"Official" 60 minutes thread

[never cry wolf]

Not that I have any "official" standing in any way, but I am stuck here at the office and can't watch Richard Clarke's. The show should be starting NOW! Please everyone who can watch and type, keep myself and others in updated. If anyone has any online streaming links, either audio or video, I'd be much appreciative.

LET'S GET THESE BUSH BASTARDS!!!

[fujiyama]

1. Hmm...

I just checked CBS and they had NCAA basketball on.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

2. 2 minutes to go in the game

[madmax]

4. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Where's 60 Minutes!! I see basketball :(

[TreasonousBastard]

12. I can't find a stream, but WCBS 880 radio in NYC...

is broadcasting the audio right now. Maybe other CBS stations are, too

After the game, 60 minutes should run the full hour, that's they way they usually do it. I've got the tape running.

The 60 minutes link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/19/60minutes/main607356.shtml

[Wonk]

247. mp3 and video here for those who missed it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=109x6485

[boobooday]

3. I'm going to watch --

It looks like it is delayed here -- basketball game is on -- 2 minutes left.

Usually I like basketball, but now I want the Bush brushfire to begin! I plugged my TV in special for this!

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Andy_Stephenson]

7. I am gonna turn off the computer

and watch tv this eve :evilgrin: something I rarely do.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

5. pre-empted by March Madness

yep, NCAA tourney....we have our priorities straight here.

[chookie]

15. YUK! Basketball here in Pittsburgh

No news about when this important 60 Minutes will show.

[bvar22]

6. Popcorn popped, VCR warmed up....

...all systems go. OMG, might be overtime.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. 29 seconds to go!

No tie -- thank God!

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

9. UAB vs Kentucky,.damn this is a good game!

Trading baskets with seconds to spare,

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

11. Damn! Kentucky lost.

UAB was good even back when I was in college over 20 years ago.

[liberal72]

243. I am a student at UAB

and I am pumped go Blazers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[peacetalksforall]

10. Some of us are relying on you to tell us what's happening - thanks.

[Gen]

13. Let the Fireworks Begin!

Go Clarke Go!

[calimary]

141. CONTACT INFO for the media, AND CBS - thank you bigtree!

I am actually REposting this - from another DUer - I GRATEFULLY acknowledge DUer bigtree for coming up with this list and doing the heavy lifting on it. But it's SO WORTH IT to repost. PLEASE CONTACT SOMEBODY. ANYBODY! Or use the TOLL FREE Capitol Hill Switchboard number in my sig line, first thing tomorrow morning.

PLEASE PEOPLE! DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS! "60 Minutes" ENDS at the end of the 60 minutes. It's up to the rest of us to see that it lives on and keeps having an impact. This is VERY heavy stuff. Needs to be repeated ALL OVER THE PLACE! And, while you're at it, CBS needs to be thanked!

- calimary

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Also, I would add:

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CBS SHOULD BE THANKED FOR RUNNING THIS!!!

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1 (800) 839 - 5276 - TOLL FREE Capitol Hill Switchboard number! They'll transfer you to any House/Senate office you name!

[wyldwolf]

14. Will anyone be making an MPEG/WMV/QuickTime of the segment?

I'll host it if someone makes one.

[Malva Zebrina]

16. well, still bouncing around a basketball court

[supernova]

17. NCAA Tourney still on here

in the Southeast. Don't know when it will start.

[nostamj]

18. 60 is often delayed by sports

but shown in it's entirety. with all the hype they've put out on this one... they have to show it...

well, unless KKKarl made the <whisper> anthrax... call.

[Lorien]

19. Nothing but basketball here

in Central Florida. :grr:

[boobooday]

20. Okay, they're wrapping up the game now

The underdogs won!

[Cush]

21. starting now

[AlinPA]

22. "What did Bush* know and when did he know it" (Stahl)

[chimpymustgo]

26. Did CBS promote "60 Minutes" during the games?

I got home with just a few minutes left in the game, but was surprised not to hear any promos for 60 minutes. Did I just miss them?

