Looking for stocking stuffers?

Rumsfeld doll a holiday gift that keeps on talking
By Al Kamen The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — It's holiday shopping time, and you're once again scurrying about looking for something besides the usual earrings, ties, shirts or sweaters. Why not capitalize on the growing "Rummy nostalgia" phenomenon? After having him for six years as a constant source of hatred, despair or admiration, face it, some of you just miss the old SecDef. Got just the thing: a 12-inch "Rummy" doll that looks vaguely like him and features bits of his historic news conferences that you can play by pressing a little button on the back of his coat. Yes, you can listen to 28 of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's greatest displays of logic:
• "What they do with themselves is up to them, and what the people around them do with them is up to the people around them."
And there are the classics:
• "There are known knowns, there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns, that is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns, there are things we do not know we don't know, and each year we discover a few more of those unknown unknowns."
• "We have a saying in America: If you're in a hole, stop digging. ... I'm not sure I should have said that."
Some would make Yogi Berra beam with pride:
• "I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started."
• "I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I think, and I assume that's what I said."
Some sticklers may grouse that the comments needed to be placed in context, because the questions asked by reporters at the briefings are not included. Another criticism is that some of the truly best lines — "Freedom is untidy" and "Stuff Happens" — are not included. No matter. There's enough to give everyone hours of fond or not-so-fond memories of the man in his prime. The Rummy doll is made in China, so you might want to wear gloves when handling. There is also a warning: "Choking Hazard. Small Parts. Not for children under 3 years of age."

Footnote
The "Rummy" doll and those of other luminaries, including President Clinton, President Reagan and both Bushes, are available for $19.95 each:
TalkingPresidents.com