Clarke Praises Bush in Resignation Letter

[VolcanoJen]

Enjoy the latest smear of Richard Clarke. It sounds so familiar... almost like that headline a few months ago, "(Wes) Clark Praises Bush in Speech at Republican Fundraiser."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=544&u=/ap/20040323/ap_on_go_pr_wh/terrorism_adviser_3&printer=1

This is pure and utter shite, it's irrelevant, and, you know, most high-level officials don't kick their boss in the ass on the way out. Any professional would try to smooth things over and be nice-as-pie in that final communication.

What's truly laughable is that this is being hyped as the most damaging line of the letter:

"It has been an enormous privilege to serve you these last 24 months," said the Jan. 20, 2003, letter from Clarke to Bush. "I will always remember the courage, determination, calm, and leadership you demonstrated on September 11th."

How that refutes any of Clarke's claims in his book is beyond me.

By the way, our own intrepid DUer, Kimber Scott, was way ahead of the media on this one, first posted by her yesterday morning; Kimber remembered that letters from Clarke just after he resigned (I don't know that it was the actual resignation letter) appeared in the media at the time that Clarke resigned:

Clarke's Resignation Letter - Prepare Yourself

[RobertSeattle]

1. Any smart person does a "diplomatic" resignation letter

Unless you want to f*ck yourself for life, always "play nice" when resigning from most any job.

[demgrrrll]

3. I agree, even if you had the boss from hell you don't write and by the

way you are the most incompetent fool I have ever worked for.
This does not negate any of the other things that he knows.
Talk about the stench of desperation.

[madaboutharry]

4. I suppose I could have written

"F**k you, you ass****s, I didn't go to law school for this" when I left my last job. In the small world we all live in, I didn't think that was too smart. They just thought I was moving on.

The more time passes, this administration reminds me of second graders. I take that back, second graders are more mature.

[kodi]

24. true. no need to burn bridges...at least until you get across them

clarke was acting like a professional.

and he still is.

[sadiesworld]

2. They project their own rabid patisanship onto everyone else.

Actually, the better interpretation is that he did not leave the administration a bitter man.

[kstewart33]

5. Oh, please

That's the best the White House can do? That Bush performed well ON 9/11?

PS: Hey, I just hit 500 posts!!!

[Fovea]

10. Yes this is the best they can do

and it looks pretty pathetic.
They are so wound up in lies and misdirection
that anytime they try to say something about their
record, they run into blowback from another lie.

Congrats on 500!

[keithyboy]

6. Hey everyone give Bush credit for his appearance on top of the rubble

BUT that has nothing to do with the info or charges presented in Clarke's book.

[RobertSeattle]

7. TPM Take on this

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_03_21.php#002752

"Spin and push-back is a delicate art. Used indiscriminately it can show how weak your real case must be.

Case in point. This afternoon the White House released Richard Clarke's resignation letter from January 2003, arguing that boilerplate praise for the president contained in the letter shows that Clarke has flipfloped and is thus a hypocrite.

Here's the phrase that they're highlighting: "It has been an enormous privilege to serve you these last 24 months ... I will always remember the courage, determination, calm, and leadership you demonstrated on September 11th."

The best they can do."

[54anickel]

17. Not to praise Shrub or anything, but I was rather impressed

with the calmness and leadership he showed on 9/11.
Then again, it's pretty easy to stay calm if you weren't at all taken by surprise by the events and practiced what you were going to say for months. :evilgrin:

[alarcojon]

8. Yeah, and if the letter wasn't diplomatic

They'd be saying Clarke is unstable. I agree that this has the whiff of desperation.

[snippy]

9. Bush claims Clarke lied in the letter?

Since the the White House claims that Clarke has no credibility are they arguing that Clarke lied in this letter?

[Zynx]

11. That sort of thing is ALWAYS said in a resignation letter.

[maxsolomon]

12. especially when you don't want to "commit suicide"

not career suicide, ACTUAL suicide.

[VolcanoJen]

13. According to the article, the WH is angry about the words that were NOT...

... in the letter.

"At this time period, when he was leaving, there was no mention of the grave concerns he claims to have had about the direction of the war on terrorism, or what we were doing to confront the threat posed by Iraq, by the former regime," McClellan said.

The ridiculous, impossible, laughable standards they set... so, had he gone out griping in that letter, wouldn't he be portrayed as "unstable" and "begrudged"?

[flamingpie2500]

14. As usual this idiotic administration shoots itself in the foot.

In my opinion releasing this letter just gives more credibility to Clarke.

