Slashdot Mirror
Ridge, Homeland Security Head, Steps Down
WeAz writes "According to MSNBC, Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge has decided to call it quits. 'Ridge, the seventh officer to leave Bush's Cabinet so far, oversaw the most significant government reorganization in 50 years.' Ridge joins Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, and John Ashcroft as the newest cabinet member to resign from their office."
You are correct. Liberals are quick to pounce on these cabinet level resignations as fool-proof evidence of a failed presidency. Superficially the data does not back this claim up. However, what is often ignored is how much strife has driven the process this time. Nearly half of his cabinet has quit or been "forcibly resigned" amid some rather questionable circumstances. The curious grouping of resignations (the Energy, Education, Commerce, Treasury, Homeland Defense, State, and Agriculture secretaries) seem to highlight the more deeply seated problems that Liberals have with the current administration. The "CIA Shakeup", as it has been dubbed, lends even more credibility to the claim that the administration is mishandling its duties.
There is an interesting correlation between presidents and their respective turnover rates that should also be taken into account. Please note that the data below does not account for the particulars of this administration's cabinet resignations, as I explained before.
Second term presidency cabinet member turnover rates:
Harry Truman: 4
Dwight Eisenhower: 3
Lyndon Johnson: 4
Richard Nixon: 9
Ronald Reagan: 7
Bill Clinton: 7
Source: Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Presidency
In shameless defense of Bill Clinton, his politics were rather unorthodox and, in trying to maintain the appearance of being a moderate, some resignations ought to have been expected.
Nixon vs. Turman completes the liberal argument.