Trump was pretty clear he chose him because he looked good in TV.

It's the context that makes it crazy. Someone asked if there was any evidence of a link between Iraq and WMDs, at a press conference, and this is how he avoided giving an answer or taking any accountability.

I unironically paraphrase this at work all the time when talking about ops concerns. That and “the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”

If it makes you feel any better, think of it more as a catchy synecdoche to communicate “the man was a dangerous incompetent” than a formal verification disproval of his claim.

Anyone who's ever worked on a software project can attest to this

Wisdom tends to sound obvious, and obvious statements aren't novel. The digital society values the novel over the wise.

Rumsfeld heard it from some smart guy in NASA and repackaged it to sell Iraq war. This is similar to the influencers bandying around 'algorithms';

Rumsfeld is more like the Big Lebowski in parroting whatever to make him look smart. Never for a moment he stopped to think about the amount of damage that would haunt the veterans that served there.

He wrote a book about leadership but he lacked balls to do anything about Abu Ghraib for example, nor he did anything to stop the war. IMO he is just another corporate coward.

In his most stunning display of 'leadership', he used autopen to stamp his signature on condolence letters sent to the families of soldiers killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Imagine that!

Troublingly, I think he actually does think these ideas are helpful. Is a True Believer any less dangerous?

"Sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

a while back we had an army private as the secretary of defense.

end of the day, his experience as a private meant nothing towards the job. perhaps he was slightly more able to relate to the needs of the troops.

now we have a reserve captain. who was pushed out of the service for extremest views and body art. his experience means he hates the army, and his selection to the post means his political views have been vindicated.

a master of strategy? leader of men in battle? CEO of the worlds biggest institution? nope. he doesn't even understand those roles.

Not being able to afford something has never stopped the US before.