Yesterday, we dug out our grand old American flag and flew it from the holder that I had improvised after 9/11. We flew it to celebrate two great changes: a) the Democratic triumph in Tuesday's election, which restored a bit of our faith in representative government, and b) the end of the arrogant reign of Donald Rumsfeld, the principal mover (except for the cowboy-in-chief himself) of this foolish, disastrous adventurism in the Middle East. We're hoping for a return to common sense in America, but we're not entirely optimistic -- the guy who's in charge doesn't read, can't admit he's ever made a mistake, and takes his marching orders from a) Rove, b) his gut, and c) his narrow, parochial version of the great signifier in the sky -- in what order of priority no one knows.
Rumsfeld should have been out on his ass years ago. He had lost the respect of the soldiers, certainly of the generals, the congress, and, as we now know from the election results, of ordinary Americans everywhere. However, until yesterday he could still patronize and mystify the journalists, and he could still issue instructions to those beneath him in the chain of command. And generals obey even when they despise the person issuing the orders.
In 1606, Shakespeare described the psychological relations between the generals and their civilian commander. Of Macbeth, Angus says that "Those he commands move only in command,/ Nothing in love." That is, they do what they're told, but they hate doing it. Here's the full transcript of Angus's remarks: "Now does [Macbeth] feel/ His secret murders sticking on his hands;/ Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach;/ Those he commands move only in command,/ Nothing in love: Now does he feel his title/ Hang loose upon him, like a giant's robe/ Upon a dwarfish thief."
It's hopeless to expect that Rumsfeld would recognize that the mantle of Secretary of Defense hung upon him as Angus describes Macbeth's (or, as does, a fortiori, the presidential mantle upon its own wearer) -- there's not sufficient insight or perspective or self-knowledge around the White House these days. But we know exactly what Angus meant, and we know that some of our so-called leaders are nothing more than dwarfish thiefs.
("Minutely" means "every minute"; "Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach" means "every minute a revolt [by one of his former followers] pays Macbeth back for his own breach of faith, i.e. assassinating Duncan.)
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