November 11, 2006- Meaningless Gesture

   Now that the elections have been over for a few days, we are starting to see change over Washington way as the two political parties assess the messages that they were sent last Tuesday. Everyone feels that it was a disaster of epic proportions for the Republicans and that the Administratioon was sent a message loud and clear by the American electorate. On Wednesday, President Bush said that he heard that message, and on Thursday, he took action on it. On Thursday, the seriously embattled Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, announced his resignation. This was something that caught many by surprise, because as recently as like five days earlier, Bush had said that there was no way that Rumsfeld was going anywhere, the same mantra that he had ben repeating ever since 2001. However, the election results seem to have changed all of that, and there was such obvious pressure on Runmsfeld to resign that he did so becasue he knew that the only other option was that he get fired, and not only would that cancel his generous government pension and other benefits, but it would be seriously embarrassing to him, and it was presented to him that he either call it a day or have that happen, and being the arrogant and venal man that he is Rumsfeld elected to resign so he could have one last press conference and go out being lauded by Bush and have his insane ego stroked one last time. At that press conference, Runmsfeld essentialy said zilch as always, just that he'd keep the troops "in his prayers" and admitting no mistakes or regrets all the way to the bitter end, which officialy comes later on because they have to find his replacement, and seem to already have that ready, so Rummy will be exiting soon, probably as the calendar turns to 2007. many said that this represented "a great change" withing the Administration, that they were now serious about course change in Iraq, becaue that issue was the main one that Rumsfeld made so controversial by his actions, and that his resignation signaled a real change underway in Washington concerning the war. many are thrilled that the dude is stepping down , as they have been clamoring for his resignation almost from the first day he started working for the Administration and truly hate the guy. His brash, authoritarian style alienated many in America, his press conferences where he treated the press like a nuisance and used arrogant trems like "dead-enders" to describe the insurgents infurated many, as they saw him as unbeliveably arrogant and uncaring about what he was actually in charge of. The worse things went in Iraq, the more that these problems became glaring, but for  years, Bush said that it was all cool and that Rummy was his man and that he would stay right where he was until January 20, 2009, but that seemed to have changed real fast once election returns came in Tuesday night. Suddenly, Rummy was on the outs with no way back in, and it all looks very curious to many people  in America. This Administration is not known for change of any kind, let alone instantaneous ones, so why this went down like it did is puzzling many, just as most everything this Administration has ever done does.

   It sure looks like that unwavering support for Rummy was nowhere near as strong as Bush always said that it was, just the timing of all of this shows that. Just last week, he was stating his continued support for the dude, but less than 48 hours after the election, he accepts his resignation and has a replacement ready at that. To do that, he had to have that search well underway even as he stated that support for Rummy last week, so the idea was certainly not  a new one to him. Bush has had people in his fucking ear about that guy ever since day one, only Cheney is more controversial withing the Administration, and more and more of Bush's supporters have been jumping on that bandwagon  in recent times, and it looks like the  policial pressure finally became just too great and that Bush had to bow to it on order to save whatever support base he has left. The bases that he counted on for so long have been steadily eroding, and by the rate that they are going, there won't be shit left of any of that by January 20, 2009, and even though that is not far away, it is not yet tomorrow, and something had to be done before then, and Rummy's resigation was it. No matter ho wmuch Buish supported the dude, Iraq has gone from a major positive for the Administration, to a major negative due to the way things are going there. When you added Rumsfeld always going before the media and acting so fucking arrogant towards them and insisting that things were going smoothly all the time and then got bad battlefield news, that made it all worse. If that had been something that had only gone down once or twice, that would not have been so bad, but it became consistent year in and year out. Rumsfeld continualy looked like some kind of war profiteer that was way out of touch with the reality of the situation and was more concerned with his own massive ego and what he was getting out of the  war more than anything else. His repeated dismissals of anyhting negative made it lok like the man lived in a fairy tale land  and had little to no realization of just what it was that he was in charge of. As this went on year after year, it became increasinly hard for the Administration to justify any of it and to defend the dude. It was even impossible for Administration insiders to talk to the dude as he listened to no one except himself because he knew that he outranked even President Bush because he was friends with Bush's old man and that put him above reproach. As time went on, the policies and strategies that he used in Iraq made it seem as if that was all that he was concerned with and that the actual war was inconsequential to him. That got so many people in Washington pissed off real bad, and they just kept getting in President Bush's earholes, and he could only stall them off so long, and the elections Tuesday were the end of the line there. Bush knew that the Republicans were going to get their asses kicked badly that day, and he had a plan at the ready just for that, a plan to force out a very controversial and obstinate figure withing the Adminsitration. Runsfeld probably was told in advance that if the Republicans went down as expected, that he was going down too so he was ready come Thursday to step down at last.

