The nation’s top dog of war is frisky again. Donald Rumsfeld has returned to high visibility — after a couple of months in the media doghouse following revelations about torture at the Abu Ghraib prison — now openly romancing the journalistic pack with his inimitable style of tough love as he growls and romps across TV screens.
For three years, the elan of Rumsfeld’s media stardom has been welded to fear and killing. The civilian boss at the Pentagon made little impression on the nation until 9/11 — but soon afterwards, CNN was hailing him as “a virtual rock star.” While he briefed reporters about the bombing of Afghanistan in autumn 2001, there was a rush among reporters and pundits who conflated his ability to oversee air-war carnage with new status as some kind of hunk…
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