I've discovered some real gems of Donald Rumsfeld quotes...

[whistle]

...posted throughout the internet and I'd like to share these here:

Clarity
I think what you'll find,
I think what you'll find is,
Whatever it is we do substantively,
There will be near-perfect clarity
As to what it is.
And it will be known,
And it will be known to the Congress,
And it will be known to you,
Probably before we decide it,
But it will be known.
Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing


The Unknown: As we know,/There are known knowns./There are things we know we know./We also know/There are known unknowns/That is to say/We know there are some things/We do not know./But there are also unknown unknowns,/The ones we don't know we don't know. - Feb. 12, 2002, Defense Department briefing

Needless to Say: Needless to say/The president is correct./Whatever it was he said. - Feb. 28, 2003, Defense Department briefing

Polls: Opinion polls go up and down,/They spin like weather vanes./They're interesting, I suppose./I don't happen to look. - Sept. 8, 2002, CBS's Face the Nation

Chasing the Chicken: If you're chasing the chicken/Around the chicken yard/And you don't have him yet,/And the question is, how close are you?/The answer is, it's tough to characterize/Because there's lots of zigs and zags. - Nov. 14, 2001, New York Times editorial board

Unanimity: Now,/Is there unanimity?/No./Did anyone ever expect unanimity?/No./Life isn't like that. - March 6, 2003, CNBC interview

On Walking Towards a Wall: If you're walking towards a wall/And you decide you want to go to the opposite wall,/The sooner you make the correction,/The easier it is./If you wait until you're right face up against the wall,/Then you've got to make a sharp turn. - June 24, 2002, Bloomberg News interview

Doing the Doable: What we are doing/Is that which is doable/In the way we're currently doing it. - Oct. 8, 2001, Defense Department briefing

In Command: A government is/Governing or it's not. And/If not, someone else is. - March 23, 2003, NBC's Meet the Press

Evasion Haiku: I'm working my way/Over to figuring out/How I won't answer. - Dec. 3, 2002, Defense Department briefing

They Know Nothing: Anyone who knows anything isn't talking/And anyone with any sense isn't talking./Therefore:/The people that are talking to the media,/By definition, people who don't know anything,/And people who don't have a hell of a lot of sense. - Sept. 22, 2002, with media en route to Poland

Rules: Anything that I say/That I shouldn't have/Is off the record/I want you to/understand that/Right now, up front. - Jan. 12, 2002, Washington Post interview

Not Well: We're not doing that well,/And of course, the reason is/It's not an even playing field./We're a democracy/And they're a dictatorship./So they control their ground,/And they manage the press,/And they lie repeatedly./And we don't manage the press,/We don't lie - /No, we don't at all. - March 6, 2003, CNBC interview

Being Briefed:
I was briefed on that story before I came down.
I have not gone over it.
It's interesting.
Let me try to put it in context,
And then I'll see if I can answer it.
I have no idea what what it's about.

(undated and unsourced)


And apparently there is a book available called: "Pieces of Intelligence : The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld
by Hart Seely

<link> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743255976/103-9006136-9436666?v=glance

[deminks]

1. Rummy speak

Thanks for these. Especially the ones where he answers his own questions. It's like he's talking to himself. But we don't know what we don't know...:eyes:

[bobthedrummer]

2. He acts like the DoD has already been "transformed"

he's speaking about a militarist ideology in code-he sounds nuts when he does that, the fucking WAR CRIMINAL:banghead:

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. Yikes. I actually agree with this one:

"They Know Nothing: Anyone who knows anything isn't talking/And anyone with any sense isn't talking./Therefore:/The people that are talking to the media,/By definition, people who don't know anything,/And people who don't have a hell of a lot of sense. - Sept. 22, 2002, with media en route to Poland"

[Disturbed]

4. Rumsfailed talks to the Press quite a bit..

so obviously he doesn't know a fuckin' thing and doesn't have any sense. He does know how to accumulate millions of dollars from death, though.

[Nikki Stone 1]

5. Exactly.

nt