Suggestions for the White House "Director for Lessons Learned"

The Carpetbagger Report
Jul. 15, 2006

National Journal published a list this week of salaries for the several hundred political appointees who work at the White House. As TP noted, one guy, Stuart Baker, makes $106,641 a year to serve as the president's "Director for Lessons Learned." It is, by any reasonable measure, the most patently absurd title in Washington.

It's not altogether clear what, if anything, Baker actually does. Poking around, I found that he was a former NSA general counsel and the Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security before taking on his current job, but there's no reported evidence of him actually having done anything at the White House. Is the Bush gang still looking for those learned lessons?

Regardless, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) thinks we should save some money, eliminate Baker's post, and consider "a few of the lessons this White House should have learned by now."

Lesson 1: When the Army Chief of Staff and the Secretary of State say you are going to war without enough troops, you're going to war without enough troops.

Lesson 2: When 8.8 billion dollars of reconstruction funding disappears from Iraq, and 2 billion dollars disappears from Katrina relief, it's time to demand a little accountability.

Lesson 3: When you've 'turned the corner' in Iraq more times than Danica Patrick at the Indy 500, it means you are going in circles.

Lesson 4: When the national weather service tells you a category 5 hurricane is heading for New Orleans, a category 5 hurricane is heading to New Orleans.

Maybe we should compile a list and send it to Baker. I'm sure he'd appreciate the assistance.