What would an election week be without hearing from Cindy Sheehan? Especially considering the Democrat victories this week - - she was BOUND to show up, eh? Part of the “Bush Lied, People Died” crowd - Cindy Sheehan is also under the mistaken impression that President George W. Bush was the only one in this country who sent our honored men and women to war in Iraq.

Let’s not forget the Democrats, Republicans and foreign leaders who helped him do it, OK Cindy?

She was arrested in Washington D.C. today as she led about 50 protesters to a White House gate Wednesday to deliver anti-war petitions she said were signed by 80,000 Americans. Before she was arrested, she joined the protesters in hailing the outcome of Tuesday’s elections and chanting “Stop the War” outside the gate.

Bored, yet?

Cindy Sheehan lost me a long, long time ago. But she definitley lost me (and her mind) when she “planted” her uterus in Crawford, Texas:

Over the summer I had a hysterectomy, and um, I got my “parts” back. I thought I could just [inaudible] on eBay, you know, “[inaudible] Cindy Sheehan’s uterus.” And so I planted it in the garden where the bush, it’s a pretty bush… It’s so funny ’cause me and my children, we’ll always be a part of, of Crawford, Texas. Long after people forgot the horror of the Bush regime, long after, you know, we’re forgotten. We’ll always, our DNA will always be in the land…”

Uh. Yea.

It has been announced that Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down as the countrys Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. It is expected that President Bush will announce his successor later in the day today.

CIA Director from 1991-1993, current President of Texas A&M University, Doctor Robert Gates will be named as Rumsfelds the nomination for Rumsfelds successor in the position of Secretary of Defense. President Bush calls him a ’steady, solid leader’.

Yesterday, the people went to the polls and cast their votes for a new direction - it is clear this country wants change. Today, President Bush accepted responsibility for the Republicans loss yesterday - voiced his dissapointment in the election results, congratulated the Democrats - and feels that he can work together with the Democrats to find common ground over the next two years.

President Bush had this message, following the election results today:

To our enemies - do not be joyful. Do not confuse the workings of our democracy with a lack of will..

To the people of Iraq - do not be fearful as you take the difficult steps toward democracy and peace, American is going to stand with you.

To our men and women in uniform - don’t be doubtful. America will always suport you.

Rumsfeld is the face of the Iraq war - - the face of failed policies and failures that the public associates with the war in Iraq. This was not surprising, not in the least. New blood is a good thing - it feels like a cleansing, and it feels good. The timing is right for new leadership in the Pentagon.

Related in blogs:
Kos had it yesterday: Breaking? Rumsfeld is going to resign tomorrow. - It would be an interesting and somewhat plausible move from a President who is coming to grips with the fact that the next two years of his life are going to be a living hell if it doesn’t start actually giving in a little.

RUMSFELD QUITS, to be replaced by Robert Gates - HotAir: Bush says after a series of “thoughtful discussions” both he and Rumsfeld agreed that the “time is right” for new leadership…

Donald Rumsfeld Resigns - The Political PitBull: ..This a good thing. Period. I think this was probably going to happen regardless of which party took control, but with the Dems now with the purse strings, I think this shows that President Bush is more serious about winning in Iraq than he is about “staying the course.”

What the hell? Rummy resigns - Sister Toldjah: ..Is this a little concession Bush is offering to the newly-crowned Dems??

The End of the Beginning: Rumsfeld is Done - MyDD.com: The Bush administration knew what this election was about, and that’s why Donald Rumsfeld is out of office.

Interestingly enough - - and unsurprisingly, the things I read and heard from the Republicans last night revolved around a LOT of finger pointing.

The most popular blame game? Blaming the Republicans who stayed home and did not vote. That’s why they experienced such a huge upset…because Republicans stayed home.

It’s quite possible that Republicans did stay home. As a former card carrying RNC member, I have to be honest and say that the thought of staying home occurred to me more than once over the past several weeks. It wasn’t until the night before the elections that I decided that staying home wasn’t the answer - not for me.

But let’s look at WHY I entertained the thought of staying home, and quite possibly why the Republicans feel they had a low voter turnout. I can sum it up on a short sentence.

The Republican party could not rally their base.

The Republican base is too small to win a national election. With their hard core agenda, the Republican party was not able to turn the Independents in their direction - and turned the Moderates, like myself, away completely.

