The Departed

Continuing my oscillation between feeling optimistic and pessimistic, I thought that it would be invigorating to take a moment to bid farewell to some of those who are no longer in positions of power in the United States government. What follows is a partial alphabetical list of people who served (or tried to serve) within the last eight years and whose departure from office surely enriches us all:

Former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff David Addington
Former Senator George Allen
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey
Former Attorney General John Aschroft
Former Secretary of State (Ohio) Ken Blackwell
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton
Former President George W. Bush
Former Vice President Dick Cheney
Former Senator Larry Craig
Former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
Former Presidential Candidate Rudy Giuliani
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez
Former something-or-other Monica Goodling
Former would-be Treasury Secretary Phil Gramm
Former Representative Katherine Harris
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
Former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby
Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott
Former Senator Zell Miller
Former Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton
Former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Former Senator Rick Santorum
Former Senator Ted Stevens


Seeing the word "former" in front of those names makes my day. This is merely the first 25 whose names came to mind. Surely there are others whom I've already blocked from my memory.

-- Posted by Neil H. Buchanan