Rearranging the deck chairs

Scott McClellan is the latest casualty of the White House "shakeup."

Appearing with Mr. Bush on the White House South Lawn just before the president boarded a helicopter at the start a trip to Alabama, Mr. McClellan, who has parried with reporters on Iraq and on intelligence issues, told Mr. Bush: "I have given it my all sir and I have given you my all sir, and I will continue to do so as we transition to a new press secretary."

Mr. Bush said Mr. McClellan had "a challenging assignment," adding, "I thought he handled his assignment with class, integrity. He added: "It's going to be hard to replace Scott, but nevertheless he made the decision and I accepted it. One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days.''

"It's going to be hard to replace Scott, but nevertheless he made the decision and I accepted it.

What, Mr. President, you won't be able to find another pathological liar to replace the guy you just fired? What happened to that loyalty we keep hearing so much about? Scotty exchanged his soul for the chance to work in your White House. That's not worth anything?

And, of course, everything will start getting better now, because, you know, McClellan has been the problem all along.

It's all been McClellan's fault: the failed invasion of Iraq; the struggling economy; the plummeting poll numbers; Dick Cheney shooting somebody in the face, neck and chest. All of it. He screwed everything up.

Without that Scott McClellan-shaped anchor chained to his neck, President Bush can finally get some real work done. Our long, national, Scott McClellan nightmare is finally over. What a relief!