   However, the fact that he stepped down does not mean shit in reality. A man as egomanical as Rummy would never have settled for that without putting up  a violent fight, one that he would have gone public with, for as far as he was concerned, he was not going anywhere unless you fucking physically pried him away. So why did he just accept this fact and not go apeshit like one would think that he would? He did so because he knew that his time was up not because he had failed at his job, but because he had accomplished evrything that  he was supposed to and  his job was done. He knew full well that there was no reason to stay on the job  until 2009, that he  could take early retirement, and that's exactly what he did. Although that retirement is only from government service, Donald Rumsfeld is far away from retiring totally. What he will do now is cash in on his government time and make himself  a very high priced free agent in the business world. He will offer his services and considerable connections to the highest bidder, and Mr. Businessman is going to open up the vaults for him and give him whatever he wants. The resuklts that he got and will continue to get in Iraq are utterly meaningless here, the main selling point that Rummy has is that he has infinite connections in Washington, going all the way to the White House itself, and those connections will continue no matter who gets elected in 2008. For Rummy got so high up  in theWashington scene that he will have high ranking connections f0r the next few decades, long enough to keep him getting large paychecks until he is really ready to retiure for real. These paychecks will dwarf  anything that he ever got in government service too, and that is the way that Donald Rumsfeld is going to cash in on the Iraq war. He was not in a position to steal shit directly like others are doing or to be paid off under the table like others either, The way that he was going to cash in on it all was to sell his connedtions and services when the time was right. That time had to start before January 20, 2009 too,because while Bush is still President is when Rummy can command the biggest bucks, because if Democrats get elected in 2008, Rummy still makes money, but not as much, so he has to start whilke Bush is still around to make sure. Since these last elections marked the official beginning of the Bush Administration as lame duck city, there's simply nothing left on the docket between now and 2009, Rummy knew that the optimume tim to leave was now so he could cash in big time. He knows that none of this shit aboiut him being broughht up on war crimes trials is going to happen ,and that once he is gone from the public eye on an everyday basis, that he'll be quickly forgotten by the American people, except for Mr. Businessman that is. That is all that Rummy wants to be remejmbered by anyway, he does not give a fuck if the average citizen remembers his name  two years from now, so he was ready to step down and probably did not have to be given that ultimatum by Bush after all because he has his money making shoes on now and is ready to roll.

   Whoever Bush picks as Rummy's replacement won't make much difference either, mainly because he wil not have anywhere near long enough tp make any significant impact. He will have approximately two years to work with when he takes over, and that is nothing in war terms, he won't be able to get anything real going  before it is time to go. That's just fine with the Administration, who wants it that way anyway. In fact, that's also why this change was made now, because the Administration knows that it ensures that there cannot be any real change over in Iraq before 2009 and that things will just keep going on the way that they already have, and that's perfect  for them. Whoever takes over for Rummy is merely a cosmetic change, someone that will be getting a big political favor from Bush because even the scant two years that he'll be in charge will be enough to grab him a big ass payday when he leaves too, and besides that, if the Republicans are elected in 2008, he might not have to go anywhere for a while and have the chance to set up the big score like Rummy did. All that he'll have to do is sit tight and not be so controversial like Rummy was, the start of  a war is the time for that, not once it is already well underway and he  makes out better than a bandit, the true Washington way. When things don't get  any better in Iraq, Bush can blame it on the leadership change and use his mantra about how everything takes time all the way until 2009.  That way  he gets to leave the White House with the war going exactly as he wanted it to, and that's the  way that he wants his legacy written, and now that he is a lame duck for real, he needs to start thinking about that legacy a lot more, and certainly is. That's why this whole resignation/change thing is just another doggy and pony show put on  by an Administration that is adept at doing that and intends to keep right on doing it until January 20, 2009 rolls around. What it does is ensure that nothing will change in Iraq rather than having everything change like the pundits are saying. It just buys more time and  not much more time needs to be bought anymore, so everything is goling very smoothly over Washington way, and that's why the election results do not mean jackshit in reality. Anyone that expects real change to come out of Rummy's resignation is barking up the wrong tree again because there shall be none forthcoming. Oh it looks good and gives the Administration's opponets something to crow about, and that's another thing that they want, to have the likes of Keith Olberman so busy crowing and gloating about this all over the place that they do not notice the reality of the situation until later on, when it will be way too late to do anything about it. So Bush and Rummy had no falling out over war policies or anything like that, and Bush did not bend to the protests of others. everything that happened these last few days has been a long time in the making and happened right on schedule. This was all supposed to go down the way that it did, making it one of the most meaningless gestures ever, one that makes Hollywood gestures look sincere. Unlike Hollywood shit however, this Washington nonsense is all too real and affects way too many others, so in reality it is only meaningless in the way that the media and pundits think it is, as it is very meaningful to those involved in it, and to them, they are the only ones that count anyway, and that means that it all has worked out perfectly once again.

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