The Moose comments on the dog that hasn't barked.
In the immediate aftermath of the November election, there was much chatter about the need for the Bush Administration to reach out to Democrats. As cabinet members depart the Administration en masse in the post-election massacre, there is so far no hint that any Democrats will move in. Of course, the Moose overlooks Norm Mineta who is holding out at the DOT. Perhaps the West Wing forgot about him.
On his way out the door, HHS Secretary Thompson departed with a comforting thought,
"I, for the life of me, cannot understand why the terrorists have not, you know, attacked our food supply, because it is so easy to do," Thompson said. "And we are importing a lot of food from the Middle East, and it would be easy to tamper with that."
So thanks alot Mr. Secretary. Now you tell us. (Note to self - avoid the hummus dip at the office Christmas party).
Despite the mass exodus, the incompetent one remains -Rummy. All that happened on his watch was an abysmal post-war plan and a prison scandal. This confirms that the only ones held accountable in this Administration are welfare mothers and struggling third grade students. For them, standards and accountability apply. For Rumsfeld, he is just passed along to the next grade (or term) regardless of his performance.
Holy Molly, even in Texas high school football, they have no pass, no play! Goodness gracious, Mr. President, you should know that if a kid had Rummy's record he would not be allowed to quarterback for the Crawford High School Pirates much less run the biggest defense establishment in the world!
On the policy front, it doesn't appear that there is going to be any reaching out, either. It looks like the old time religion will be the hallmark of the second term, as it was in the first. Indeed, the second term agenda appears to have been developed in a Wednesday Morning breakfast meeting of the Grover Norquist crowd - social security privatization, more tax cuts for the comfortable and tort reform.
Expect some soothing and soaring bi-partisan rhetoric in the President's inaugural address. However, what really counts is the implementation of what the Moose has called the "Conan the Republican" program - the elephant truly wants to hear the lamentations of the Democrats.
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