[Alex146]

34. I think I saw ads during the SU game yesterday

[Leilani]

36. Yes, all through the tournament

big time, as Cheney would say.

[chimpymustgo]

57. Thanks. Hope viewership is through the roof.

This is damning.

[scottxyz]

144. I fiddled with the antenna during the basketball

We barely get CBS - lordy, I never realized it was all prescription-drug and Medicare and Charles Schwab ads, what a demographic - and right when Leslie was saying "What did Bush know and when did he know it" we got the picture.

[never cry wolf]

23. WBBM radio in Chicago is simulcasting, thank God.

Not streaming as far as I can tell though. Damn, I missed the first segment.

[alcuno]

90. My neighbor across the street was working on his car and blasting

it on the radio. I heard it when I took out the garbage; he was playing it for the entire street.

[burythehatchet]

24. can ya hear the bom droppin!!

[AlinPA]

25. Intro to stories, now commericial.

[Cush]

27. kick

[boobooday]

28. 9/11 Before and After

Love the still of shrub, looking all snakey and stuff . . .

White House evacucation. Clarke says it was totally abandoned. He ran the gov't response. "The Horror -- we knew Osama bin Laden had succeeded."

When Bush returned, Clarke was surprised -- they wanted to bomb iraq right away.

[boobooday]

29. He thought Rummy was joking

As if Roosevelt had invaded Mexico after pearl harbor!

[Lefty48197]

30. some quotes

Clark ran govt response from the situation room. The talk quickly turned to another topic. Rummy said that we needed to bomb Iraq. We all said Al Qaeda's in Afghanistan. There aren't enough targets in Afghanistan, said Rummy. Iraq had nothing to do with it, they responded.
It's as if Roosevelt has said let's invade Mexico after Pearl Harbor.

[The Backlash Cometh]

101. On 9/11 Clarke was in the White House running things from the West Wing

while Bush was flying in circles around the country! If that isn't an authority what is? And, the fact that Clarke, the Counter-terrorist War Czar under Clinton, was demoted to a staff position once Bush came in office should be proof positive that Bush did not make terrorism a priority.

[scottxyz]

Clarke was head of the government response during the attacks

He was running the whole goddamn show from the situation room while the Capitol was being evacuated and Bush was scampering around the country like a scared rabbit.

Clarke is highly credible on this. He's just a guy who was doing his job keeping track of al-Qaeda - and who ran into a brick wall of ideologues when Bush came into office, all obsessed with Iraq (because of PNAC) and with "social" issues like porn and prostitutes.

By the way, it was pretty surprising (to me) when I kept hearing him say that the FBI, the CIA - AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL - were at all these meetings where Clarke kept saying our top priority should be going after Al-Qaeda.

I'm so used to hearing Ashcroft going after hookers or women who have abortions that I forget he was supposed to have something to do with terrorism too. Wonder how many other Americans have forgotten this as well.

[Cush]

31. Even Tenet said 'no connection'

between Iraq & Osama

[Cush]

32. Report on no connection bounced by Rice or her Deputy

"Wrong answer, do it again"

[never cry wolf]

33. laslie stahl is a WHORE

Way too much time given to the admin spinners.

[FlashHarry]

51. Actually, no.

The fact that she's even broadcasting this report puts her whore status in doubt. Can you imagine this piece on NBC? I think not.

[TahitiNut]

62. She gushes like a vacuous, stoned schoolgirl about Junior's ...

... bullshit after 9-11. Inconceivably moronic.

[FlashHarry]

88. She still gave Clarke a full segment. She was playing "bad cop."

She came off as whorish, true. My guess is that it was to cover CBS's ass against charges of having a liberal slant. But, don't miss the bigger picture: the story got out. Not only that, it got out on 60 Minutes, the top rated Sunday show. This wasn't a 5-minute bit on Olbermann. This was 60 Minutes.

