Rumsfeld

Should Donald Rumsfeld be made to walk the plank if the elections go badly next week for the GOP?  I think as a matter of honour he should have gone by now. Iraq has been disastrously handled and though it may not all be his fault, he's far and away the most obvious candidate to take responsibility.  His removal might also facilitate a change of direction.

Will Bush fire him? That's a very different question.

I doubt it and not just because of what the president said yesterday.  The next year could be a very uncomfortable one politically for the administration. If Republicans take congress next week, they will harry and press the administration to excruciating effect over its conduct of the Iraq war., It could get very ugly. If I were president I'd want a firewall to protect me from the better-targeted flares of the Democrats. Rumsfeld is that firewall. If you let him fall now, the attacks go directly to Bush and Cheney - the last thing the White House wants.  Let Rummy take the heat for as long as he can stand it - and then drop him.

It's a kind of torture, I know.  But if you think about it, that might be rather appropriate. More importantly, as a political survival strategy for the White House it can't be bettered.