You Don’t Know Dick

Today, Jonathan Chait asked: Is President Obama mean? Apparently Richard Holbrooke – you know, that sweet paragon of geniality – felt slighted when the president allegedly mocked him in private after the diplomat daintily asked to be called “Richard” instead of “Dick.” His wife, he said, just HATES it when people call him Dick. So goes the tale as recorded in Bob Woodward's new book. And the point of Chait’s post? Page views, I guess. Even if the story is true (and it does kinda sound like the shenanigans the notoriously alpha-male Obama would perpetrate), it just proves Holbrook is a milquetoast who hides behind his blustery public persona. Would you really care what the Leader of the Free World called you if he offered you a top job at the White House? Okay, okay. I'll stipulate that being called “Turd Blossom” – Dubya’s nickname for Karl Rove – might be a bridge too far for most of us.