More of the same...
Sad to see Colin Powell resign yesterday, although it was very much expected. I do have respect for the man, and I think that he was forced to sell his soul for the Bush administration in his famous plea to the UN Security Council on the merits of the invading Iraq. He clearly looked like a man who wanted to be anywhere but in that seat.

In his place no doubt, the ubiquitous Condi Rice, which completes the hawks in the Bush administration for the next four years, and ensures the continuation of Bush's isolationist and aggressive foreign policy. Expect to see even less gratifying of the UN and other international "allies" and an even more aggressive foreign policy stance.

Bush's choice of energy, education and agriculture secretaries will also be interesting to follow, and perhaps most importantly, his nominations for the Supreme Court bench in the coming months. Those judicial nominations will be an acid test of Bush's commitment to the Republican ideal, and will signal his intent on any non-partisan second term approach.