rum punch

frick. i said i wasn't going to write about rummy...but apparently i can't help myself.

where to begin?

as secretary of defense, donald rumsfeld is smug, incompetent and indifferent--classic characteristics of a bush cabinet member.

on rummy's watch, the war in iraq has devolved from unjustified and ill-conceived to a daily train wreck of immorality and unstemmed violence. ask yourself: how is it possible that following the act of saddam hussein, the u.s. is now considered the bad guys in this drama? mind you, this nauseating turn of events has occurred after the administration declared an "end to major hostilities" and "mission accomplished."

to sum up, rummy's "plan" entailed too few troops to secure the country, insufficient equipment to support those troops, and no exit strategy. the capper? he couldn't be bothered to sign the condolence letters to the families of troops killed supporting his folly.

in the face of all this, as widely reported, several "influential" republican senators are still backing rumsfeld. the rationale is that "a change in pentagon leadership would be unwise at this time of war in iraq."

oh. of course. we wouldn't want to change the leadership that has done such a bang-up job to this point, would we? it makes one wonder what rummy would have to do, how much more egregiously he would have to screw up, to be handed over to the justice department. (tsk, except the attorney general in charge of torture would probably just hand him back a "medal of freedom.")

frankly, if any of us did our jobs the way rummy has done his, we'd be up on charges. a mob would be pounding at the jailhouse door, carting a large tree and waving a noose.

but this administration stumbles blithely forward. or sideways. or backwards. it's hard to tell from one day to the next.

meanwhile, thankfully, some republicans recently have seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and recognized it as a train. in the past week senators mccain, hagel, collins and lott collectively expressed "no confidence" in rumsfeld. this break from the party line is significant in that while rumsfeld is a problem for us all, he is a monster of the republicans' making. and he is theirs to bring down.

that prospect is appealing for obvious reasons, not the least of which is the unqualified support rumsfeld still enjoys from the white house. according to chief of staff andrew card, "secretary rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job, and the president has great confidence in him."

uh-huh. that figures. the job rumsfeld is doing is every bit as impressive as the job done on us by the president.

meanwhile the grinder in iraq is running full bore. good people are dying, and doing so at the bidding of people who have no business taking orders at a drive-through window, let alone giving orders that are a matter of life and death.

rummy is clearly punch drunk. it's past time to kick him to the curb.