The always newsworthy Ron Suskind has a new book out – Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President – which, according to Friday’s New York Times, “quotes White House documents that say [Pres.] Obama’s decisions were routinely ‘re-litigated’ by the chairman of the National Economic Council, Lawrence H. Summers.”)

That’s interesting in light of this passage from Megan McArdle’s piece on Austan Goolsbee in last month’s Atlantic:

Steve Rattner, the former “car czar,” describes in his book a briefing where Summers told the president that they’d decided to provide $5 billion to support auto suppliers while they made up their minds about a plan for the automakers. Surprised, Goolsbee immediately broke in, even though he’d agreed he was just there to listen and not to speak:

“Mr. President,” he interrupted, “just be aware that the second we announce we’re going to save the suppliers, everybody is going to assume we’re saving the auto companies too. Have we really decided that?”

As soon as the meeting broke up, a furious Summers cornered Goolsbee in the hallway and “exploded”:

“You do not relitigate in front of the President!”

Not unless you’re Lawrence H. Summers, who has no trouble calling other people a**holes while being a bigger one himself.