all of the above statements are mine, written on this date, and true and

November 4, 2016 2:12 PM

Well, like most anyone looking to get ahead in natsec punditry, [Robert Caruso] is a big fan of going to war.

How hard is it to con people in Washington, D.C.? Easier than you might think, considering it’s the place where things like nuclear war get decided.

A disturbing case study in the "national security" commentariat's appetite for talented Mr. Ripley's (Brendan James for Deadspin).

Good morning traitors! I finally tracked down your family members. So here’s what is going to happen. You will cease and desist. You will cease cooperation with ___. Every action ___ takes, I will punish your families. Both of you know I am willing to break the law … Failure to comply means I go after your family. Very simple. Consider this a sworn statement. I’ve gotten away with much, much worse.

"If he had saved the death threats for Iranians, rather than his friends—if he channeled a just little bit more of his pathology into his work, rather than his personal life—who knows how far he could have gone?"

posted by grobstein (11 comments total)

This story is bananas.
posted by ghharr at 4:45 PM on November 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

no, the man in question is
posted by coachfortner at 5:09 PM on November 4, 2016

>[Robert Caruso] is a big fan of going to war.

...but not PERSONALLY, you understand.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 6:53 PM on November 4, 2016 [5 favorites]

Wow, this story just keeps going further down the rabbit hole: the bit in the article where Caruso claims not to know Marjorie Romeyn-Sanabria? Yeah, about that. And here's a more recent tweet of hers. Yeah, good luck with that, lady.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:44 PM on November 4, 2016 [3 favorites]

for talented Mr. Ripley's what?
posted by Naberius at 10:36 PM on November 4, 2016 [4 favorites]

Talented Misters Ripley, if we're going to be all Whoppers Jr. about it.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:12 AM on November 5, 2016 [21 favorites]

It's cool and good that it took so long to expose this guy's association with the Clinton campaign as a fraud because his anti-Russian paranoia fit well with the atmosphere of the Democratic partisan press.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:03 AM on November 5, 2016 [4 favorites]

the generation that is Actually Good
posted by grobstein at 12:00 PM on November 5, 2016

The Goodest Generation?
posted by rhizome at 2:38 PM on November 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's worth quoting the article's conclusion here : "Ultimately, Caruso’s problem is one of degree, not substance. If he had saved the death threats for Iranians, rather than his friends—if he channeled a just little bit more of his pathology into his work, rather than his personal life—who knows how far he could have gone?"

America's largest industry is bullshit. And it's a growth sector.
posted by jeffburdges at 5:34 PM on November 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Ugh. That sounds like people I know with borderline personality disorder.
posted by Annika Cicada at 4:45 AM on November 6, 2016