 |
Fri Aug 29 2008 | |||||||||
|
||||||||||
Columns Molly IvinsFarewell, Rummy November 16, 2006 AUSTIN, Texas -- There's been so much in print about how Daddy 41's people are back in the saddle, I was terrified when I saw a photo of Dan Quayle among the pack. If they've called back Dan Quayle to lend intellectual heft, we're all dead ducks. Fortunately, it was just a file picture of Quayle with the old team. It does seem that we may be going back to the typical modus operandi of Dubya. Poppy Bush has helped Junior out of the Vietnam War, his failures in the oil business and other efforts all of his "adult" life. Unfortunately for us and for the world, the people from the first Bush administration who initially joined this administration were Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld. Not exactly the most diplomatic, forward-looking, helpful people to be guiding Dubya. During the first Gulf War, Bush 41 and his administration knew what it would be like if they tried to take Baghdad -- and opted not to go in. Now, the more sober-headed people from that administration are moving in to try to clean up the mess Junior made in his Iraq excursion. Meanwhile, let us bid farewell and adieu to Brother Donald Rumsfeld, who is so full of wisdom he does not seem to be able to apply it. As a parting gift, here are some of his classic quotes:
2. "Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men." 3. "Needless to say, the president is correct. Whatever it was he said." 4. "I don't do quagmires." 5. "I don't do diplomacy." 6. "I don't do foreign policy." 7. "I don't do predictions." 8. "I don't do numbers." 9. "I don't do book reviews." 10. "Don't divide the world into 'them' and 'us.' Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs, and you have yours." 11. "Don't say, 'The White House wants.' Buildings can't want." 12. "If I know the answer, I'll tell you the answer. And if I don't, I'll just respond cleverly." 13. "I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I think, and, well, I assume it's what I said." "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." According to Newsweek, Air Force Secretary Jim Roche went to Rumsfeld early on and said, "Don, you do realize that Iraq could be another Vietnam." Replied Rummy: "Vietnam? You think you have to tell me about Vietnam? Of course it won't be Vietnam. We are going to go in, overthrow Saddam, get out. That's it." I don't know what happened to that excellent plan, but I would like to know who knew it was unknowable. To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2006 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. Email this article to a friend |
Don't forget to check out articles from 2007 and 2008
"Thanks -- no, seriously"
November 22, 2006
"Farewell, Rummy"
November 16, 2006
"Now they're all for bipartisanship"
November 14, 2006
"Post-election etiquette"
November 9, 2006
"Campaign '06 -- Goodbye and good riddance"
November 6, 2006
"Keeping our eyes on the ball"
November 1, 2006
"GOP ineptitude and some advice for Dems"
October 31, 2006
"Election day still a long way off"
October 19, 2006
"Iraq war despair is not an option"
October 17, 2006
"Dear leaders"
October 11, 2006
"The not-so-great Texas gubernatorial debate"
October 10, 2006
"Where there's war, there's Kissinger"
October 5, 2006
"Ring the bell for a Texas Democrat"
October 2, 2006
"Beyond the pale"
September 28, 2006
"New news is bad news"
September 25, 2006
"Saying the same thing louder doesn't make it true"
September 20, 2006
"A tortured debate"
September 20, 2006
"Remembering Ann Richards"
September 15, 2006
"Cow whisperers against the war"
August 29, 2006
"The new "activist" judges"
August 24, 2006
"Tales of Terror Plots"
August 16, 2006
"No shortage of fear"
August 14, 2006
"No guts, no grace"
August 4, 2006
"24/7 coverage doesn't cut it"
July 27, 2006
"Reality-based candidate"
July 24, 2006
"Political comic relief"
July 20, 2006
"The suicide of capitalism"
July 18, 2006
"The politics of greed"
July 11, 2006
"More immigrant-bashing on the way"
July 5, 2006
"Maybe if we tried a slingshot"
June 29, 2006
"Way to go, Bush!"
June 22, 2006
"The Republicans seem to have lost their moral compass"
June 19, 2006
"Zarqawi and the media"
June 13, 2006
"A good about-face"
June 9, 2006
"What to worry about"
June 8, 2006
"What to worry about"
June 6, 2006
"Another of the names at which we wince"
June 1, 2006
"Rigging the rules in their favor"
June 1, 2006
"Am I jumping to conclusions?"
May 23, 2006
"I'll show you a 51-foot ladder"
May 22, 2006
"An ugly possibility"
May 16, 2006
"Developments in journalism's Internet frontier"
May 11, 2006
"Hookergate: How can I pass this up?"
May 10, 2006
"Republicans wake a sleeping giant"
May 5, 2006
"The so-called lobby reform bill"
May 2, 2006
"The Great Bush Reclassification Project"
April 27, 2006
"Mearsheimer & Walt: rational discussion of American interests"
April 25, 2006
"Zacarias Moussaoui and Jeffrey Skilling."
April 20, 2006
"I don't have a dog in this fight"
April 14, 2006
"The daily drip"
April 11, 2006
"DeLay: "Stand firm" and see a cockfight"
April 6, 2006
"Global warming: get busy"
April 4, 2006
"And the Pentagon's stunning conclusion?"
March 28, 2006
"Newspaper suicide"
March 23, 2006
"Not fighting the people who attacked us"
March 17, 2006
"Bush: internationalist and isolationist?"
March 15, 2006
"South Dakota: First to outlaw abortion this century"
March 8, 2006
"The price of incompetence"
March 3, 2006
"Just another carnival con game"
March 1, 2006
"Balance: the Dubai Ports deal"
February 24, 2006
"Pluperfect doozies passed off as reform"
February 21, 2006
"Dick-Cheney-shooting-Harry-Whittington"
February 14, 2006
"Think how lucky we were"
February 9, 2006
"What a good joke!"
February 7, 2006
"Anything but failure"
February 2, 2006
"At least Punxsutawney Phil doesn't lie about the weather"
January 30, 2006
"Is there anything these folks can't screw up?"
January 26, 2006
"We live in interesting times"
January 24, 2006
"I will not support Hillary Clinton for president"
January 20, 2006
"Ethical Republicans"
January 18, 2006
"If it's not one thing..."
January 12, 2006
"They must really think we"
January 10, 2006
"More Texan sleaze and stink"
January 6, 2006
"They don't tell him anything"
January 3, 2006
Read Articles by Year:
2007 2006 2005 2004
2003 2002 2001 2000 
All content © 1970-2008
The Columbus Free Press
Disclaimer