[Mb-civic] Rumsfeld rewrites the rules - Scot Lehigh - Boston Globe Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

  Rumsfeld rewrites the rules

By Scot Lehigh  |  April 21, 2006  |  The Boston Globe

''MR. SECRETARY, Josh Bolten wants a copy of your rules."

Donald Rumsfeld froze, his keenly honed infighting instincts tingling.

So the new White House chief of staff was going to try to undermine him, 
to hoist him by his own petard, to catch him in contradiction, was he?

Why else would he want that set of maxims, maxims compiled years ago, 
back when one Don Rumsfeld was considered -- well, golly, just say it -- 
quite the whiz bang manager? Back long before the so-called Revolt of 
the Generals had convinced most everyone except the president, God bless 
his stubborn Lone Star streak, that it was time for the secretary to go.

Certainly there was no other reason to ask for his management tips these 
days.

''In an hour, I'll need some typing done. Until then, no interruptions."

''Not even for the president?"

''No."

''Vice President Cheney?"

''Well, him, yes, of course."

Alone, the secretary pulled a copy of the rules from his desk drawer and 
began skipping through them. (Yes, Rumsfeld's Rules are real: Read them 
at www.library.villanova.edu/vbl/bweb/rumsfeldsrules.pdf.)

The first section contained his recommendations for the White House 
staff. Yet perusing them, he couldn't help but think of -- himself.

''Visit with your predecessors from previous administrations. . . . Try 
to make original mistakes, rather than needlessly repeating theirs."

Well, gee, hadn't they had 13 former secretaries of state and defense in 
for 40 minutes back in January? And hadn't he talked to himself? That 
should count. After all, he'd been secretary of defense before, back 
under President Ford.

Mistakes? Condi said they'd made thousands, but he couldn't think of 
any. Regrets? Well, sure, he'd had a few, but then again, too few to 
mention.

After a brief Sinatra karaoke interlude, he read on.

''It is easier to get into something than to get out of it." Even he 
couldn't contemplate that one without thinking instantly of Iraq. A 
stroke of his pen, and it was a rule no longer.

''Being vice president is difficult. Don't make it tougher."

Difficult? Strike that. Dick lived in a comfortable conservative cocoon. 
Why, with all his TVs tuned to Fox News, he wasn't even aware that half 
the country thought he'd gone completely Coco Pops. And did the VP ever 
have to worry about being fired?

The very word sent a shiver up the secretary's spine -- as did another 
axiom a few rules further on.

''Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles de 
Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men."

Egad. Crossing out that self-effacing sentiment, he went to work on a 
replacement: ''As Charles de Gaulle said, 'Nothing great can ever be 
achieved without great men.' Never throw the administration's statesmen 
to the jackals of the press to quell a controversy. It will only whet 
their appetites."

''Many people around the president have sizable egos before entering 
government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to 
moderate their egos."

He frowned, then appended: ''But always bear in mind what Charles de 
Gaulle said about great men: 'If you are not criticized, you may not be 
doing much.' "

Finally, a truism for the ages. He'd move it up to number one.

''Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the president and do 
wonders for your performance." He added an asterisk: ''Completely 
inoperative in time of war, when continuity is an absolute must."

''If in doubt, move decisions up to the president." Well, the simple 
insertion of the word ''vice," before ''president" would suffice there.

''Don't allow people to be excluded from a meeting or denied an 
opportunity to express their views because their views differ from the 
president's . . . or your views."

Good lord, that one had to go, too. Bolten could read that as a 
repudiation of the administration's entire m.o. And what about the way 
he'd treated General Eric Shinseki, the former Army chief of staff, 
after Shinseki told Congress several hundred thousand troops might be 
needed in post-invasion Iraq?

He came to the section that pertained to his current job.

''The secretary of defense is not a super general or admiral."

Now, what in the world had he been smoking back when he wrote that?

Shaking his head, the secretary buzzed for his assistant.

''About those rules," he said. ''Tell Bolten's folks we just can't find 
a copy."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/04/21/rumsfeld_rewrites_the_rules/
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