March 28, 2006Card Steps DownParticularly if this is a harbinger of more staffing changes to come, it's certainly a positive development. Regular readers doubtless know very well another key Administration player I think is ripe for a similar step-down. It's the one who recently appears to have given Karen Hughes, albeit indirectly, a D to D plus on her job performance. Even if he's right, I'd take the criticism much more seriously if he had provided a few shreds of plausible constructive suggestions as alternative approach. After all, aside from repeatedly telling us that al-Qaeda has a media committee and such, he hasn't mustered up much. Quite the contrary. He is partly responsible, via many of the policies he has personally cheer-led these past years, for why we are faring so badly in the ideological struggle against terrorism. P.S. I was pushing for Bush to consider appointing a new Chief of Staff way back in October in the pages of this blog. This is nothing personal to Andrew Card, who strikes me as a very decent man who served his country now some five and a half years in what is doubtless one of the half dozen or so most demanding jobs in Washington. But this is an exceedingly long time period for this exhausting post, particularly in the crushing constant media cycles and ginned up 'crises' modern White Houses are subjected to it seems weekly, and so today's decision (albeit a belated one) should be welcomed. Especially, as I said, if it leads to further staffing changes. Posted by Gregory at March 28, 2006 01:47 PM | TrackBack (0)Comments
Maybe it's a good move. But, Bush is still promoting from within the ranks. Condi. Hadley. The Boltons. I'm not thrilled with this. Card's been in trade rumors for most of the season, too. Posted by: Chris at March 28, 2006 08:24 PM | Permalink to this commentGreg, Bremer is only one case of many, but I am sure that when the history of the Iraq war is written, the abysmal managerial skills of Bush will be a prime topic. It is quite sad to see such a smart person not acknowledge the reality of Bush's monumental incompetence, and the need to remove him from office. Trent Lott this morning said he wants a lot more than just this one "move". Posted by: Chris at March 29, 2006 03:31 PM | Permalink to this commentwhy do the words "deck chairs" and "Titanic" keep popping into my consciousness whenever I think about this announcement.... Posted by: p.lukasiak at March 29, 2006 05:24 PM | Permalink to this commentwhy do the words "deck chairs" and "Titanic" keep popping into my consciousness whenever I think about this announcement.... Perhaps because that was Chuck Schumer's reaction to the news. Frankly I feel much better knowing that the guy in charge of "managing" our 9 billion dollar debt (increased by 50% in just five years) is now in charge of reading news stories to Bush. Posted by: Davebo at March 29, 2006 07:38 PM | Permalink to this comment |
About Belgravia Dispatch
Gregory Djerejian, an international lawyer and business executive, comments intermittently on global politics, finance & diplomacy at this site. The views expressed herein are solely his own and do not represent those of any organization. More About the Author Email the Author Recent Entries
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