Viva Rumsfeld!

From time to time during this whole Iraq war debate I've found myself wondering about Donald Rumsfeld up in Taos and what he must be thinking. Today, I found this interesting article in GQ mag:

Off the Record with Donald Rumsfeld. (it's a good read)

Some interesting snippets:

"The fact is, we're in a conflict and a struggle—the first conflict of the twenty-first century for the United States of America. It is new, it is unfamiliar to the American people, and there's… In a very real sense, the American military cannot lose a battle, they can't lose a war. On the other hand, they can't win the struggle themselves. It requires diplomacy, it requires economic assistance, it requires a range of things that are well beyond the purview of the Department of Defense." His purview. "In terms of what's going on in Iraq or Afghanistan today, what the Department of Defense is doing is working. What isn't working is the diplomatic side. The government of Iraq has not been able to find ways to bring the elements of that country together sufficiently that they can create an environment hospitable to, uh, whatever one wants to call their evolving way of life, a democracy or a representative system or a freer system. Look at Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, 28 million people are free. They have their own president, they have their own parliament. Improved a lot on the streets."

A fact that often goes overlooked, in what passes for today's war debate. And as if I needed another example of the way the hippie dippies have ruined Taos... I mean really, heckling his grandchildren at the 4th of July parade! What A##holes people are.

It is interesting, really, that the Rumsfelds have chosen Taos as their refuge. You couldn't possibly find a more liberal-hippie-crunchy hangout. And in fact, while the locals will tell you they tolerated Donald Rumsfeld's presence just fine before Iraq— "He was just another rich guy," says one nose-pierced store owner—they haven't exactly made his life easy since then. He doesn't get a whole lot of hugs in Taos—except for one guy, not terribly popular, who rides around town shouting, "Viva Rumsfeld!" there've been numerous protests. Like the time some group carried an enormous weapon of mass destruction (a giant papier–mâché Rummy) through the streets of town. Or the time his little grandchildren got heckled in the Fourth of July parade. The Fourth of July parade, for goodness sake! There are the people who shout "Warmonger!" from their pickup trucks. And there was the well-circulated story about the dude in the ski lodge who really let Rummy have it. Gave him such heck—"Well, lookee here! If it isn't Donald Rumsfeld, our favorite local war criminal"—but DHR being DHR, he just ignored him.

I say, Viva Rumsfeld!