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Bush Admin. Shake-up -- Walk Our or Pushed?

dsm

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With the total now at 8 of 15 cabinet secretaries (and climbing), what is the belief about why so many are leaving in such a short period of time? Were they all people who decided to leave on their own or were they (mostly?) pushed (even subtly)?

I don't remember other cabinets in recent decades being so shaken up in such a short period of time, but my memory could be failing. Someone remind me if I'm wrong.
 
- I honestly don't know. I'd like to believe they're all scampering off the ship before it sinks, but I can't say that's what they all had in mind.

- What I do believe is that Powell left after about 3 years of having made up his mind to split (at the end of the term). I believe Powell was duped into coming on board the Bush administration as nothing but a figurehead and then abandoned as being too critical of Lord W. Powell, being duty-minded, stayed at his post the entire time despite being treated like a stupid ****** by the rest of the administration, and now he's taking what's left of his dignity and leaving.

- I'm kind of sorry to see him laid low like this, but I also understand his sense of duty in not leaving sooner.

{edit} Evidently "the N word" is too much for us to handle. Meh.
 
dsm said:
With the total now at 8 of 15 cabinet secretaries (and climbing), what is the belief about why so many are leaving in such a short period of time? Were they all people who decided to leave on their own or were they (mostly?) pushed (even subtly)?

I don't remember other cabinets in recent decades being so shaken up in such a short period of time, but my memory could be failing. Someone remind me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Other than Powell, Ashcroft and Ridge, I don't know much about the departing beaurocrats, but the biggest screw-up of all (other than Bush and Cheney), Rumsfeld, is apparently firmly entrenched. Incompetence is rewarded again.
 
I don't know that the magnitude is particularly impressive - cabinets often change up a reasonable amount after reelection (partially because, hey, it's hard work).

What is distressing is how the Bush administration is clearly making its decisions entirely on the basis of (1) symbolism and (2) how likely said cabinet members are to straightforwardly repeat back to Bush what he wants to hear instead of, you know, advising him.
 
It's not unusual. All POTUS's cabinets change quite a bit. Here's a list of Clinton's cabinet members for example.
 
WildCat said:
It's not unusual. All POTUS's cabinets change quite a bit. Here's a list of Clinton's cabinet members for example.
Click to expand...

Yes, they all change over time. It's the speed of change that's going on now that I find interesting. I mean, if Bush hadn't put pressure on him, Rumsfeld might've been number 9 in the space of 3 months.
 
dsm said:
Yes, they all change over time. It's the speed of change that's going on now that I find interesting. I mean, if Bush hadn't put pressure on him, Rumsfeld might've been number 9 in the space of 3 months.
Click to expand...
Speed? Clinton had 7 jump after his first term, and 5 jumped well before his first term was up.

They're stressful jobs, what's remarkable is that Bush kept it together as long as he did.
 
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