the poetry of Donald Rumsfeld

San Francisco composer Bryant Kong uses remarks issued by the secretary of defense during press briefings and interviews as the basis of a series of lithe and witty art songs. Listen to the MP3s. Some of Rummy's more amazing and baffling pronouncements: **The Unknown** _As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, The ones we don't know We don't know._ **A Confession** _Once in a while, I'm standing here, doing something. And I think, "What in the world am I doing here?" It's a big surprise._ **The Situation** _Things will not be necessarily continuous. The fact that they are something other than perfectly continuous Ought not to be characterized as a pause. There will be some things that people will see. There will be some things that people won't see. And life goes on._ ---