Forget the ‘deep state.’ It’s the ‘shallow state’ we have to worry about. – The Washington Post

ADADThe shallow state menace was exposed under especially harsh light this week by my colleagues at The Post in an extraordinary effort led by investigative reporter Craig Whitlock.
But the old adage — fool me twice, shame on me — makes the Afghanistan Papers worse, in at least one respect.
The shallow state rushed into Saddam Hussein’s Iraq with no plan for post-liberation success.
Genius filmmakers Ethan and Joel Coen tackled the shallow state in their 2008 film “Burn After Reading,” a dark slapstick comedy that is, for my money, the best CIA movie ever made.
It’s the bumbling, credulous, grandstanding, corner-cutting shallow state, bickering with itself as the clock ticks down on a complicated, perilous future.

Opinions - Washington Post Member since June 14, 2020

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The Washington Post Opinions section features opinion articles, newspaper editorials and letters to the editor on the issues of the day. Offerings include the Post Partisan blog by Washington Post opinion writers, as well as political cartoons and political cartoon animations by editorial cartoonists Tom Toles and Ann Telnaes.