Robert Gates and the Power of Hindsight

The former Secretary of Defense is admonishing lawmakers for the problems he helped create.

One of the most amazing characteristics of Washington is that it is a place where memories fade very quickly. Policymakers who were despised for their actions just a few years ago are largely forgotten about just a few years later thanks to a frenetic 24-hour news media and the city’s four-year election cycle mindset. If you simply bide your time, your …