Some short takes today. In his book on Winston Churchill, Paul Johnson reveals the secret of Churchill’s strength as wartime leader: He didn’t treat military brass as the oracle at Delphi and Solomon combined. In World War I, Johnson notes, reverence for brass and dislike for civilian leaders made it impossible for the government to conduct war efficiently. As Churchill put it, “The foolish doctrine was preached to the public through innumerable agencies that generals and admirals must be right on war matters and civilians of all kinds must be wrong. …”

Get where I’m going with this?