this characterization of him shouldn t come as a surprise. this is more from gates on the today show this morning. take a listen. i don t vilify anybody. i make clear that i have a lot of respect for both president bush and president obama and just like on afghanistan, i think that what has been lost in the news media is that i actually agreed with virtually every decision president obama made on afghanistan. again, we should note for viewers he s wearing a neck brace as a result of a previous accident. he fell on a hallway rug apparently according to a report in the washington post today. i read that. that was one heck of a fall. you get through afghanistan then the rug gets you. what he just said about folks are taking away from the book, is that an accurate characterization? personally, i find that to be correct. it s a common theme, executive branch members, leaving washington with a lot of rancor