August 15, 2007 – Capitol Hill Blue

Rumsfeld resigned before 2006 election

August 15, 2007

Donald Rumsfeld, architect of the unpopular Iraq war, resigned as defense secretary before last year’s November election but his decision was not announced until after the voting, according to his resignation letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

The letter was dated November 6, the day before voters, angered by Iraq, went to the polls and swept Republicans from power in Congress. According to a stamp on the letter, President George W. Bush saw it on election day.

Bush, however, did not announce that Rumsfeld would leave until the day after the election.

Rove’s legacy is nothing to be proud of

August 15, 2007

Karl Rove says he will not join any 2008 Presidential campaign.

That presupposes that anyone in their right mind would want the architect of the greatest Presidential disaster in history to do the same with their shot at the White House.

On the other hand, is anyone running for President in their right mind?

Rhetorical question at best.

Lies, damn lies and campaign claims

August 15, 2007

Republicans scream that Democratic Presidential wannabe Barack Obama has it wrong when it comes to civilians killings in Afghanistan.

Let’s see if we have this right. Republicans are claiming the upper hand on truth?

Cuts? What cuts?

August 15, 2007

Will multiple tours of duty in the combat zones of President George W. Bush’s wars be cut?

That’s a good question and the Army’s top general does not have the answer.

Or if he does he’s not telling anyone.

Thompson’s non-campaign

August 15, 2007

Fred Thompson may not be an announced candidate for office but that doesn’t stop him from acting like one.

Especially when it comes to asking for money.

Will Rove write a book?

August 15, 2007

Some in Washington say Karl Rove knows where the bodies are buried in the Bush administration.

Others say he’s the one who buried the bodies.

Still others say he should write a “tell all” book.

But who would believe him?

General claims troop surge is working

August 15, 2007

The thousands of extra US troops pumped into Iraq this year are aiding security, the US Army’s former commander there said Tuesday, as yet more bloody bombings were reported in the war-torn nation.

“Our guys are seeing progress on the security front,” General George Casey told reporters here after a weekend visit to Iraq. “The surge is having the intended military effect.”

Within hours of his comments, at least 200 people were reported killed and more than 200 wounded when four suicide truck bombs targeted people from an ancient religious sect in northern Iraq.

Hastert calls it quits

August 15, 2007

Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who served as speaker of the House longer than any other Republican in history, intends to retire next year at the end of his current term, party officials said Tuesday.

A formal announcement was planned for Friday.

Hastert’s planned retirement is likely to set off a lively scramble between the two political parties for a House seat that he has held easily since 1986.

The Iowa free food poll

August 15, 2007

And the Iowa Republican straw poll proves exactly what? That in politics money talks? But we knew that already.

Mitt Romney, who The Washington Post reckons spent $817 per vote, won with 31.5 percent of the vote. This is something less than a mandate, considering that only 14,300 showed up despite the candidates’ blandishments of transportation, free food and live music.

But it was not the decisive, clear-cut victory Romney had been hoping for, especially considering the millions he spent leading up to this highly artificial event.

Time to put 9/11 behind us

August 15, 2007

When Stu Bykofsky, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, wrote a column last week in which he openly hoped that America suffers “another 9/11,” he merely had the poor judgment to say what many a right-wing politician and pundit is thinking.