Updated 9:22 a.m. PDT: White House Counsel Greg Craig resigned Friday morning, due in large part to the administration's dissatisfaction over his handling of Guantanamo policy, according to published reports, and will be replaced by President Obama's personal attorney Robert Bauer. In a letter he sent to the Obama Friday, Craig said he has decided to return to private practice. His resignation will become effective January 3.---The Journal and Post report suggests that Craig may have fallen out of favor with some administration officials because he backed public disclosure on documents related to the Bush administration’s use of torture against alleged terrorist detainees and his advice to the president on those matters and issues related to Guantanamo lead to vicious attacks against the president by Republicans.---Last July, Newsweek reported that tensions between Justice Department officials and Craig’s office reached a boiling point just a few weeks after Obama was sworn into office.---[Note: Craig is looking to be replaced by Robert Bauer, Obama's personal lawyer.]

Matthew Hoh says that occupying Afghanistan is not going to defeat them. Hoh has gained support from troops in the military which does not understand what they are fighting for, according to Hoh. Within the Pashtun society there is a civil war and that war has noting to do with us. This is a divide amongst the Pashtuns between the urban Pashtuns and the rural Pashtuns; and just like with the Soviets this war is unwinnable and has lasted for centuries. Karzai is from the urban wealthy Pastuns. You will find his interview with Fareed and his letter here: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/ Listen to what Hoh has to say:

It's kind of a shocker for political groupies, news that a popular and not-in-any-way-endangered Democratic incumbent has decided to leave Congress. Robert Wexler, a staunch liberal voice from Boca Raton, railed against Republicans who impeached President Clinton and fought for a paper-verification of all ballots after Florida's flawed (remember hanging chads?) election in 2000. During last year's election, he was an early and avid supporter of Barack Obama despite strong support for Hillary Clinton in his district. Trying to deflect talk in January that he might be rewarded with an appointment in the new administration, Wexler said, "I have a dream job, a job I love." Today he announced that he's resigning after 19 years in Congress to head a Washington think tank called the Center for Middle East Peace & Economic Cooperation, founded by Slim-Fast founder S. Daniel Abraham. The decision has left some analysts scratching their heads. "What Is Wexler Thinking?" asked the Washington Independent's Spencer Ackerman, speculating that perhaps the move is part of some "inside-outside game" by the administration in which the think tank would push Israel toward the negotiating table from the outside while the White House pushed from the inside.

Ever question the veracity of the government's official explanation for 9/11? Ever sign a petition demanding a new investigation of the 9/11 attacks? Ever consider the possibility (likelihood) that some of the highest people in government were behind the attacks on 9/11? (yes, yes, and hell yes) If like me your answer to any of the above is 'yes' you can forget about ever having a role in your own government... President Barack Obama's environmental adviser Van Jones, who became embroiled in a controversy over past inflammatory statements, has resigned his White House job after what he calls a "vicious smear campaign against me." Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.

In an unexpected move, LAPD Chief William J. Bratton is stepping down from his post Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bratton, credited with drastically improving the city's crime rates since assuming the position of police chief in 2002, relies heavily on crime data and a computer mapping system to pinpoint areas of L.A. that require more policing. According to sources, Bratton will leave the job more than three years early to head a private security firm, saying he's confident that the police department will still improve without him. "If I left tomorrow, this would continue after I'm gone," he told the Los Angeles Times last year. Insiders close to Bratton—including his boss, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa—allegedly knew nothing of Bratton's intent to leave his job. [Note: Private security firms are making more money these days, you know.]

Update: The top cybersecurity official in the United States has resigned, a little more than a year after joining the Department of Homeland Security, the agency said Friday. Amit Yoran, director of the National Cyber Security Division of the Department of Homeland Security, was responsible for carrying out the lion's share of the initiatives outlined in the Bush Administration's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. Yoran resigned Thursday because he had completed what he set out to do and felt it was time to move on, he said. Note: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!! and Good Riddance! Cyberspace security, what a joke!

Secretary Robert Gates has announced that Centcom commander Adm. William Fallon has submitted his resignation. Fallon was subject of a recent Esquire article, which stated that the admiral could be "relieved of his command before his time is up next spring," in favor of a commander more amenable to war with Iran.

I usually put excerpts from the article here, but I'll let you go see for yourselves this time. I admit to being a hard-core Morford fan, but he really outdid himself in this column. I'll just say that he has a conversation with God in which the Deity is really bummed out over creepy evangelicals claiming direct conversations with him/her....as if he/she gave a flying.....

Karl Rove's job as a fearmonger and mudslinger for George W. Bush done, he sheds his temporary human form and returns to his true shape...

White House Adviser Karl Rove told Wall Street Journal columnist Paul Gigot that he will step down at the end of the month and move back to Texas.