[Sabramerican]

The Neo Isolationist "Realists" are back from Bush 1. Perpare to surrender the War on Islamic Facisim.

The problem in fact is that they have been in charge for the past two years- in the person of Rice and Co..

That's not to say that the next two years- with the return of the Godfather- James Baker- are not going to be worse.

Rumsfeld and Cheney provided some balance. This act of firing Rumsfeld says Cheney's views are no longer considered.

[George W. Bush]

This act of firing Rumsfeld says Cheney's views are no longer considered.

Not at all. It cleared the decks of the imminent hearings Rumsfeld would have had to suffer through. Not good for him, not good for Bush, not good for the military.

This takes the anti-Rumsfeld thing away from the Dims. They'll have some hearings but they can't go into the kind of excruciating stuff they were planning.

Shrewd move. Bush cut his losses here. And Cheney's influence is unchanged. Those two are very very close.

Far more likely we'll see Condi shoved out the door. Personally, that would be my preference.