"Now whether Griffin can succeed in getting us to Mars is another question. This might be Griffin's first test: Will he argue to immediately terminate the ISS and the Shuttle? This maybe politically impossible. If he terminates the ISS and Shuttle immediately then he's planning on fast tracking VSE."

The Shuttle Program last I heard was to be ended around 2010, meeting this target date is would be pretty close to immediate termination [if you are speaking in terms of a bureaucracy like NASA]. I don't think an immediate termination if you are speaking of within one or two years is likely- because we just spend a considerable amount tax payer funds getting the Shuttle ready to fly, plus we have the commitment having to do with ISS [involving various nations]. But in terms of doing major upgrades to the Shuttle, and a Shuttle program fighting over turf having to do with excluding resupplying ISS with other commerical launch vehicles, the Shuttle program is in the winding on stage. I think there won't be a effort of trying to get a maximun amount of Shuttle flights per year, and NASA will follow the report which recommended flying the Shuttle as an experimental vehicle.
I think the only way you get a quick termination of the Shuttle is have another Shuttle accident or have major problems with ISS [including major political problems with Russia].