"I'm the Decider"

This has had me chuckling all freakin' day long. Bush declared, "I'm the decider, and I decide what is best" when it comes to White House personnel issues. Apparently, the national news and wire services are getting a laugh out of it too, because when he spouts a Bushism on the subject of the week's news cycle, it's just too good to pass up.

On a slightly more important note, Bush has been noticeably absent from the role of "decider" with the recent shakeups in the White House staff. The new Chief of Staff, Josh Bolten, recently told anyone who was going to leave the staff to do it now, so it didn't appear that they were being forced out later on. The Chief of Staff is the real center of power behind any President (or most- in this case, I think Dick Cheney's the real driving force.)

It occurs to me that the President is perfectly content to have the support personnel in the White House get shuffled around, since the guy really doesn't listen to anyone except his chief advisers anyway, and they aren't going anywhere. There has been great demand for a shakeup at the White House (primarily espoused, actually, by Republican strategists who want to see the President do a better job.) But in all likelihood, any personnel shakeups are just going to be window dressing. I think the worst we could expect would be the departure of Scott McClellan, who is almost universally despised by the White House press corps.

But since the big shots are going to keep running the show, "shakeups" are going to happen on a less-visible level. If I were a mid-level White House functionary, I would not be putting a down payment on anything bigger than a Happy Meal right about now.