Hard bruising truth

In a joint editorial on Monday, all four military service papers are demanding that Donald Rumsfeld resign. The piece is absolutely scathing. Given the state of affairs in Iraq and Afghanistan, any sane President would have dumped the Secretary quite some time ago. From the article:

Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress and with the public at large. His strategy has failed, and his ability to lead is compromised. And although the blame for our failures in Iraq rests with the secretary, it will be the troops who bear its brunt.

This is not about the midterm elections. Regardless of which party wins Nov. 7, the time has come, Mr. President, to face the hard bruising truth:

Donald Rumsfeld must go.

This comes at an especially bad time for Bush; the day before an election in which the GOP is not going to fair well. And this past week, our boy George reiterated his support for Rummy and emphasized his desire to have him stay on for the duration of his term. It is hard to see how Rumsfeld survives this except for the fact that Bush is the most stubborn and arrogant man to ever occupy the Oval Office. So Bush will undoubtedly stay the course with Rumsfeld and as the article says, it will be the troops that bear the burden of the President’s intransigence.