secdef, anyway.

I was thinking the same thing last night as I watched the results.

-C

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #8 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:25:58 AM »

Quote from: The Rabbi on November 08, 2006, 07:14:12 AM

Oops. O.K. It is on the wires now that he is resigning. Too bad. But I guess he felt he would have been the lightening rod for a lot of criticism of the administration.

I'm listening to the Press Conference right now, and the reporters keep asking him when he (Bush) decided to dump Rummy. If he did not make the decision, I imagine he would tell them so. He's clearly speaking of it as his decision. Like you said, Rumsfeld has one master.

Cosmoline · « **Reply #9 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:29:51 AM »

I called it!

Leatherneck · « **Reply #10 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:41:44 AM »

Rummy has been a great boss. I'll miss him. Secretary Gates is an unknown here...

Intel guys don't operate the same as fighters like Rumsfeld.

TC

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #11 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:54:00 AM »

Anybody want to speculate on Mr. Gates? The fact that he's a CIA man is not encouraging to me. Will he be confirmed? I think the Senators will make him repudiate everything that Rumsfeld has said or done since birth, and swear a blood oath to be their little pet SecDef, taking every bit of advice as a lawful order.

Found this bit at Wikipedia. Cute little slam.

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While at Indiana University, Gates was recruited to join the Central Intelligence Agency. But before joining the CIA full-time as an intelligence analyst, he spent two years in the Air Force; one job was giving intelligence briefings to ICBM missile crews at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. (The CIA offered no escape from the draft during the Vietnam War.)

lumpy · « **Reply #12 on:** November 08, 2006, 09:15:19 AM »

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consider him the best cabinet member and the best SecDef we've ever had. How ya like them apples!

apparently you're a bigger fan than Bush.

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Anybody want to speculate on Mr. Gates?

I don't have much problem with him... But I do think that the Iran Contra thing will come back to haunt him.

roo_ster · « **Reply #13 on:** November 08, 2006, 09:33:26 AM »

Too bad...for us.

Rummy was what the services needed: a swift kick in the arse. I have little sympathy for entrenched bureaucrats with brass on their colars who whine when their little fiefdom is rocked by pointed questions and ascerbic replies.

I will always hold dear his response to some numb-nutted limey reporter who asked why we were using 2000 lb bombs in Afganistan. "We are trying to kill the Taliban with them."

HankB · « **Reply #14 on:** November 08, 2006, 09:40:46 AM »

Well, after the new SecDef is sworn in, we'll see how long it takes to reduce Fallujah to an overlapping field of bomb craters, kill Muqtada Al-Sadr (the leader of the terrorist Mahdi Army, who's running around loose in Iraq)), and take out Bin Ladin.

And we'll see if the JAG lawyers under SecDef Gates (assuming he's confirmed) are still waiting to prosecute (or at least investigate) practically every instance of troops killing too many Iraqis when they shoot back in a firefight.

Jamisjockey · « **Reply #15 on:** November 08, 2006, 09:49:34 AM »

The only reason is this:
In Jan, there will be new chairs of the subcommittes. The defense subcommitte would have brought Rummy in to berate, belittle, and beat him up.

lumpy · « **Reply #16 on:** November 08, 2006, 10:31:24 AM »

Rumsfeld is gone so that he won't have to face investigations and committees.

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Rummy was what the services needed: a swift kick in the arse

in the form of IEDs on non uparmored hummers? He failed by every measure. Which means that next he'll get a medal of freedom.

cordex · « **Reply #17 on:** November 08, 2006, 10:40:30 AM »

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in the form of IEDs on non uparmored hummers?

Lumpy, this is not to be specifically critical of you but your comment brought something to mind.

Is anyone else tired of people who simultaneously scream about how horrible defense spending is while bemoaning the poorly equipped soldiers? I'm not sure which one the Democrats are really concerned about.

I'm no champion of Bush or the Republicans, but that kind of rampant hypocrisy grates on me. Just pick a side and stick with it.

