Robert McNamara - RIP

"i don't think any of u are old enough to remember nam, i was born in 85 and mcnamara's transgressions don't mean much to me"

Does anything mean much to you? And if it did why should we give a shit?

Errol Morris on McNamara.

His refusal to come out against the Vietnam War, particularly as it continued after he left the Defense Department, has angered many. There’s ample evidence that he felt the war was wrong. Why did he remain silent until the 1990s, when “In Retrospect” was published? That is something that people will probably never forgive him for. But he had an implacable sense of rectitude about what was permissible and what was not. In his mind, he probably remained secretary of defense until the day he died.

I think Morris has a whif of Stockholm Syndrome about him when he talks about McNamara, frankly.

McNamara held him hostage and forced Errol Morris to make a movie about him.

The Fog of War is one of my favorite movies.

I hope he does rest in peace. His work here is done. History won't remember him kindly, and it shouldn't. I hope his name becomes one of those go-to American references that's shorthand for hubris and failure, like Custer.

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

"Yeah, so did McNamara."

""i don't think any of u are old enough to remember nam"

Bad assumption there. I was 14 years old in 1968, when McNamara left the DOD for the World Bank and the USA had roughly 550,000 soldiers in Vietnam. I remember him rather well, especially since I was draftable before that futile, criminal war ended. His trangressions could have cost me my life. Not easy to forgive, when the purpose of the war was so utterly feckless and ill-conceived.

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oh bugger

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