Rumsfeld Stepping Down

Thank goodness. The worst defence secretary in American history is on his way out. Rumsfeld leaves behind him a broken, hobbled military, badly overburdened and humiliated by an enemy it can't defeat - an enemy it might not be facing if he had listened to his generals rather than trying to prove his vision for a new kind of military. He'll be replaced by Robert Gates, CIA director under....you guessed it! Bush's father. He likes to keep it in the family.

As an aside, I particularly liked at the news conference when Bush announced this that he said that some of the results were a product of people wanting honesty and integrity in their legislators. Perfect.

I'm also quite happy to see that it looks like the Democrats will take the Senate, now that Montana has been called in their favour, and Virginia is unlikely to swing back to Allen in the absentee ballots. It's a good day for the U.S. in many ways. But it was disheartening that the racist attack ad against Harold Ford Jr. worked to elect Bob Corker in Tenesee. Some things don't change, like the fundamental racism of the U.S. South.