Exodus expected at White House (staff if * wins)

[Nambe]

By Bill Nichols, USA TODAY

The Bush administration, particularly in its highest echelons, has been remarkably free of major personnel changes and has managed to keep most of the president's key national security advisers intact.

But if Bush wins a second term, presidential historians say that trend will change, and fast. ..

• Rice has broadly hinted that she will leave her post if Bush is re-elected, but there are no clear indications of what she might do next. Some friends think she'll return to California and pursue a political career there. Others think she would accept a Cabinet post, possibly Defense or State. ..

• State Department officials that Powell is a virtual certainty to leave government along with his chief deputy and longtime friend, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Potential successors mentioned most often: United Nations Ambassador John Danforth, a former Missouri senator; former chief U.S. administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer and Rice.

• Rumsfeld is viewed as likely to leave, though some administration officials and defense experts say he could hang tough for a while in order to defy Democratic calls for his resignation over the Iraqi prisoner scandal and the Iraq war. ..

Ride Don’t Drive * * It’s Global Cool

[LauraK]

1. Nice lead Bill Nichols. I like the way you think.

But don't do that again.

[slojim240]

2. And hopefully, Feith, Wolfowitz, and Perle will be behing bars along with

a few others.

[DulceDecorum]

5. Iraq owes the US

for all they have done for them.
Since the prisons in the US are overcrowded,
I honestly think that Iraq should offer to accomodate any and all persons who are convicted in the us of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Iraq should also find space within the walls of Abu Graib for those convicted of war crimes.
I think Iraq owes the US that much, at the very least.

[MidwestTransplant]

3. I predict a complete turnover after Jan 20th 2005.

[krkaufman]

11. Exactly.

The article is moot.

[onehandle]

4. Smokescreen. They're covering the fact that they are All.....

....looking for new gigs.

Toast.

[BrotherBuzz]

10. Aw, give them a little wiggle room to save face....

Not!

[Wabbajack]

6. Zell

Secretary of whatever the hell he wants whether he's qualified or not.

And token Dem Norm Mineta will surely be going bye bye.

[Gin]

7. the cabal has already gotten what they wanted....Iraq....tons of money

for their friends...looted the treasury...so why stick around?

[burrowowl]

9. Exactly

They need to go back to the private sector to collect all that money 'legally' for themselves.

[Zan_of_Texas]

8. not totally true that the admin. is intact.

In the first year of the Bush admin., the head of FERC was replaced. The guy objected to some of the California energy crisis shenanigans, and a man personally picked by Ken Lay became head of FERC. He is still there, "investigating" Enron and the fixing of natural gas prices. Yeah, right.

Also, the Treasury guy left, wrote a book -- remember Paul O'Neill?

Also, most of the heads of the armed forces left or switched posts. (Civilian heads of Army, other posts).

Tenet resigned.

Personnel in Iraq (not the fighting personnel, the leadership) have revolved faster than the revolving door between government and defense contractors.

That's just off the top of my head.

[krkaufman]

12. EPA's Whitman and Larry Lindsay also gone

http://money.cnn.com/2002/12/06/news/oneill/
Dec 6, 2002 -- O'Neill and Lindsay on the same day

[struggle4progress]

13. Through the revolving door, into industry, to collect the payola. eom

[Zorra]

14. Exodus? Don't they mean flight to avoid prosecution? n/t

[Dem2theMax]

15. Oh no she doesn't. Quick, Californians, start building a fence.

Just in case. ;) Arnold is bad enough. Rice too? I'd be :crazy: in seconds.

[0rganism]

16. Let's save them the trouble of picking and choosing

It's all so much easier if bush goes back to Crawford in January.

[Carla in Ca]

17. If I get my way

they will ALL be gone