Secretary of State Powell to Resign

“I believe that now that the election is over, the time has come for me to step down”

Colin Powell tendered his resignation today, taking effect after a replacement is found:

Secretary of State Colin Powell and three other Cabinet members have resigned, it was disclosed Monday, escalating the shake-up of President Bush’s second-term team. Senior administration officials said national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was most likely to succeed Powell.

Powell’s resignation, submitted last Friday, was confirmed Monday, as were those of three others – Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and Education Secretary Rod Paige.

Frankly, I don’t blame Powell for stepping down in the first place. If the condition of the State Department is indicative of the headache Powell has had to deal with over the past four years, I’d have resigned as well.

Of course, whoever takes over will have free reign to hopefully start whittling down the UN-oriented influence at the State Department. Rice, Danforth, and a host of candidates would be ideal.

Naturally the liberals have taken the resignations over the past week as a “rats leaving the ship” spin. Perhaps so, but unlikely. It will provide President Bush with a new emphasis and focus during his second term in some of the very areas where it is most needed (Justice, State, and Education), something I’m sure the still-traumatized left is trepadaciously awaiting as their sacred bureaucratic cows get prepped for processing as hamburgers.