Currently reading
Hieroglyph: Stories and Blueprints for a Better Future
Ukraine: Zbig's Grand Chessboard & How the West Was Checkmated
The Girl on the Train: A Novel
Our Souls at Night: A novel
Above the Waterfall
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction
The Homicide Report: Understanding Murder in America
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
The Gods of Mars
Woodward continues his excuse-making for Bush here, portraying him as not being fully informed by his underlings. But he also shows Bush to be uninterested in information that does not support his pre-conceived notions. He shows him yet again to be a very incurious person content to be a cheerleader, doling out pablum with no real content. Rumsfeld is shown in all his glory as an evil, Machiavellian inside player, incredible in his ability to do exactly what he pleases despite the overt directives from Bush. Rummy’s fondness for snowflakes is given a full airing. Rumsfeld is a virtual mill of paper that cascades from his office to everyone who reports to him and many who do not. Each piece of paper is a question from Rummy and is unsigned, so he can deny responsibility for it. But every recipient knows the source. Woodward shows the frustration of all who have ever worked for this guy. There is much on the military leaders, both in the field and in the NSC. He clearly spoke with many, many players on this stage, and has their takes of events splayed across the pages of the book.