Which William Perry Appointed to Bush’s Iraq Study Group?

(AP) Ex. Clinton Sec. of Defense William Perry made the cut for the President’s group of bi-partisan advisors on Iraq. The question is which Perry will show up for the meeting? Will it be the vilified contributor to the United Nations’ Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission report citing the United States as a cause of nuclear weapons proliferation or the hawkish North Korean missile blaster? Will it be the retired public servant or the Chairman of the Board of Global Technology Partners, an investment house specializing in defense industry acquisitions?

And who will he call for advice? Will he phone his co-author of the Washington Post piece advocating a missile attack on North Korea’s test missile? Mr. Carter happens to sit on the Board of Directors of a company that makes guidance systems for missiles. Would they be using that very system to take out the evil North Korean missile?

Either way, the recently hawkish Democrats that hold Republican like Board positions in key defense industry companies is nothing to cheer about. Imitation may be a source of flattery, but it is taking the United States down a long lonely road away from its foundational beliefs. As Dr. Deming would say minimizing point to point variation takes you “off to the Milky Way”. That appears to be the case in our two party politics.