Maybe I'm too much of a geek but the name "Bob Gates" brings to mind another Gates who runs a certain evil software company who I do my best to avoid. Anyway, before one spends all their energy cheering the departure of Rumsfeld from power one ought to think about Bob Gates, his anointed replacement. It's been long enough since last hearing his name that I'd forgotten what he'd been involved with in the past. It seems he is another in the string of Bush appointments that veer to the dark side of the Force.
Fortunately Democracy Now has a long memory. Their show of November 9, 2006 is a great non-mainstream analysis of the power shift, and in particular remembering the prior history of Mr. Gates. When he was proposed as Director of Central Intelligence by GHW Bush (#41) he received more NO votes than all the prior DCI appointments before him. During the 1980's he was heavily involved in the impeachable Iran-Contra activities, that directly violated laws passed by Congress which directly demanded that Administration not do what they ended up doing. Oh, and to enrich the irony the Nicaraguan leader that the Reagan administration was fighting, Daniel Ortega, has just been re-elected as President of Nicaragua. And finally on the show they allege he was involved with politically skewed Intelligence, rather than presenting Intelligence that shows the Truth whatever the Truth actually is.
If true, and if this fellow is accepted by Congress, then we can look forward to a couple more years of irresponsible leadership at the Pentagon. Oh, and the Bush Administration wants this appointment to be handled by Congress during the "lame-duck" session that happens before the swearing in ceremonies in January. It is during this lame duck session that Congress is still Republican-controlled and despite the sweeping rejection of the Bush agenda, that isn't in legal effect until the new Congress is sitting.
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