Amor de Cosmos

Former US Secretary of Defense used to put bible quotes on his briefings to George W. Bush as a suck-up maneuver.

The briefing’s cover sheet generally featured triumphant, color images from the previous days’ war efforts: On this particular morning, it showed the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down in Firdos Square, a grateful Iraqi child kissing an American soldier, and jubilant crowds thronging the streets of newly liberated Baghdad. And above these images, and just below the headline SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, was a quote that may have raised some eyebrows. It came from the Bible, from the book of Psalms: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him…To deliver their soul from death.”

This is from a terrific piece in GQ, which also quotes Rumsfeld as saying ‘I’m going to tell the president we don’t need any more than the National Guard’ regarding rescuers for Hurrican Katrina victims.