You Know A Man By The Company He Keeps

Former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is whispering more sweet nothings in our ears: Gates “enjoyed and respected” few as he did Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), aka “McMussolini.”

Aside from settling the question as to what distinguishes “the 44th president of the United States differ from the 43rd” (“Bush sent troops to fight futile battles without flinching; Obama did the same with some reservation”), Robert Gates told us very little, it would seem, in “Duty,” “a book that hangs on one hook.”