Thanksgiving

And you know what that means. Yeah, the War on Christmas, and our friends at Focus on the Family are more worried about whether your local retailer says "Merry Christmas" than they are the impact their layoffs will have on ~149 families of former employees. When you are King Dobson, you expect your subjects to simply submit, and nothing works better than distracting them with the War on Christmas. That is our biggest concern right now? Really? Or even a legitimate concern?

I don't think so.

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Speaking of religious nonsense, I see that Bob Jones University has apologized for its past racism. I expect they want to be patted on the back and congratulated for joining the 20th century, even if that century is over. In the same vein, I would like to be commended for the fact that I have decided not to run people over with my car. I will take my Person of the Year Award now!

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The progressive blogosphere is buzzing over the idea that Obama will keep Bob Gates on at Defense. Some worry that it sends the message that Democrats are weak on defense and have to turn that over to conservatives. Others say it is ridiculous after an election devoted to change to keep someone from the worst administration in history.

I care about those sentiments about as much as I do the War on Christmas. Gates has easily been Bush's best and, perhaps, only good decision. I don't care if he used to run Texas A&M University, and worked for Daddy Bush. The man is obviously very good at his job. In every other position, W favored loyalty and party ideology over competence. We should not replace one ideological administration with another. The President Elect said this yesterday about the budget, but it could easily apply to every other issue facing the nation:

people don't want to continue argument about big government or small government, they want smart government and effective government.

Exactly. I remember reading in horror that Bush's people filtered employees for Iraq's reconstruction team based on their stance on abortion. Really? Had it been me, I would have instructed those people to hire the very best. I would have said, "get this done, and I don't care if you have to hire Chelsea Clinton or Karl Marx to do it. Just make it right. We will get the credit."

But he didn't do that, of course, and preferred ass-kissing minions to competent staff and administrators. Bob Gates has been the one shining exception, and to not use his expertise simply because he is connected to Bush is ridiculous. The change we need here is not partisan, it is about competence and good governing.

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I sincerely hope that you all have a good Thanksgiving.