There’s something wrong with our society when people thinks a major political movement is a joke. When someone told me that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had resigned, I thought they were joking. It wasn’t until I saw the front of a newspaper box that I believed it. It said it bold black letters on a white paper, “Rumsfeld Resigned.”
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have now come into Democratic control, weakening the control of the Republicans. But what does that mean with the complimented resignation of Rumsfeld?
If you had asked me yesterday what position Rumsfeld held, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. Even now, I wouldn’t have known if I had not done the research. Rumsfeld was the Secretary of Defense, one of the primary players in our chaotic “War on Terror.”
In the news it’s been said that the end of the Cheney-Rumsfeld reign has appeared, and that the relationship between the two, now being severed, will open up a new prospective with our newly changed body of government. But really, what does that mean?
According to the Harvard Crimson, only 41 percent of students approve of the job that President George W. Bush is doing. Bush, now leading a democratic Congress, will end his reign of “GOP Forever” and will have to come to a crossroads of compromise and change. He’s lost an ally and a friend in Rumsfeld, and has become weakened in his interior power.
While I know there isn’t going to be an instant change from his resignation and mid-term election, I still see a more favorable attitude changing the face of our government. Only a few days have passed since the election, and both gas prices have gone up and one member of presidential team has resigned, which as of lately became scrutinized.
People are moving, things are changing and many college students don’t know what’s going on.
The first thing that I can tell you college students are that there is going to be change. The troops aren’t going to be pulled out of Iraq, were not going to switch to Ethanol as an alternative to gasoline and were not going to impeach the president.
What is going to happen is a change in our advancement into Iraq. Without the approval of both houses, Bush has painted himself into a corner. Democrats have been rallying against progression through Iraq since the war, and now their voice has enough power to say so.
I’m happy with a lot of things that has happened in the last week. I’ve seen a proposition that was aimed at hurting my family fail. I’ve seen our body of government change before me, into something I can feel will bring about positive change. I’ve also seen a crack in the collusion of the white house body, Bush and his disciples, and the weakness will be growing every day.
What makes me the most enthusiastic is that I know that we, as a constituent body of voters, care. Students in my classes have commented on the drastic change and believe that it’s something good. We went out and changed our minds and acted out to do so. We’ve brought about a change in history and all because of a headline that read, “Rumsfeld Resigned.”
Crystal Claussen is a junior journalism and English major and a weekly columnist for the Daily Forty-Niner.
