If you think of Rumsfeld as a character in a Gulf Wars II musical, these are the songs he might sing. The seven songs show the Secretary not only holding forth from his press podium, but in introspective moments as well. We see Rumsfeld being haughty and impatient, but also caught by surprise — even vulnerable. These extremes are the natural results of the situation in which Rumsfeld finds himself — waging a war with no easy outcome and trying to sell a story that doesn’t hold up, as the public can see now.

Reflecting these different moods, the songs are set in a variety of musical forms and show strong contemporary influences. The first song, The Unknown, has a jaunty beat and repeated rhythms more often associated with pop music. You may recognize the words (“As we know, there are known knowns?”). A Confession is a haunting ballad. Happenings is a Hungarian-style march but with pop influences. Other songs include a waltz and even a Baroque aria.

Since I’m plugging somebody else’s album, I’ll use this opportunity to point towards my own poetic excursion into Rumsfeldia, Skydiving with Rummy: A Fever-Dream in Prose…