Saturday, May 19, 2007

News From Time.com/Nation/Kissass/Bullshit

Time.com tells us Donald Rumsfeld’s plans for the future are “even more ambitious” than writing a book. The former-Secretary of Defense is “in the early stages of setting up an educational foundation that would provide fellowships to citizens who want to try their hand at public service.” The foundation, time.com says, “is still in the idea stage and thus remains unnamed, would be financed by Rumsfeld himself and provide funds for Americans with experience outside of government to do a stint in public service.” This approach would “match” Rumsfeld’s own career, time.com says…blah-blah-blah…dotted with long stretches in the public sector…(yada-yada and sighs of breathless time.com admiration)...did stints with Richard Nixon (you know we love you Donald) he returned to Washington…(oh how we wish you were still DOD…whimper)… after a two-decade absence (god! we thought you’d never come back)…he resigned last November (sob-snuffle…we at time.com just can’t help it, Donald)…when public support for the war in Iraq collapsed (woe! how can we live now!). Rumsfeld is “open to the idea” of writing a memoir. He was in New York last week “meeting with executives from a number of different publishing houses”. George Tenet’s book was “highly critical” of the Bush administration and now the publishing world is interested in “Rumsfeld's side of the story”. The proceeds from a book, which Rumsfeld has no plans to write, would go to his new foundation to “generate funds for fellowships”. Time.com says, “Rumsfeld has a small but storied history as an author.” That history would be the “Rumsfeld Rules” which then-White House Chief of Staff (under Gerald Ford) Donald Rumsfeld put into a handbook in 1974 for Washington, DC newcomers to read. Author? No. Compiler of control-freak rules? Yes. There are 153 Rumsfeld Rules under eight headings…from “Serving in the White House” to “On Life”. They were revised in 2001. I’ll give Rumsfeld this, the last one is pretty funny: On Life-No.32: If you develop rules, never have more than 10.

1 comment:

Barry Schwartz said...

A psychiatric term for 'control freak' is 'obsessive-compulsive personality disorder' (not 'obsessive-compulsive disorder', which is a kind of irritating splinter in the brain). But Rumsfeld is a pretty complex piece of work; I wouldn't guess at a medical diagnosis. Anyway he's mostly a dangerously abscessed tooth on the bridge of Mankind.