Pet implausibilities ...

... Casting Widely, Lots of Keepers. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

... the vice president is revealed as a gifted mimic of Washington figures (impressions that are quickly put off the record), a wry witness to the trappings of high office (divers are on hand for the excursion, he explains, "in case I fall out of the boat"), and an appealing companion. Mr. Labash ends up thoroughly liking the warmonger: "Don't get me wrong," he writes. "I feel sick about it."