from Newsweek
Big week, obviously, with the big story being the midterms and the Democrats sweep to victory on a wave of national dissatisfaction with George Bush, the Republicans, the war in Iraq and the steady flow of scandal, corruption and half-truths from the GOP halls of power. Of course, over that week the story has shifted somewhat from the Democrats back to the Bush administration with the day-after announcement that Donald Rumsfeld would be stepping down after all. That may have been an attempt by the White House to take some control of the story back — look at us, we're busy, we're responsive, we're still the ones actually doing something — but Newsweek's cover take dispenses with that storyline and essentially takes this whole week back to a guy who was president a decade and a half ago. (Typically, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham takes it back even further, dropping a little Scripture on us with a shout-out to Deuteronomy 32:7: "Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father, and he will show thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee"). Most interesting is the backstory of how Rummy replacement Robert Gates was re-recruited, the Sunday before the election, while Bush was proclaiming Rummy's job security to the press and the nation. Jon Meacham, you might have pointed out that this broke a Commandment.
Time also has an analysis of the Bush 41 "intervention" here, including a diss rooted in Greek mythology. Newsweeklies are cultured!
Also, Maureen Dowd gets to say "I told you so" here: "Poppy Bush and James Baker gave Sonny the presidency to play with and he broke it. So now they're taking it back."
*Just as relevant, though, is Deuteronomy 32:10 about how Bush 43 protected Rumsfeld: "And in the waste howling wilderness; He compassed him about, he cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye." Well, we all know where that got Moses, don't we? A one-way ticket up Mount Nebo. Your move, Meacham.
