You are not in it.
Part one million.
Some places you have to pay extra for that.Before he decided to commit war crimes, I knew [Donald Rumsfeld] Rummy as an acquaintance, stayed at his house in Taos, dined with him, and often argued with him. He’s fun to argue with, but when cornered, he simply shuts you down.I remember asking him before the Iraq war why the US was firing Arab linguists just because they were gay. Didn’t we need every Arab linguist we could get? He point blank refused to admit it was happening at all. He openly asked how someone as allegedly smart as I was could be so misinformed. In front of others, he dressed me down for my ignorance.
-- Andrew Sullivan, May 17, 2013
Mr. Sullivan continues:
I did not give in, but I did make a mental note: this guy is dangerously out of touch with reality, even as he insists he alone grasps reality...The longer Mr. Sullivan gazes into his hazy, receding rearview mirror of his own past, the more he uncovers retroactive confirmation of his own incisive judge of character and fearless, truth-to-power independence.
6 comments:
Poor Andy. Can't tell the difference between some one who's out of touch and some one who is out right lying.
"... why the US was firing Arab linguists just because they were gay. ... He point blank refused to admit it was happening at all."
Technically, Rumsfeld was correct. They were not being fired. They were military, and you don't "get fired" from the military. You get discharged. The linguists were being dishonorably discharged for sexual misconduct, which makes them non-hirable.
In this case, I'm more inclined to say that Sullivan is so accustomed to the bullshit that he didn't notice Rumsfeld was slathering it on thick.
Mike.K.
That picture is outstanding.
Plus, he had this conversation with Rummy before the war started. Claims that he realized THEN that Rummy was cuckoo-bananas....then beat the war drums as hard as anyone, to the point of calling the Decadent Left a Fifth Column.
You'd think, maybe, that someone who (claims he) was aware that the muthafukking SECRETARY OF DEFENSE was completely bonkers would be somewhat reticent about supporting a fucking WAR that said Secretary of Defense would be in charge of managing.
But not good ol' Andrew. He was having too much fun exercising his Burkean modesty and Oakeshottian vigor by calling liberals traitors to be bothered with these little details.
Geez, he's a putz.
Yes, not only did he know the stuff he seemed not to know, but he actually knew it before anybody else!
This is simply great ...
If karma was real, "Rummy" would seek the absolution attempted by his predecessor McNamara... or more appropriately still ....Forrestal..
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