Senator McCain and Biden et al: I'm not going anywhere because I work for the President of the United States, not you blowhards in the Senate!
Posted on 12/20/2004 4:37:21 AM PST by crushelits
Stay.
No one else has the gonads to do the job he does.
The only ones who want him gone are the anti-war liberals and the idiots who listen to them.
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stay.
Kristol is a weenie. I want to know the truth in unvarnished language. Rummy gets it done.
This new attack about the signing of the letters is bunk too. If he wasn't doing such a good job, he would not be able to sign the 10s of thousands of letters we would have to write.
Since when does the SecDef write the letter? It used to be the person's company commander.
Personal Opinion - I like it best when he shoots from the hip. I think it drives the Libs crazy when he and Cheney speak their minds in clear unvarnished terms. Who can forget "...going to war without the French is like going duck hunting without your accordian." (My personal favorite quote of the past four years!)
He should stay. The Dems and ego-driven Republicans are not leaders. Bush is, and he CANNOT allow the country to be led by liberal consensus. As for Kristol. Does anyone remember how he stabbed Bob Dole in the back during his campaign? And did anyone notice on election night that he went from explaining all the reasons why Bush was probably losing ( while the exit polls were coming in ), then went to telling us how Bush won, after the real results started coming in? He is not the genius many think he is, and attaches too much importance to his opinions. ( my opinion ) Am I alone here?
I agree...However he has to use caution so that his remarks do not have to "clarified" by Bush. He had an excellent chance to hang the shortage etc on Clinton.
He needs to see this Iraq thing through.
Hoping the Media/Democrat/Socialist crocodile will eat Rumsfeld first. Those Senatorial representatives of the Gutless Order of Poltroons will say anything that gets them a short-term pat on the head from the media - without ever considering that in the long run, the media will still devour them, too.
I hope he not only stays but that he comes out fighting, and verbally crushes the people who are doing this to him, as only Donald Rumsfeld can crush them. Or maybe demolishes AND obliterates are even better words...
He, he, he...
Senator McCain and Biden et al: I'm not going anywhere because I work for the President of the United States, not you blowhards in the Senate!
GO!!
STAY!
Who would you choose to replace him? I think Rummy is head and shoulders above any one else I can think of for the job.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not personally sign his name on letters of condolence to families of troops killed in Iraq but instead had it done by a machine, an action lawmakers said on Sunday showed insensitivity and was inappropriate for leadership during war.
Rumsfeld acknowledged that he had not signed the letters to family members of more than 1,000 U.S. troops killed in action and in a statement said he would now sign them in his own hand. "This issue of the secretary of Defense not personally signing the letters is just astounding to me and it does reflect how out of touch they are and how dismissive they are," Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"I have no confidence in Rumsfeld," Hagel added.
Rumsfeld has been under strong fire from Democrats and some Republicans recently for appearing to brush off concerns of soldiers about the lack of protective equipment in Iraq.
But President Bush's Chief of Staff Andrew Card emphasized White House support for Rumsfeld on Sunday.
He "is doing a spectacular job, and the president has great confidence in him," Card told ABC's "This Week" program.
Hagel noted that the families of the troops killed in Iraq have received letters signed by Bush.
"My goodness, that is the least we can expect the secretary of Defense ... If the president can find the time to do that why can't the secretary of Defense?" said Hagel, who has been a sharp critic of the way Bush has handled the Iraq war.
Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island said family members of those killed, "would like to think that at least for a moment the secretary thought about individually this young man or this young woman."
"Again it shows a lack of leadership style appropriate for the military ... This goes to his capability to continue to serve."
However, Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, said that while "this is another area in which the secretary is being insensitive," the action did not "go to his leadership."
AUTOPEN RETIRED
"I wrote and approved the now more than 1,000 letters sent to family members and next of kin of each of the servicemen and women killed in military action," Rumsfeld said in a statement on Sunday."
"While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter."
Rumsfeld got himself into trouble earlier this month by appearing to brush off a soldier headed to Iraq who complained that military vehicles did not have sufficient armor and troops were having to piece together scraps of metal for extra protections.
Some prominent Republicans including Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott have questioned his performance, leading the White House to come to his defense on Friday with a statement that he was "doing a great job."
Among the critics, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar expressed concern on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that removing him from office could threaten national security.
"He should be held accountable and he should stay in office," the Indiana Republican senator said. "The fact is a change of leadership in the Pentagon at this point might be as disruptive as trying to get someone in Homeland Defense," he added.
Military families told the Stars and Stripes newspaper, which first carried the story, that the machine-signed letters reflected a lack of respect for the losses the families had suffered.
"To me it's an insult, not only as someone who lost a loved one but also as someone who served in Iraq," Army Spc. Ivan Medina whose brother Irving was killed in Iraq this summer, told the newspaper.
Cm'on harrowup.........he got into a hornet's nest at the Pentagon.........political correctness, shortages, hand-holders, back stabbers to say the least. Rum is stepping on toes like I said, and I wish him well!
He’s not very liked abroad because he’s fairly direct and won’t hold back. Comments like “Axis of weasels” and “Old Europe”, resonated through Europe and hit a nerve.
He is despised by some in the DoD. Though for the right reasons and in the long run the best choice, he stepped on a lot of toes when he cancelled Comanche and Crusader. The fact that he wants to cut the number of divisions (NOT TOTAL END STRENGHT as the media wrongly reports) means that we have less chiefs and more Indians. There is no need for 10 division HQ’s within the Army. This also means that we don’t need as many one star and two star billets. Not a good thing for the career minded officer who wants to see many stars on his shoulder.
The media don’t like him for two reasons. He does not cater to them. They expect and demand to have smoke blown up you know where. They are predominantly liberal, he’s an arch conservative and runs a branch of government which has a mission they ideologically oppose. The media denies a liberal slant, but about 80% of journalists voted Democrat.
He’s an easy target actually. Remember, when you’re dealing with multiple conflicts in multiple places over a long time, executed by millions in uniform you can always find someone somewhere who did something wrong. There are easy and graphic pictures to get a hold of. The consequences are great and the American attention span short. It’s easy to find a disgruntled soldier who does not want to go or stay (140,000 in Iraq just this rotation right now). It’s easy to paint it black and point the finger at him.
Rumsfeld HAS vision and he HAS the courage and will to push this vision through. He IS a leader. He is what this nation needs. After 8 years of blood letting (Peace Dividend) under the Democrats, led by a decent SECDEF (Cohen) but an administration completely void of any concept the military just went on its merry way without adapting or adjusting to the changes in threats. Terrorism and limited conflicts are not new. Yet we maintained this “Cold War” architecture until Bush/Rumsfeld came in. Only now is there serious talk backed with action when we are talking transformation within the DoD.
One question to those who now are after Rumsfeld. Do you think in WW2, Korea, Vietnam the SECDEF signed all letters of condolences?
This whole issue of him using a signing machine is a cheap jab at him.
Red6
This just in: Charlie Rangel says we should go to war with the Army we don't have.
He's an irrelevant bastard good for nothing.
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