Old Hand Called In To Clean Up Junior's Mess

I'm talking about this guy, not this guy. James Baker III is as much the Bush Family consigliere as Tom Hagen was to the Corleone's in The Godfather series. In current light, he can also be compared to The Wolf in Pulp Fiction--IE a trusted professional that knows all the family secrets who can be counted on to clean up the most egregious and potentially dangerous fuck ups. Well we all know who the family fuck-up is this time, what he smashed, and what needs to be cleaned up. Baker was dispatched by Pappy a few months ago to head up The Iraq Study Group (aka the non-parallel universe living, non-neocon, boy this thing is turning into an embarrassment, Respected Foreign Policy Group). The new Defense Secretary, Robert Gates is merely a stand in: think of him as a proxy for the entire old guard of the Republican foreign policy apparatus. You know, the guys that actually maybe even put on a military uniform at one point in their lives, who respected allies, valued diplomacy, and didn't bring the world to the brink of Armageddon with their rank incompetence. Think Scowcroft, Pappy, Kissinger, etc. But make no mistake, it's Baker who's stirring the drink. You see word came down from the mountain that the boy needs a monitor. The Wolf is on the job. Expect results.