We make a sharp distinction among: (1) intelligence; (2) education; (3) ability to learn, and (4) wisdom. This week, with quite a few retired generals criticizing Rumsfeld as incompetent, these distinctions became most vital. No one can listen to Rummy and not be impressed with his fluency; he is, in a sense, intelligent, and he seems adequately educated to use the language. He is also, quite plainly, incompetent in his job, and has failed repeatedly to recognize his mistakes or to learn from them. Arrogance is high among his faults, but perhaps more important is his unwisdom: wisdom is knowing what you do not know, but he simply does not know what he does not know. Worse, he doesn’t know what his tight little managerial group does not know. The President, of course, is famous for never admitting a mistake (or learning from one), and at the end of the week he pronounced an Eastertime blessing on Rummy, no matter what the generals in the field – or the American public – think. According to the polls, this may not be good for the ruling party in the coming elections. That’s the fair reward of failure.

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