[never cry wolf]

114. True, you make a good point

A year ago, shit, 6 months ago I would have been shocked by ANY negative coverage in the major media. On the whole it must be a positive, but still, it could have been more damning, MUCH more damning!

[aquart]

189. Not really.

Devastating is as good as it gets.

[leftchick]

117. I told my husband she looked like she was...

creaming her jeans (sorry!) over chimpy*. What a moran!

[aquart]

172. No, actually she presented it as a question for demolition.

[scottxyz]

153. But if you watched Hadley close you could see him squirm

I think Leslie Stahl did her job as a reporter. She let Hadley hang himself out to dry. She HAD to let the White House get its point of view in - and they failed miserably.

Hadley was obviously lying - particularly when Stahl pointed out that two other sources corroborated Clarke's claims. You could see Hadley:

(1) swallow hard
(2) wiggle his eyebrows
(3) make this funny look

as he said "I stand on what I said."

Anyone who saw that knew he was lying.

Clarke on the other hand came across as a highly professional guy who had worked for four presidents, who warned W that an attack was coming, and who was totally heartbroken when his advice was ignored and "the attacks" materialized.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

221. She nailed Hadley and he never saw it coming.

[jeanmarc]

245. saw the same thing

Hadley is a fraud. Blinking, lots of blinking, a lack of eye contact during the lie, and then way too much eye contact after he got the lie out.

I'm reminded of True Romance and the 'pantomime'. ;)

[lostnfound]

159. she did alright, give her a break this time..

though they should have done this or similar every week for the last 2 years.

What the heck took you so long, 60 minutes? Amy Goodman managed. :-)

[RobinA]

218. She Annoys Me

but I thought she did fine. She was asking questions from the point of view of what a lot of Americans believe. It helps credibility with the people who need to be hit over the head by a 2x4. What's more likely to get Joe Bush-is-God to think about what she's saying -"Yeah, I always knew Bush was doing a shit job and you just proved it." Or "OMG, I thought Bush was doing a wonderful job fighting the war on terror, and now you've just given me the insider scoop that maybe he isn't."

[Cush]

35. Well, now we know why Condi won't testify under oath

she wouldn't hold meetings on the 'impending attack'

And when he got his meeting, it was with Wolfowitz!!!!

[Yavin4]

37. It Was Like They Were Preserved In Amber

Oh Man! Beautiful! Just Beautiful!

[MidwestMomma]

95. Clarke: They wanted to pursue the cold war issues from 8 years ago

Referring to the Bush leadership inherited from Poppy. I think he actually said, "When they came to power again, they wanted to pursue the cold war issues from 8 years ago" Said they didn't want to pursue the new threat of terrorism. That sums it up pretty well.

[dflprincess]

38. No cooperation between Iraq and AlQueda!

Hah! We told you so.

[dweller]

43. contrary to WH stance...still an open issue

and they'll say that 'til Hell freezes over'


dp

[MidwestMomma]

105. Yeah, liked that one

[Cush]

39. CIA warned the WH a major attack could happen

[ClintonTyree]

40. Holy Sheepshit !!!!!!

This is the most damning evidence against the Bush administration EVER!! DOWN GOES BUSH!! He isn't going to be able to weasel out of this. Say hello to Crawford, Georgie!!!!!!!

[Scottie72]

41. In further news

Crawford Texas just got its idiot back.

[CatWoman]

49. Double triple HOLY SHIT

I had to come in here to post this during the commerical break.

*trying in vain to lift jaw off floor*

[Lefty48197]

42. more quotes

"I don't think he sees memos where he wouldn't like the answer" (re GWB)
"That should have been the first item on the agenda (Al Qaeda), but it was pushed back and back and back."
"I wrote a memo to Condi Rice (Jan 2001) URGING her to have a cabinet level meeting about this impending Al Qaeda threat"
In April 2001, 3 months after his urgent request, he got his meeting with Wolfowitz, who said "no no no we don't have to talk about Al Qaeda, we have to talk about Iraqi terrorism against the USA"
The CIA concurred that there hadn't been any Iraqi terrorism against the US since 1993 when they tried to kill GHWB.

