Glabe/Franken

My brother got a copy of Al Franken's new book for Christmas and I'm reading it before I head out to Cali-fo-nie-ay. I thought this was interesting (from p257, referencing the "Brat Pack" of young contractor overseers hired by Bremer to replace the guys who left with Jay Garner):

"Among the new hires were Casey Wasson, twenty-three, a recent college grad who needed a job... Scott Erwin, twenty-one, a former intern for Dick Cheney and Tom Delay, who didn't need a job because he was still in college... Erwin soon landed a gig as the top Coalition Provisional Authority official managing the finances of Iraq's civilian forces- fire units, customs, border patrols, and police. What a great job! Almost as much fun as his previous job, which he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch was "my time as an ice-cream truck driver."

"Erwin was one of the six youngsters given control of Iraq's $13 Billion budget. 'The Brat Pack,' as they inevitably came to be known, were understandably startled to find themselves with awesome new jobs in Baghdad, especially since they hadn't applied for them. Each had recieved an unsolicited e-mail from the Pentagon inviting them to join in the liberation effort. After comparing noted, the twenty-somethings realized the one thing they all had in common. They had all sent their resumes to the notoriously unreliable Heritage Foundation."

Wait a second. Glabe is in college, and he was in college when Bremer took power. Glabe worked for the Heritage Foundation, but I'm not sure when. Thus the obvious question is raised: Why wasn't Glabe called?

One theory, and this is unconfirmed, posits that Glabe, beyond simply being a stupid asshole, is in fact such a stupid asshole that he was unable to convince even the Heritage Foundation of his worth as a partisan agent. God, I hate that guy.

Not that you asked, but overall the book is pretty good, although the "self-calls" about authorial narcissism don't make the narcissism any less irritating.

In other news, I introduced myself to Michael Ellis a couple weeks back when he returned some CDs to the music library, where I work. He was kind of put off once I told him who I was and he said something about looking forward to seeing me slander him in print or some bullshit. I laughed and said something quippy but what I should have said was "Ha, ha, you are such a huge dork." Have you seen this guy? Hilarious.