Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

For whom the shoe flies

The new issue of Vanity Fair has a fun "oral history" march through the Bush presidency. Sample quote from David Kuo, who labored in the regime’s office of faith-based initiatives: "There was this remarkable combination of hubris, excitement and staggering innocence." Sounds like collaborative trilogy by Michael Isikoff and Dave Eggers. Meanwhile, Richard Perle and ...

The new issue of Vanity Fair has a fun "oral history" march through the Bush presidency. Sample quote from David Kuo, who labored in the regime's office of faith-based initiatives: "There was this remarkable combination of hubris, excitement and staggering innocence." Sounds like collaborative trilogy by Michael Isikoff and Dave Eggers.

The new issue of Vanity Fair has a fun "oral history" march through the Bush presidency. Sample quote from David Kuo, who labored in the regime’s office of faith-based initiatives: "There was this remarkable combination of hubris, excitement and staggering innocence." Sounds like collaborative trilogy by Michael Isikoff and Dave Eggers.

Meanwhile, Richard Perle and L. Paul Bremer III are still fighting in the backseat. In the new issue of National Interest, Perle fingers the president: "I believe Bush ultimately failed to grasp the demands of the American presidency."

Remind me some time to discuss the Knave-to-Fool Scale (also known as the Rove-to-Feith Range).

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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