Rumsfeld to teach public policy?

This has got to be the most tragically funny news I've seen in a long time.

It appears that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has decided that he wants to teach public policy to graduate and post-graduate students.

That's akin to Don Imus teaching a cultural sensitivity course. Beyond ridiculous.

In my mind, it's no stretch at all to call Rumsfeld the biggest war criminal this country has seen since Lt. William Calley of My Lai fame or former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

In today's Washington Times:

"He's considering a lot of things but he wants to remain engaged in public policy issues and is in the process of creating a foundation that would involve teaching and research fellowships for graduate and post-graduate students," Mr. Di Rita [a Rumsfeld aide] said.

The goal is to promote continued U.S. engagement in world affairs in furtherance of U.S. security interests, Mr. Di Rita said.

It's hard to believe that someone like Rumsfeld, for all of the death and destruction he's caused, to be in this much denial. My only question is, when people are this delusional, do they know it, or are they not even aware of how divorced from reality they really are?

Think Progress has some brilliant suggestions on what Rummy could teach his pupes.

I'm just imagining Professor Rumsfeld imparting his wisdom on his young charges. He should start a PR class, How to have the worst press relations ever in 10 easy steps:

1. How to ask and answer your own question, to the annoyance of millions. "Do I wish we had used more troops in Iraq? Yes! Do I have any credibility left with anyone in the free world because of my arrogance and obfuscations during my tenure as secretary of defense? No." [His habit of asking and answering his own questions is one of the most annoying traits I've ever heard in a civil servant - Richard Nixon's habitual references to himself in the third person rate a close second.]

2. When reporters ask you tough questions, just act like you know more than they do, and that it's complicated. One of my favorite examples of this is during his last press conference as defense secretary, a week or two before the election last fall. At a press, he became reeeeally annoyed with the line of questioning, so at one point, he admonished his questioners to "BACK OFF."

3. Be overly vague when the going gets tough. I'll never forget the press conference when he muttered "stuff happens" while Baghdad was being looted during the mayhem after President Bush declared "major combat operations are over."

4. If all else fails, just be vehement. No one mastered this better than Rummy. Even when he was lying (and that was pretty often), he would just act so emphatic to just try and scare some reporters into thinking he MUST be right. Wrong.

I could fill out the rest of the top ten, but you probably get the point.

Donald Rumsfeld... teaching public policy. As the saying goes, if a man lives long enough, he gets to see everything.

Photos from AP via HuffPo