[Bombtrack]

44. What's Clarke's relationship to Wes Clark? Anyone know

They seem to be in the same intellectual camp

[robbedvoter]

192. 2 people with integrity - a very small camp indeed

[Scoopie]

237. Hahahahaha!

Hopefully, there are more than TWO - but I'll agree with you.
:)
However, in answer to the original question, I don't think Clark and Clarke are related in any way. I think the only thing they have in common is a similarity in name and an opportunity to do good.

[nostamj]

45. Bush didn't DROP the ball....

he refused to even pick it up.

will THIS get traction?

9/11 IS the fault of the bushies. they should all hang for their crimes...

[boobooday]

48. I want to hear more about the DAY

The abandoned White House . . . why weren't the planes scrambled?

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Auntie Bush]

107. IMPEACH BUSH!!!

Oops...Sorry...I meant to say...Impeach Bush! :bounce:

[Lefty48197]

46. Cabinet level meeting on Sept 4, 2001

Clark got his meeting, where he proposed bombing Al Qaeda. He had asked for the meeting ever since the inauguration.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

47. Was Bush too busy vacationing and going to fundraisers?

He has blood on his hands...I really hope this doesn't get swept under the carpet.

[Dudley_DUright]

50. Totally devastating stuff

My wife wisely said "there are going to be a lot of pissed off seniors after this show and they vote".

[never cry wolf]

52. I am SOOO disappointed

I am glad that seeds of truth may have been planted but the piece devoted more time to rebuttals than to Clarke. Essentially, they were calling a 4 star general a liar and gave him no time to rebut their statements!!!

:grr: :nuke: :puke:

[Jane Austin]

210. Wrong Clark

Although they had no trouble calling 4-Star General Wesley Clark a liar, either.

This one is Richard Clarke (with an e) who has served four administrations in national security.

[robbedvoter]

249. Wes Clark WAS called a liar for saying the very same thing - heard

at the Pentagon - rather than White House: "Saddam better be guilty of this, because we are going after him no matter what" - Rummy

[tabasco]

53. This guy Clarke better watch his back.

He has told too much truth. The Bush corporate cabal doesn't like that. This is damning information, indeed. Goddam that idiot Bush and his corrupt cabal. GODDAM THEM! They dropped the guard of this Nation against it's greatest threat.

[Timefortruth]

157. Before O'Neill went silent he said, "I'm old and rich, there is nothing

they can do to me." Then poof! They found his Achilles Heel.

Clarke's weakness will be identified also.

[aquart]

200. Yeah, yeah, nothing can defeat them........give up now.

They're incompetent, not brilliant.

And all fascist regimes fall from the weight of their combined stupidity.

ALL of them.

[RobinA]

219. Let's Hope

he doesn't have a wife working for the CIA.

[Zinfandel]

238. They are going tear Clarke apart on tomorrow's talk radio...all the robots

like Limbaugh will be given the same talking points, by Rove, as will Hanity and everybody else who involved in this fascist administration and they'll repeat the same shit over and over and over and over and...

[dweller]

54. i just noticed the split pic *moron/clarke

on after the commercial...damn that's a shifty, evil looking *moron pic
and a slight grin on Clarke's face...

dp

[Kathy in Cambridge]

55. President IGNORED the problem!

WOW!

[Mika]

56. July 26 2001

In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.

"There was a threat assessment and there are guidelines. He is acting under the guidelines," an FBI spokesman said. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department, however, would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it.

-

The Justice Department insists that it wasn't Ashcroft who wanted to fly leased aircraft. That idea, they said, came strictly from Ashcroft's FBI security detail. The FBI had no further comment.

[nostamj]

58. "why are you doing it NOW??"

yo! leslie!!! because we CAN'T ALLOW THOSE MONSTERS TO STAY IN POWER

god, stahl is a WHORE, a WHORE

"did he RISK people's lives"???

