For whatever reason, this Donald Rumsfeld classic popped up in my FB feed today.......

[marmar]

..... thinking about our current situation, it almost makes you long for the days when our biggest battle was against warmongering Neocons.

[Turbineguy]

1. Rumsfeld v Hegseth.

[COL Mustard]

2. I'd take Rumsfeld in a heartbeat.

He was serious, had gravitas and knew how the Pentagon worked. I might have had problems with some of his decisions, but the man was a serious professional. Hegseth is a C-list actor who plays to an audience of one.

[Wifes husband]

3. He was a lying asshole

[Prairie Gates]

4. Zizek did a nice bit on this

Rumsfeld mentions

Known knowns
Known unknowns
Unknown unknowns

The only combination he doesn't mention is

Unknown knowns

This is, of course, the Lacanian Real, conveniently enough for Zizek - hilariously both unstated by Rumsfeld and paradoxical within Rumsfeld's system of knowledge (how can there be an unknown known - that which we don't / can't know that we know?).

I usually don't like Zizek's stuff, but I found that one quite clever, I have to say.