SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : I Will Continue to Continue, to Pretend....

 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: Sully- who wrote (19003)3/30/2006 10:12:54 AM
From: Sully-   of 35834
 
Don't Shake Up the White House On My Account

Posted by John
Power Line

Dick Polman of the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain has a column on Andy Card's resignation that I assume has run in a number of papers. The column's theme is that the replacement of Card by Josh Bolten isn't much of a change and won't satisfy those who have been calling on President Bush to clean house. Polman contrasts Ronald Reagan's 1987 staff shakeup with Card's replacement:

<<< Reagan's shake-up is prominent in the history books; the more minimal Bush response won't resonate nearly as much. After John Hinderaker, a lawyer and conservative blogger, heard the news, he headed his online remarks with one word: "Yawn." And he wrote: "I doubt that the change will make any difference, except maybe cosmetically." >>>

I'm flattered to be accorded this prominence, but I do want to distinguish my reaction from that of Fred Barnes and others who are quoted later. Unlike Barnes and some other pundits (both friendly and unfriendly to the administration), I don't think there is any particular need for a staff shakeup. I think that while Barnes' call for resignations by such stalwarts as Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney is well-intended, as a practical matter, such a course would be disastrous. Major changes in Executive Branch staffing at this point would only reinforce the claims made by the administration's critics.

President Bush thinks we are on the right course in Iraq and elsewhere; so do I. That being the case, the last thing he should do is fire effective leaders like Rumsfeld in what would surely be a futile effort to satisfy his critics or create an illusion of "change."

One more point: Polman and many others assume that Bush dismissed Card and replaced him with Bolten. That may well be true, but I'm not aware of any evidence to that effect. One persistent report is that Card resigned in order to join Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign. Again, I have no idea whether that's true or not; my point is that it's unwarranted to assume that every time a significant Executive Branch official resigns, he's been fired.

powerlineblog.com

seattletimes.nwsource.com
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext