Resign, Rummy

Why the obsession?

For some, it's as if their purpose in life is to see to it that Donald Rumsfeld steps down.

It's weird.

Retired generals calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation are garnering a lot of attention. It must have something to do with their supposed credibility. (That means you should ignore the fact that a general might insist on Rumsfeld’s resignation when he’s making the rounds hawking a new book.)

WASHINGTON -- If calls by retired generals for his resignation disturb Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, he wasn't showing it Tuesday.

"No," Rumsfeld replied sternly when asked in a Pentagon briefing if the critics were affecting his ability to do his job.

"When you're involved in something that's controversial, as certainly this war is, one ought to expect that," he said. "It's historic, it's always been the case, and I see nothing really very new or surprising about it."

Others see it as remarkable that yet another top officer, retired Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, former operations director for the Pentagon's Joint Staff, has publicly urged his former boss to resign over his handling of the Iraq war.

Newbold's essay in Time magazine, published Sunday, follows similar calls by retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, former head of U.S. Central Command, and retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who ran the training of Iraqi troops in 2003-04.

…Bush continues to express confidence in Rumsfeld. And when asked last month about demands he step down, Rumsfeld said that "the president has asked me not to get involved in politics, and that's politics."

The latest criticism, however, comes from former officers with no obvious political motives, though Zinni has offered his views on Rumsfeld during interviews to promote a new book.

No obvious political motives?

Uh, sure.

Do these critics really think that a different Secretary of Defense is the answer?

Some of the resignation calls seem to be rooted in personal vendettas more than anything else.

Others are harder to explain.

For example, in Tim Russert’s case, his obsession with Rummy is borderline pathological. The man has been pushing for Rumsfeld to resign for years!

It makes me wonder if they had a falling out sometime. Did Rumsfeld show up to be on Meet the Press and he was abrupt with Russert? Is there personal friction, perhaps because Rumsfeld makes Russert look stupid?

Who knows? It’s all speculation on my part. What's not speculation is that Russert's crusade to get Rumsfeld to step down has a long, and up to this point, unsuccessful history.

Let’s review the Meet the Press files. Russert cannot quit talking about Rumsfeld's resignation. It's like a sickness with Russert.

On May 9, 2004, Russert had "Sen. John Warner, (R-Va.), Chairman, Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin, (D-Mich.), Ranking Member, Armed Services Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.), Armed Services Committee, Gen. Wesley Clark (Retired)" as his guests.

The Rummy resignation topic received extensive consideration. At that time, the Iraq war had been going on for just over a year.

Check out these excerpts.

MR. RUSSERT: Secretary Rumsfeld has written throughout his career "Rumsfeld's Rules" and this is one of them: "Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance."
General Clark, do you think Secretary Rumsfeld should resign?

GEN. CLARK: … I think it would be very patriotic if Secretary Rumsfeld resigned.

...

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Graham, would it be patriotic for Secretary Rumsfeld to resign?

SEN. GRAHAM: I think Secretary Rumsfeld has been an effective secretary of defense… Let me talk one minute about the law.

MR. RUSSERT: What about Secretary Rumsfeld? Should he stay?

SEN. GRAHAM: I think Secretary Rumsfeld should stay if he believes he can be effective. I think he can be effective…

...

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Levin, what's your sense of Secretary Rumsfeld? Can he continue to be effective as secretary of defense or should he step down?

SEN. LEVIN: If I thought there'd be a policy change as a result of his stepping down, I'd call for it… I'm not calling for Rumsfeld's removal because I think that would not represent a change in the direction in reaching out to other countries and a correction of the many errors of mismanagement that have taken place during this war.

...

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Warner, do you believe Secretary Rumsfeld will survive this?

SEN. WARNER: Well, I'd like to answer in the following way. I've known Rumsfeld for many years. When I was secretary of the Navy, I served under three secretaries of defense and in the 25 years I've been in the Senate, I've worked all--with the others. This secretary, Don Rumsfeld, is a man of conscience. He's strong. He's effective and I can continue to work with him, I assure you.
I want to support our president. The president says he's going to stay and I join you, Lindsey, we're going to support our president and keep him there. But let me remind you, those who are calling for the resignation: We're in two wars--Afghanistan and Iraq. To pull out the top man at this time and try and go through the complicated procedures of clearances, finding a new individual, bringing him in, bringing in that new individual staff in the few months before the election. Someone better weigh that carefully against these calls for his resignation.

This was just the beginning. Soon, guests could count on the "Should Rumsfeld resign?" inquiry from Russert.

Nancy Pelosi – May 30, 2004

MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and national security adviser Rice should resign?

REP. PELOSI: I, weeks ago, called for the resignation of Secretary Rumsfeld, for a number of reasons.

Hillary Clinton -- August 29, 2004

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Kerry said that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should resign. Do you join him in that call?

SEN. CLINTON: Well, I'm hoping the entire administration's fired on November 2. I think that it's not just the secretary of defense that needs to go, it's the entire administration, starting at the top with the president and the vice president.

John Kerry, January 30, 2005

MR. KERRY: I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld has managed this about as inappropriately and with as much miscalculation as any war leader in our history. I personally called for his resignation over a year and a half ago. Eight hundred thousand people have signed a petition on our Web site calling for his resignation.
I think there's a very strong feeling in the country -- you heard it from Senator McCain and others -- of lack of confidence in the manager of this war.

Donald Rumsfeld, February 6, 2005

MR. RUSSERT: And you will be secretary of defense and see this war through as long as --?

SEC. RUMSFELD: We serve at the pleasure of the president.

MR. RUSSERT: But you have every expectation of staying for how long?

SEC. RUMSFELD: I serve at the pleasure of the president.

L. Paul Bremmer, January 15, 2006

Mr. Russert: President Bush asked you about Secretary Rumsfeld's management style. And you write this in your book. "`Don Rumsfeld terrifies his civilian subordinates, that I can rarely get any decisions out of anyone but him,' I said--I told [the president]."

Amb. Bremer: Well, he's a tough manager. So am I, and that's not all bad. It did make life a little more complicated but did I get decisions and I worked closely with him during the time I was there.

It goes on and on...Russert bashing Rumsfeld and trying to get Bremer to do the same.

John Murtha, March 19, 2006

MR. RUSSERT: The president picks up the phone and calls you up, and says “Jack, come on down. You voted for this war, you now think it was a mistake, but we’re in a fix. And if I get out right away, we could leave behind a civil war, we could leave behind a haven for terrorism. Tell me specifically Mr. Murtha, what should I do today?”

REP. MURTHA: Here, here’s what you should do, Mr. President. First of all, you should fire all the people who are responsible for that, which gives you international credibility.

MR. RUSSERT: Including his secretary of defense?

REP. MURTHA: Well, he, he should—well, let’s say he should offer his resignation, because he certainly...

MR. RUSSERT: And it’s sure to be accepted?

REP. MURTHA: I would accept it, that’s exactly right.

Anthony Zinni, April 2, 2006

MR. RUSSERT: Should someone resign?

GEN. ZINNI: Absolutely.

MR. RUSSERT: Who?

GEN. ZINNI: Secretary of defense, to begin with.

What can you say?

Russert’s Rumsfeld obsession is really strange. Really, really strange.

Years later, Russert is still obsessed and Rumsfeld is still the Secretary of Defense.