Let me give you just one small example of what I’m talking about.

Last night, when the Republicans started becoming aware that their back-end were about to be handed to them on a silver platter - - Tony Snow, the White House Press Secretary, made a statement that the President was, understandably, dissapointed - but was already making plants to work with the the new Congress, in a bi-partisan way, to start working on the Guest Worker Program.

If there was one thing that depressed the GOP base this last year and allowed Independents not to be converted, it was the GOP’s total failure to do something real about the borders.

And the number one person for that lack of leadership was the President.

The GOP has some hard lessons to learn. When conservatives recognize the ‘base’ is too small to swing a national election and that the voters soundly reject their hard-core agenda, they might be back in contention. Reagan won big because he knew this. Instead of blaming others for this loss, forego the dogged insistence that the GOP way is the only way and come to terms with the fact the majority of voters don’t agree with the GOP. By not giving a little, they gave it all away.

The people have spoken. Tomorrow is a new day. The Dems won - now they have to show their cards.. they say they have a plan? Now is the time to see it.

A dozen reasons to vote against the death penalty:

• The Death Penalty Is Not An Effective Criminal Deterrent - Crime has not decreased since capital punishment was reinstated in the late 1970s. Moreover, states without the death penalty have much lower murder rates. The South accounts for 80% of US executions and has the highest regional murder rate.
• The Death Penalty Risks The Killing of Innocent People – The United States judicial system is not flawless, we stand a huge risk of killing innocent people. If we allow a corrupt system to execute innocent people every citizen is held responsible for those deaths.
• You Are Responsible - As a member of our society you hold equal weight in determining whether we as a state should kill in your name.
• DNA Evidence Is Not Infallible - Sloppy lab work and ill-trained staffs have lead to many cases of contaminated evidence; eleven people in Oklahoma have been executed based on contaminated DNA evidence.
• The Death Penalty Costs More - Death penalty cases cost far more than life without parole. After appeals, expert witnesses, and lab tests a death penalty case can cost up to 90 million dollars. A number of US counties have gone bankrupt because of a single death penalty case.
• Death Penalty Is Racist and Classist - African Americans account for over 40% of the death row population, while they are only 12% of the total US population. Most people on death row are poor and uneducated and often cannot afford quality legal assistance.
• The Death Penalty Is Unnecessary - Wisconsin has recently enacted tougher sentencing requirements for murder cases making the death penalty unnecessary; the sentence of life without parole guarantees no further crimes will be committed.
• The United States Is One Of The World’s Leading Executioners – The United States execution total puts us in a category with countries like China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.
• The Death Penalty Is Inhumane - The current method of lethal injection used on death row prisoners is so inhumane that even veterinarians don’t use it to put animals to sleep.
• The Death Penalty Is A Violation Of Medical Ethics – According to doctors code of medical ethics assisting with an execution would breach the code.

H/T NoDeathPenaltyWI

Other Wisconsin bloggers talking about the death penalty vote

Some Walk Out Of Mass Due To Bishops Statement - The Cafeteria is closed : ..Catholics don’t HAVE to oppose the death penalty. In recent years, there’s been strong opposition to it, eg John Paul II. inserted strong language into the Catechism, but it’s not intrinsically wrong. In RCIA, a deacon told us, “You can’t be Catholic and not oppose the death penalty.” One of the more rare absolute statements I heard in the “process”.

Vote Yes for Justice - GOP3.Com: ..I am voting (actually, already have voted absentee) YES on the death penalty referendum advisory question.. (this same blog proudly sports a “ProLife” badge)

WI Voters to Decide on Death Penalty - TalkLeft: Wisconsin has not had the death penalty for 150 years. Somehow, it’s back on the ballot this November…

Ultimate penalty on the ballot in Wisconsin - titusonenine: ..It was 155 years ago when more than 2,000 people in Kenosha, Wis., watched John McCaffry dangle from a noose, writhing for several minutes before his body went limp..

PUBLIC OPINION: Wisconsin Voters Favor Life Without Parole Over Death Penalty - Death Penalty Information Center: ..In a recent University of Wisconsin Badger Poll, more respondents favored a sentence of life without parole rather than the death penalty. Only 45% supported capital punishment, while 50% favored life sentences..