[TinaTyson]

15. Do they think people are going to believe 3 different people

are all making it up?


O' Neil , Karen (forget last name), and now Clarke?

[carpe diem]

16. he worked for the guy for 2 years...

and only came up with one day where he could justify commending his boss on his performance...I wouldn't be bragging about this if I were Bush.

[rocktivity]

18. I know of someone who LOST his new job

because of the way he told off his boss on his last day. And what else are you doing do at a testimonal dinner that's not a roast--insult the guy?

:headbang:
rocknation

[yardwork]

19. Anyway, Clarke didn't even SEE W on 9/11

W was hiding, remember?

[kskiska]

20. Unbelievable! The Freeps are wetting themselves over this

like it's some sort of smoking gun. They're saying that because of this Clarke may not even show up to testify.

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1103915/posts?q=1&&page=1

[yardwork]

21. I think they are mistaken.

The Freepers are mistaken about so many things.

[They_LIHOP]

22. Yeah, and when Louis Freeh retired...

He praised how great the communication had become (on his watch) between the CIA and the FBI, and how many new FBI officers had been added (I thought Clinton 'decimated' the agency?) during his tenure.

Resignation letters are not exactly written 'under oath', nor does it make ANY sense to bash your former boss directly...

[newyawker99]

35. Hi They_LIHOP!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[pacifictiger]

23. Maybe Clarke meant exactly

what he said - only the white house is too dumb to figure it out.
----------
the Jan. 20, 2003, letter from Clarke to Bush. "I will always remember the courage, determination, calm, and leadership you demonstrated on September 11th."
------------

we all know he didn't do diddly squat on september 11th!!!!

Courage - NOT - sat with small children then ran away on airforce one.
Determination, calm, leadership ????? Guilliani was the only one talking or doing anything constructive that day! Clarke and others were doing things from the white house - not shrub.

[0007]

25. yeah, watch Mr. Clarke unload tomorrow and see if you believe

that tripe.

This is nothing but a last minute stand. Hope junior doesn't sleep too well tonight, I know Karl will be up late tonight, going oink oink oink with the other pigs. Or is it the hogs?

[rustydog]

26. They can find this stuff within 48 hours and put it out there...

but they can't find one man who can confirm Bush completed hisTANG commitment! How do you explain that?

[Imajika]

28. Now that is a great point...

"but they can't find one man who can confirm Bush completed hisTANG commitment! How do you explain that?"

Hehehehehehhehe. That is funny and so true.

I wonder how some of my rightwing coworkers will answer it?

LOL.

Great post.

Imajika

[goforit]

27. Bottom line............it was written to protect his life!

The fact he resigned alone shows their was a disagreement
in policy!!!

[VolcanoJen]

29. TheSmokingGun.com has the actual letter

Here...

http://thesmokinggun.com/archive/0323042clarke1.html

Photo reprint and all. Amazing how fast they work...

[Demonaut]

33. maybe a little sarcasm in the note..................

Bush hid on Sept 11th, we heard almost nothing all day

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

30. Actually that line is correct.

"I will always remember the courage, determination, calm, and leadership you demonstrated on September 11th."

Clarke does speak well of Bush on that day, in his book. So no conflict there.

[RamboLiberal]

34. Exactly - If I was Clarke I'd tell my publisher to release the first chap

He does praise Bush that day in his book. He even said it was he who advised Cheney to have Bush not come back to DC. He has Bush resolutely telling them from Offut that as soon as AF1 was refueled he was returning to DC. The worst he has to say about Bush that day was that he seemed tenative and off-stride in remarks from Booker Elementary and from Barksdale AF Base.

These guys in the WH are acting like petulant kids with the crap they're trying to trot out against Clarke and it's blowing up in their face.

[kera]

31. please read this

I am so depressed. I have been probing my entourage about politics and their views about the hot issues we have been debating here, and you know what, it always takes a while for the questions to sink in, although my questions are very simple. It seems like they have been preserved in amber for some time . No responses! not because they are cautious nothing like that but they don't know what to say..removed removed . In other words in the loop

[yellowcanine]

32. If this is all they can come up with, Clarke's critics truly are

out of ammunition. Nobody puts anything controversial in a resignation letter. Had he written a nasty resignation letter, you can be sure he would have been marched off the premises by security with no opportunity to collect personal files, etc. He also would likely have been denied access to materials to use for his book. I think he played them well. Tough noogies, Bushbots.