Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Rory Stewart on being a government consultant

He speaks much truth: It’s like they’re coming in and saying to you, ‘I’m going to drive my car off a cliff. Should I or should I not wear a seatbelt?’ And you say, ‘I don’t think you should drive your car off the cliff.’ And they say, No, no, that bit’s already been decided ...

580974_090914_ricks2b2.jpg
580974_090914_ricks2b2.jpg

He speaks much truth:

It’s like they’re coming in and saying to you, ‘I’m going to drive my car off a cliff. Should I or should I not wear a seatbelt?’ And you say, ‘I don’t think you should drive your car off the cliff.’ And they say, No, no, that bit’s already been decided — the question is whether to wear a seatbelt.’ And you say, ‘Well, you might as well wear a seatbelt.’ And then they say, ‘We’ve consulted with policy expert Rory Stewart and he says …'”

(Hat tip to man-about-town Randall Michelson of greater Los Angeles. How come all my best tips come from California? I suspect it is casued by the great new syrahs and other Rhonish wines coming out of the Central Coast. I think with global warming in a few years we’ll be talking about the new Rhones coming out of Cornwall and Sussex.) 

aerogoat/flickr

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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