Just when it looked like the GOP might manage to hold on to both houses ... the November Surprise #1 pops forth ...

The Republicans stood to pick up a seat or two that went down the tubes over the past two or three days and then George W. Bush spoke ... and ... yup! He managed to even top John Kerry.

I was on my way into Aberdeen to fill out a million more forms relative to my job out at "the place" when my ears suddenly heard the President's voice on the local "news" (a.k.a. right-wing talk) station. Thank you 1450 AM !!!

He was really only answering a question, but he made it abundantly clear that he wants and expects both Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney to remain in their jobs until his term is over. If ever there was a case for shortening that term, Mr. Bush provided all the evidence that this old man needs. Interesting, isn't it? While his poll numbers aren't particularly good, they are still about twice those for either Rummy or the Vice Prince of Darkness (as several of the more liberal talking heads refer to the VP).

[By the way, I didn't even realize that Mr. Cheney's neck was on Bush's chopping block until Mr. Bush made his statement; I thought it was only Mr. Rumsfeld who was in some kind of "danger" of losing his job.]

My brother Richard from Connecticut is just about right on target when he says that this politician or that politician should just keep his or her mouth shut (Rummy, Kerry, Lieberman, Pelosi, Dean, etc.), but if any politician should keep his mouth shut about either Iraq or the devilish duo (Rummy and Cheney), my brother would agree it should be Mr. Bush. The last thing the Republicans want mentioned this week and during the coming weekend is Iraq. And now first, we have Kerry's one-liner that the GOP can't shut up about (reminding voters about Iraq) and then his own (the President's) decision to announce to the world that he wants Rummy and Cheney -- the architects of the broken war in Iraq -- around to the finish.

Not a one of them ... Bush or Rummy or Cheney ... can answer the question: "How do you define winning the war in Iraq?" Now, the question will be asked of dozens of persons running for either the US Senate or the House of Representatives. That's because Mr. Bush included the insane answer, "Absolutely, we're winning" in answer to a question about how the war in Iraq was going during the same White House interview. And he's sure of it because that's what he's being told by ... Rummy and Cheney, of course. (He obviously didn't stop and contemplate the meaning of 105 American soldiers dying in Iraq in October alone, did he?)

As most of you know, I own ... ummm ... [number is classified] ... kitties and often have to decide whether it's time to clean one or more of the eleven kitty litter boxes/pans that I have around my little cabin in the woods. Even the raccoons peeking in my front window know when it's time for me to clean one or more of the kitty litters.



Why can't Mr. Bush see what the raccoons at my front window see so clearly?

Last week, I saw on one of the Cable News channels that Cheney's national approval rating stood at 19% and Rumsfeld's was at 16%. Rummy is about as admired as the mold that forms under old linoleum under my back toilet and his ability to develop a winning war strategy for Iraq matches my ability to appreciate the random patterns of cat feces in the kitty litters that I have to clean daily.

But it was what Mr. Bush said today that is the issue.

At least I clean the kitty litters, Mr. Bush! It's time you cleaned the filthy kitty litters that you have throughout the White House, the Pentagon and ... oh yes, while you're at it, check those at the Department of Justice ... independent of which political party controls either or both of the Houses of Congress in January.

Start by asking Mr. Rumsfeld to resign ... and, in so doing, start supporting our troops in Iraq! No one want to be the last American soldier to die in a broken civil war between Sunnis and Shi'ites who have been fighting for centuries ... in a country a million miles from their families that wasn't even related to the attacks on 9/11. It's no wonder that Mr. Bush hasn't attended a military funeral; he doesn't know how to answer the grieving relatives' primary question .... "Why?"