President Bush announced the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday November 8, 2007 - one day after the election which saw the Republican Party lose majority control of the House and the Senate. The news agency Reuters has now obtained a copy of then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation letter and it brings a startling fact to light:

The letter is dated November 6, 2006, the day before the election.

According to the Washington Post report linked above there is outrage on the part of some Republicans who believe that had Rumsfeld's resignation been announced earlier, then the election outcome might have been different. Republicans might not have lost both the House and Senate.

How deliciously sublime to see Republicans wailing at the screwing they've received as a result of White House deceit. Welcome to the G-Damned Club! For once, you are feeling the pain ordinary Americans have been feeling for a long time.

But can there be any doubt that there is a connection between today's revelation and Karl Rove's resignation?

I don't doubt it for a second. The decision to hold onto this letter and not announce until after the polls had closed is pure Rovian politics.

In this situation, with the election looming, Bush would turn to Rove immediately, and I have absolutely no doubt that Rove recommended hiding Rumsfeld's resignation, and waiting until after the election to make the announcement.

And now Republicans are outraged...

And lo and behold, Rove is gone from the White House.

If I'm correct, then the outcome of the pivotal 2006 election -- the election that marks the return of Democratic control of Congress and set the stage for the fall of the White House in 2008 -- backfired on the Republicans as the result of a Karl Rove decision.

Maybe there's justice in this world after all...