3000 DIED due to his inaction?

"hit all the right notes" :puke: WHORE!!!!! she's shameless!

[WillyBrandt]

61. I disagree. We can't expect her to be a DUer.

She played Devil's Advocate, but the message signed through.

She's no Paula Zahn.

[nostamj]

67. it just PISSES me off that she tries to shine * up

for reacting to a tragedy in an 'appropriate' manner

he STOLE it for political capital. period.

on edit: rage-induced typos

CLINTON worked on terrorism 24/7/365

BUSH ignored the entire subject until 9/11

THOSE ARE THE FACTS.

[dweller]

68. she visibly winced when Clarke said

*moron wasn't protecting Americans, that his, Clarke's, loyalty ended when Americans became at risk (paraphrased)

dp

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

99. Pretty damning....

...but then there where other things that I thought Bush did where pretty damning but nothing ever came of them.

I was impressed with Clarke. Very forcefull. Very convicned of what he was doing.

[Lefty48197]

59. even more Clarke quotes:

"He (GWB) ignored terrorism for months while maybe maybe we could have done something to prevent it"
"I think he's done a terrible job in the war on terrorism"

[burythehatchet]

60. Hey do you guys think he let it happen on purpose?

[TahitiNut]

72. "he"?? They ... yes.

"He" is a mere sociopathic sock puppet.

[w4rma]

63. This man is a patriot. A true American patriot. The smears will come. (nt)

[Bunny]

64. Stahl.

What a WHORE!!!!!!!!!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

"You don't give the President credit for ANYTHING? ANYTHING?"
"Aren't employees supposed to be loyal? This book is not loyal"
"The President is risking people's LIVES?"


Friggin WHORE!!!!!!!!

[Lorien]

98. Gawd, she is disgusting!!

listens patiently and respectfully to Hadley, but goes after Clark like a RW Bushlicking attack dog! I'm sure Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, etc. are smiling with approval! We really ought to call 60 minutes on her fairly unbalanced "journalism"!

[G_j]

184. although in a way

it may have backfired because he never gave on inch and came back with statements that left even less room for doubt. He wasn't about to back off his premise that Bush did a abysmal job of protecting America from terrorism.

[The Backlash Cometh]

65. Hadley's counter-punch

I wish Hadley would be asked if what he's saying is hearsay or if he's a personal witness that the Bush Administration did everything he claims he did.

[Cush]

66. Stahl: We have sources to back up Clark

on the talk he had with Bush about the IRaqi Connections

[WillyBrandt]

70. She played the opposite side for Clarke and the Bush guy.

I disagree with those who said she's playing a media whore here.

[BlueJazz]

104. I agree...She's playing the.....

"What the average tv potato would be asking about now"

I feel she was just feeding him questions so he could pound Bush's ass in the ground!

[scottxyz]

166. I agree - she wasn't being a whore, just playing devil's advocate

What RadicalLiberal said: "I feel she was just feeding him questions so he could pound Bush's ass in the ground!"

She was giving Hadley enough rope to hang himself. Which he did.

She had to sound a little "incredulous" at Clarke's serious claims. She just said they were very serious, and got him to stand by them.

That's not being a whore. Let's be careful of knee-jerk reactions here. This is probably the most important show that's been aired on TV in months. Give CBS credit where credit is due.

[MidwestMomma]

75. stahl: We have independent sources and an actual witness to the

conversation"

Hadley: "I still stand by what I said"

For those not watching, this was about the conversation Clarke said had with Bush in which Bush said "Iraq, Connections, Find Them"....or something like that. Hadley said that conversation never happened.

What a shithead.

[seabeyond]

102. lying on air once again

for the american people to see

was impressed stahl had gotten two other sources for this

[NewHampster]

106. I agree

I think she lobbed the questions for him to hit and did it fairly. It was like she tried to sound like a Faux reporter in order to help him.

[immoderate]

151. Me too!

Leslie Stahl played the right part. She has to be devil's advocate.

Good job Leslie!

