Who will be the first administration official out the door?

[SlaveNoMore]

ltl/fb
do you have any comment that might make sense of Ashcroft's statement that "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved"? Was this Bush's reelection? Or does he really think that all crime is erased and no terror threat exists anymore?

Probably the quote is out of context. I hope so.

The comment is about as fucking idiotic as the Edwards comment about Chris Reeve walking again if Kerry was President.

Both are pandering, uninformed and stupid.

Are you happy now, or do I also need to send a cookie.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
And you voted for the party of Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore.

Et tu, Raoul?

I voted for gridlock. You just handed the keys to people who are in bed with folks who think the Rapture is coming. And I don't mean that awful Blondie rap tune. You know the Rapture... that gig where we'll all be yanked out of our clothes and taken to heaven (where I guess there will be a huge orgy).

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
You know the Rapture... that gig where we'll all be yanked out of our clothes and taken to heaven (where I guess there will be a huge orgy).

Hell's gonna be a lot more fun.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
The comment is about as fucking idiotic as the Edwards comment about Chris Reeve walking again if Kerry was President.

Both are pandering, uninformed and stupid.

Are you happy now, or do I also need to send a cookie.

See how good you are when you make just a little effort?

I'm happy now, but cookies are always welcome. Or fudge. Or chocolate cake.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
I think civil rights and free speech are wedge issues for the Rs - there are Rs who feel strongly on both sides of most issues Ashcroft has spoken on.

Judging by the election returns, not enough of them to matter.

As for Ascroft's replacement, how could it be worse (realistically, not in theory)? None of the names mentioned have nearly the same fundamentalist fervor of Ashcroft. I'm not saying they're impressive, or even good, but I don't think any of them would be as polarizing. (BTW, NY Times reports a source in the WH said Ashcroft was asked, or strongly suggested, to leave.)

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

I'm going with Powell. Do I win?

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Hell's gonna be a lot more fun.

Shit, I didn't considered who'd be at that orgy up in heaven. Fuck, I better get off my ass and start committing some really atrocious sins. I could wind up getting molested by a copule of those Jesus Blimps they showed waddling into voting booths on televison last week.

Oh, I knew this would happen. Even the afterlife is going to suck.

[Watchtower]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Shit, I didn't considered who'd be at that orgy up in heaven. Fuck, I better get off my ass and start committing some really atrocious sins. I could wind up getting molested by a copule of those Jesus Blimps they showed waddling into voting booths on televison last week.

Oh, I knew this would happen. Even the afterlife is going to suck.

I wouldn't necessarily make plans on eternity based on the assumption that Pat Robertson and his friends will be your chaperones in heaven. I've always had them figured for one of the circle's near Dante's popes.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
So my bet is that there is a couple of days of "Boy are we glad he's gone" quotes from Dems in the paper, and then they take Powell to the woodshed Friday afternoon.

OK, apparently they moved it to the Monday news cycle because they're actually trying to get out a message of "big shake up", so this makes the next poll more interesting than ever -- who will be the new faces (or will it just be an entrenchment of the Rummy/Wolfie front by elevating Condi?) and what will the message be?

So far, the message with Gonzalez replacing Ashcroft is "Business as Usual" - any change expected?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

For all the talk about him as a moderating influence, can anyone name something Colin Powell actually moderated? I think my own moderating influence is a lot more profound, and that's saying something.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
For all the talk about him as a moderating influence, can anyone name something Colin Powell actually moderated? I think my own moderating influence is a lot more profound, and that's saying something.

No disagreement, but the comparison is somewhat unfair. I'm sure Colin Powell stayed awake many nights dreaming of the wonderful things he could've done with a simple "Edit" or "Delete" function.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Gattigap
No disagreement, but the comparison is somewhat unfair. I'm sure Colin Powell stayed awake many nights dreaming of the wonderful things he could've done with a simple "Edit" or "Delete" function.

Fairly or not, Neville Chamberlain is remembered more for what he said and did in Munich, and not for the constraints that British disinterest in Czechoslovakia left him under.

[ltl/fb]

Are we still expecting Rice and/or Rumsfeld to step down? I don't think they were on the list of four from today . . .

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
For all the talk about him as a moderating influence, can anyone name something Colin Powell actually moderated? I think my own moderating influence is a lot more profound, and that's saying something.

He was the main voice for going to the UN Security Council initially, and working through the resolution process there. That did have some moderating influence, and probably kept us out of Iraq for several months. The big impact of that may have been that we were better prepared when we went in -- without that extra time, I truly believe that Cheney and Rummy would have gone off half-cocked.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Are we still expecting Rice and/or Rumsfeld to step down? I don't think they were on the list of four from today . . .

I'm not, FWIW.

Slave's shock notwithstanding that the Bush Administration is something other than a meritocracy, I cannot imagine Rumsfeld leaving anytime soon. Rummy's knives have been sharpened over decades of Washington infighting, and I imagine he's willing to leave only upon the same stretcher that they would use to carry away Cheney.

Rice, I don't know. Bush's fondness for her counsel is well documented, and I imagine that after her sterling performance in NSC, he'll move her to State so that she can set that ship adrift as well.