Scarier than N-Pod

Josh Marshall has some apposite remarks of the announcement that Rudy Giuliani has signed Michael Rubin on as an advisor. I must say, though, that I think remarks like "You really might as well put Ahmed Chalabi as your top Mideast or Iran advisor" do a disservice to Chalabi. After all, even though at the end of the day Chalabi didn't succeed in getting the United States to install him as President for Life of Iraq, he did come damn close.

If you look at where Chalabi was in, say, 1993 and where he wound up in 2003, you've got to admit that you're looking at a shrewd and effective operator. His American allies -- guys like Rubin, in short -- just look like dupes or maniacs or whatever.

Comments

Quoting Marshall:

"Like the most interesting and frightening neos, Michael is that perfect mix of extreme factual knowledge and extreme lack of judgment,"

I don't know if I've ever heard a better description of neoconservatives that was phrased so succinctly. I'll have to remember that one.

That aside, though, we're agreed on Chalabi.

Posted by Khaled | October 12, 2007 8:23 AM

From TPM: . On the TPM Scale of Pure Neoconism (TM) Rubin gets well over 99%.

What I think he's trying to say is "This one goes to 11."

Posted by SomeCallMeTim` | October 12, 2007 8:51 AM

Hey Matt, don't you owe us some analysis of another Giuliani advisor?

Remember this?

"One of Rudy Giuliani's foreign policy advisors is Martin Kramer (about which more later)"

That was August 15, Matt. Two months and still waiting...

Posted by Joe G. | October 12, 2007 9:26 AM

That press release also states that David Frum is joining Team Rudy: World Police.

Posted by SoCalJustice | October 12, 2007 10:02 AM

I'm skeptical of the claim for neocons to have "extreme factual knoweldge". Many of the most famous ones are clever as hell in some ways, but I don't really see much evidence of them bothering to know many facts- the other aspect, the lack of judgment and the willingness to believe crazy theories makes the trouble of gaining extreme factual knoweldge seen not worth-while, especially if you're good at bullying and bull-shitting.

Posted by Matt (not the famous one) | October 12, 2007 10:17 AM

Let's see, Martin Kramer, Norman Podhoretz, Michael Rubin, and David Frum. Can John Bolton, Richard Pearle, and Paul Wolfowitz be far behind?

Posted by SLC | October 12, 2007 10:28 AM

Also, Chalabi actually is an Iraqi. He's a crazed criminal but it's his country. Kramer, Podhoretz, Rubin. Frum, Perle, Feith etc are just Jewish Americans whose only concern is defending Israel from the threat of peace.
Bolton is their useful idiot.

Posted by Mark Cohen | October 12, 2007 12:13 PM

"extreme factual knowledge"

Yeah, like the kind featured in "The Holy Grail"

What do we do with witches? We burn them!
What do we also burn? Wood!
What does wood do in water? It floats!
What also floats? A Duck!
So? .... If she's really a witch, she'll weigh the same as a duck!

Posted by r4d20 | October 12, 2007 5:25 PM

Yes, but when will Rudy invite Larry Franklin onto his national security team?

Posted by Steve Sailer | October 12, 2007 6:24 PM

"You really might as well put Ahmed Chalabi as your top Mideast or Iran advisor"

The elections aren't over yet. Give him time.

Is there any whacko he HASN'T put on the payroll? Aside from the ones the OTHER candidates have on THEIR payroll?

I mean, Madeleine Albright is advising Clinton? The bitch who told Powell we needed to use his wonderful military (Powell said, "I nearly had an aneurism...") and who said "we think it's worth it" to kill half a million Iraqis with sanctions?

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | October 13, 2007 1:35 AM