The Rabbi · « **Reply #18 on:** November 08, 2006, 10:42:55 AM »

Quote from: cordex on November 08, 2006, 09:40:30 AM

Quote

in the form of IEDs on non uparmored hummers?

Lumpy, this is not to be specifically critical of you but your comment brought something to mind.

Is anyone else tired of people who simultaneously scream about how horrible defense spending is while bemoaning the poorly equipped soldiers? I'm not sure which one the Democrats are really concerned about.

I'm no champion of Bush or the Republicans, but that kind of rampant hypocrisy grates on me. Just pick a side and stick with it.

You miss the point, Cordex. That's the beauty of it. You can have it both ways. When asked what you would do to improve it you could make noises about "better priorities", "putting out troops first", and (my favorite) "cutting wasteful spending."
I'd like to see what measures Lumpy uses to assert Rumsfeld failed in every way.

AJ Dual · « **Reply #19 on:** November 08, 2006, 10:46:58 AM »

Quote from: jamisjockey on November 08, 2006, 08:49:34 AM

The only reason is this:
In Jan, there will be new chairs of the subcommittes. The defense subcommitte would have brought Rummy in to berate, belittle, and beat him up.

I'll +1 on that.

Rumsfeld is going to be spending lots of time in the center ring of the Democrat's dog 'n pony show that starts in January. Whatever you think of him, pro or con, it's better to have someone who'll be able to fill the post of SecDef full time.

However, he's got a pretty sharp tounge, the Democrats should be careful what they wish for, they just might get it.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #20 on:** November 08, 2006, 11:05:34 AM »

I don't know how to measure Rumsfeld's job performance, but I would also like to see lumpy's and Rabbi's "metrics." Love that brand-new noun.

The Rabbi · « **Reply #21 on:** November 08, 2006, 11:08:24 AM »

Quote from: fistful of dollars on November 08, 2006, 10:05:34 AM

I don't know how to measure Rumsfeld's job performance, but I would also like to see lumpy's and Rabbi's "metrics." Love that brand-new noun.

I dont know that I need to give a "metric." But if I did it would be loyalty to the President I serve (at least in public), and standing up to the entrenched bureaucracy.

cordex · « **Reply #22 on:** November 08, 2006, 11:09:57 AM »

Quote from: The Rabbi on November 08, 2006, 09:42:55 AM

You miss the point, Cordex. That's the beauty of it. You can have it both ways. When asked what you would do to improve it you could make noises about "better priorities", "putting out troops first", and (my favorite) "cutting wasteful spending."

That's true. When a party is in the minority (whether by a little like the Democrats, or a lot like the Libertarians, Constitutions, Greens, Natural Laws, etc.) it is easy to support conflicting ideals without having to actually commit to any given position. However, now that the Dems control at least part of the legislature it will be interesting to see what - if anything - they actually do to commit themselves and which direction they go with it.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #23 on:** November 08, 2006, 11:20:22 AM »

The Democrats will protect our soldiers by making sure they practice safe sex.

Quote from: The Rabbi on November 08, 2006, 10:08:24 AM

I dont know that I need to give a "metric." But if I did it would be loyalty to the President I serve (at least in public), and standing up to the entrenched bureaucracy.

How about a good showing in contemporary military conflicts? But as I said, I don't know how to measure.

The Rabbi · « **Reply #24 on:** November 08, 2006, 11:20:48 AM »

The Dems will go on a crusade to "clean up the culture of dishonesty" and launch numerous congressional probes with special investigators. These will refer indictments and charges against senior and junior members of the administration. Said members will resign and spend the next two years fighting in courts, bankrupting themselves in the process. At the end the courts will agree there was nothing actionable in what they did and clear them completely. But by then the 2008 election will be over.
As far as anything substantive, fuhgeddaboutit.

News:

Author Topic: Rumsfeld resigning (Read 5403 times)