One of the things I didn’t know about Richard Perle until I went to visit him at his suburban Washington home the other night – yes, I’m the culprit behind the wobbly camera in the Pajamas video – is that he is a gourmet cook with a fabulous kitchen. Also, he makes a killer cup of espresso in the true Italian fashion replete with crema, etc. Yes, the so-called Prince of Darkness is a Prince of Cuisine.
Which got me to thinking about how people surprise you. Their real life personae are so often different, even opposite, from their public image. Two of the more prominent neocons I know – or people called or accused of being neocons, no one seems to know what it really means, if anything – Michael Ledeen and Perle – are two of the warmer, more teddy bear like guys I have met in recent years. But maybe I’m missing something. Maybe they have a secret side that I just haven’t seen, even though I have certainly spent a lot of time hanging out with Michael at least on both coasts in the last couple of years and nothing particularly nefarious has come up. He hasn’t even asked me to spy on anybody or forge any documents. But again, maybe he knows I wouldn’t be particularly skillful at either of those endeavors (disastrous would be more like it).
Anyway, I’m getting on a plane back to Los Angeles now. More to come of my Washington adventures.
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