Unrepentant Rumsfeld Finally Opens Up: Slams The Media, Still Rages At Rice And Powell

[babylonsister]

Sunday, Jun. 21, 2009
Donald Rumsfeld in Repose
By Brad Graham


For a few months after his departure as Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld occupied a suite of government-provided transition offices in a high-rise building in Rosslyn, Virginia, up the Potomac River a short way from the Pentagon. There he began sorting his papers for a memoir and charting his next course.

Rumsfeld's roots were in Chicago, where he and his wife Joyce still enjoyed an extensive network of friendships and where he had returned after his first stint as secretary. But this time he chose to remain in Washington, eventually renting space in a downtown office building, hiring a staff of several people, and setting up a new headquarters not far from his house in the city. On the walls of the office, Rumsfeld hung photos of Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman, framed certificates marking his own years of service under several presidents, and other mementos. In a corner stood a parting gift from the Joint Chiefs of Staff: a bronze bust of Winston Churchill with a cigar in his mouth. The inscription, quoting Churchill, read, "Victory is never final. Defeat is never fatal. It is courage that counts."

Rumsfeld explained his decision to stay in Washington as a matter of convenience that allowed him ready access to his Pentagon files and facilitated work with the Library of Congress to archive his personal papers. It also kept him near friends and former associates and afforded a close sidelines view of the capital's political scene, although as the Bush administration ran out its term, he purposefully maintained a low profile, giving few public speeches or media interviews and spending large chunks of his time at two other homes outside Washington — the old manor in St. Michaels, Maryland, and the farm in Taos, New Mexico.

Several longtime friends who visited Rumsfeld in the weeks after he left office described him as somewhat subdued initially, but it wasn't long before the former secretary was exhibiting his customary exuberance in private gatherings. "He's extraordinarily resilient," said Frank Carlucci. "You could bash him all you want and he'll bounce back right away. It rolls off him."

Another longtime friend reported that Rumsfeld was not happy with how abruptly his removal had come about. A former subordinate who spent several days with Rumsfeld in Taos heard him fume about disagreements with other top administration officials, particularly Rice. But whatever grumbling he did, Rumsfeld remained very careful not to be heard sounding critical of Bush. "I have a friend who is totally convinced that Don was the scapegoat and that he must be bitter towards the president," said Margaret Robson, whose late husband was one of Rumsfeld's best friends. "I told him, 'You don't understand Don. He's never going to say anything critical about the president of the United States.'"

Rumsfeld wanted to be sure I saw the many letters of praise and kind words he had received following the announcement of his resignation. He had sorted the letters according to source — members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, U.S. military personnel, former associates, friends — and filed them in large, three-ring binders. The correspondence noted Rumsfeld's contributions to the war on terrorism, commended him for his drive to transform the U.S. military, and expressed thanks for his public service.

more...

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1905857,00.html

[RandomThoughts]

1. And he used Bible versus to falsly justify a war.

What does it mater what he thinks.

[Lasher]

2. That was to lead Junior around by the nose.

The Decider was easily led by anyone who was willing to humor his delusions about his heroic self. Rummy and Lord Vader played him like a fiddle.

[Diclotican]

4. Lasher

Lasher

That was a scary likeness between Max and Donald....

Diclotican

[RandomThoughts]

5. Thats why I think spiritual maters have to be tested against the heart people are given

And ones spiritual beliefs should be thought on, to be sure they are not just other people interpretation. And above all, I think people have to even question there own views on things, to always try to learn.

So many people replace what they say is faith with ideology making it an excuse to do something for another reason.

[babylonsister]

6. Exactly. I don't know how religious rummy was, but he used what

worked.

And those pics are so, so eerie.

[Lasher]

8. Neocons used what they saw as a 'noble lie' to manipulate the fundies.

In politics a noble lie is a myth or untruth, often, but not invariably, of a religious nature, knowingly told by an elite to maintain social harmony, particularly the social position of that elite. The noble lie is a concept originated by Plato as described in The Republic. However, the concept has far greater scope and has been used by many commentators to talk about much more modern issues in politics. A noble lie, although it may benefit all parties, is different from a white lie since a white lie does not cause discord if uncovered whereas noble lies are usually of a nature such that they would do so.

Irving Kristol

"There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people. There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work."

It has been suggested that Kristol's and other neoconservatives' support of creationism/Intelligent design is an example of that in action.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_lie#Irving_Kristol

Kristol and other neocons used these 'noble lies' in general to get the fundies' support while actually giving them very little in return except rhetoric, and privately harboring contempt for them. Rumsfeld was doing the same thing with GWB in this case, playing him for what he essentially is - a fool.

[jaxx]

3. Interesting story.

The word unrepentant....it ties bush, cheney and rumsfeld together. None of them are sorry for what they did about Iraq.

[Miss Authoritiva]

7. Don't know what the dude's been reading...

... but I don't think Rumsfeld's been reading what's been posted on DU.

Part of the (media's) formula, Rumsfeld added, involved pillorying him along with Bush and Cheney but sparing Powell and Rice. As an example, he noted accusations that Bush and Cheney had lied about Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction in making the case for the invasion of Iraq. "They never say Colin Powell lied," Rumsfeld asserted. "They don't say Condi lied."