New Kids on the Block
There are conflicting rumours this morning about Tom Ridge leaving Homeland Security, with Atrios providing the following:

Replacement rumored to be the guy Tommy Franks called "the stupidest fucking guy on the face of the Earth."

[Sorry about being such a pottymouth this morning.]

That would be Douglas Feith from the Pentagon. If that is indeed the case, I'll have some more info later about the dude, but for the moment here's Josh Marshall's take on the flurry of actual announcements from the last week:

So is Bush moving to the right or the center in term two?

Wrong metric. He's moving to exert greater control.

Look at the pattern.

Neither Ms. Rice nor Mr. Gonzales are the neo-cons' or the conservatives' choice for their respective offices-to-be.

In each case they're acceptable; but no more.

What distinguishes each is their connection to the president, their loyalty and their fealty. Neither has any base in the city or standing anywhere else absent their connection to him. And in appointing them he has placed the State Department and the Justice Department under his direct and unmediated control as surely as the various members of the White House staff already are.