Cuckoo clock cabinet

McNamara? Really?! I totally missed this piece of news: looks like Sir Fog-of-War was at the White House last week, 'advising' Bush on Iraq. Chew on that for a while, eh? If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna have to go screw my head back on...

Thanks to HuffPo for the tip. I should also point out that McNamara was joined by several other ghosts-of-State & Defense past, including:

• James A. Baker III, the secretary of state for George Herbert Walker Bush during the first Gulf war
• Madeleine K. Albright, President Bill Clinton's secretary of state
• Harold Brown, defense secretary for President Jimmy Carter
• Former senator William S. Cohen (R-Maine), who ran the Pentagon under Clinton
• Lawrence S. Eagleburger, a secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush
• James R. Schlesinger, secretary of defense under Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford
• Alexander M. Haig Jr., secretary of state for President Reagan

Of course, this new Iraq brain-trust was assembled on a day when ~130 people were killed in attacks.

Bush, not exactly famous for welcoming dissenting viewpoints, worked hard to avoid talking about the decision to invade Iraq:

Albright was among the most aggressive in challenging Bush in the private meeting, complaining about the president's characterization of the conflict as unavoidable.
"I feel very strongly it is wrong to say something publicly critical of the president and then don't say it to his face," she said. "I said this was a war of choice, not necessity. But getting it right is a necessity and not a choice."
[...] Cohen, like the others, described the president as pleasantly engaging and at times feisty.

Let me just check my WaPo- to- English dictionary...feisty ...feisty ...aHa! Petulant. Childish. Stubborn. Lashing out when caught in a lie or misjudgement. Of course what I imagine Bush said to his detractors (but I can't repeat) is on par with what Paulie said to Christopher in that Sopranos episode in the woods (Ep#37-Pine Barrens):

"Hey! Don't get C**ty!"