Dear Diary: Joe Biden was pissed at the way I offloaded Chuck Hagel and he felt strongly that the next SecDef should be someone who will push back hard when representing the Pentagon. Ashton Carter was the consensus choice. I had him meet me in the Oval Office just before my formal announcement of his appointment. There was a tentative knock at the door. "Carter?" I inquired. "Sir" came the reply. "Come in," I said. "Let's begin as we'll continue. Get on your knees, crawl towards me and ask my permission before standing up." He obliged without protest. A good sign for the future