If the usual rule of two-term Presidents holds true, the second-term Cabinet appointees will be second-tier as well. With the departure of Tommy Thompson from HHS, heaven help us. I'm willing to say he was well-meaning. I can't wait to see which Big Pharma lobbyist takes his place. Couple this with Condi Rice's appointment at State and Kerik at Homeland Security, and then imagine that Gale Norton might step down at Interior. Her replacement would no doubt be a CEO from the mining or lumber industry.
The one characteristic all these replacements do have, it seems, is absolutely fealty to George W. Bush. I just finished reading Edmund Morris's Theodore Rex; he was another President who valued loyalty above almost anything else. On the other hand, Roosevelt did manage to acquire the Panama Canal; Bush's legacy will be a trillion-dollar deficit, near-universal hatred for the United States, and a thoroughly trashed military.
Update: Rumsfeld stays. Great. The only thing better would be for Wolfowitz and Feith to stick around, too.
Posted by Linkmeister at December 3, 2004 12:04 PM