--IMM

[milkyway]

109. I loved the way Hadley stammered when Stahl said she had two sources back

up Clark having the conversation with bush*, including one who witnessed it. Hadley was visibly shook before he could think of the appropriate scripted bullshit reply.

[scottxyz]

177. Yes, I noticed this too

It's really easy to spot a person who's lying.

Lying about 9/11 must make the polygraph needle REALLY blip up.

When she told Hadley she had two other witnesses corroborating what Clarke said (and contradicting what Hadley said), he swallowed hard, his eyebrows wiggled, and he made some funny face that's hard to describe but which we all recognize as "LIAR".

My roommate noticed it too. It was clear as day.

[scottxyz]

183. By the way, Clarke sounded very reasonable and convincing

Clarke sounded like what he is: a 30-year government veteran who had been terror czar under four presidents.

A guy who knew how to do his job and was accustomed to being allowed to do it (till Bush II came along).

Clarke sounds very tough and steady and smart. I liked when he talked about the earlier incident of Al-Qaeda "chatter" under Clinton, when everyone was told to go "to the battle-stations".

I liked the fact that it seemed clear and logical how they handled it: there were daily meetings where CIA, FBI, AG, Clarke had to all meet with Clinton and tell him if they had heard anything - and in turn these guys would go back to their people every day and say "shake the tree" - "if a sparrow falls out I want to hear about it."

And they prevented that guy from bombing LA. So it worked. You pay attention, you have daily meetings, you tell the guys in the field to report "if a sparrow falls out of a tree" - and you get your money's worth for all those tax dollars spent on terrorism prevention.

I like this sort of stuff because, although I've never worked in intelligence, it sort of de-mystifies the whole thing for me, makes it sound like there IS a way to deal with terrorist threats if you just ratchet up the meetings and the questions and really pay attention. Makes terrorism prevention actually sound DOABLE - instead of some interminable losing war we're gonnna be stuck in for the rest of our lives.

THIS is the kind of "can-do" attitude that would cheer people up, help us pull together. Not Bush running around talking about a "crusade" like he did AFTER 9/11. No. You have meetings, you USE the intelligence you have, you tell everyone the higher-ups really want to hear if anything's amiss - and you get reports.

Remember we had tons of reports about guys trying to learn to fly aircraft. Remember that woman who was the whistleblower in the FBI saying she had reported on this stuff and it never made it to the top. That was because under Bush, they only cared about weird stuff like going after pornographers or hookers or doctors who do abortions or paying for broken anti-missile shields.

Clarke said to Stahl something like: "We had pictures of the terrorists back then. If we had run these pictures on CBS - who knows, we might have been able to catch some of them, we might have been able to prevent or minimize 9/11".

Damn. We have all those "America's Most Wanted" shows and Fox loves to show "Cops" where the police bust down the doors on some black guy who sells drugs. Why the hell couldn't we have run a few pictures of the al-Qaeda plotters when EVERYONE (except for Bush, Condi, Rusmfeld, Wolfowitz, Hadley) in the intelligence and command part of the government was saying THEY'RE COMING AFTER US.

Common sense. Clarke has it.

Bush and Condi and Wolfowitz and Hadley do not. They are traitors and should be arrested and put in jail. Either that, or we're gonna lose thousands more Americans again in the next attack. It's that simple.

[priller]

112. What he said was the classic non-denial denial

He said, "We don't have any evidence that meeting took place" -- not quite the same as saying it never it happened, although it clearly gives that impression.

[scottxyz]

171. Yes, I think Hadley's gonna live to regret this interview

He lied quite a few times during the interview. It also showed that HE was the one who sent back Clarke's memo saying essentially 'wrong answer' when Clarke said Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

Hadley was in some trouble a while ago with the Niger yellowcake uranium mess. Looks like he's gonna be in hot water again.

I think some of the stuff he does qualifies as treason. But what do I know, I'm not Anne Coulter.

[Jane Austin]

222. Oh thank goodness! :)

[scarletwoman]

69. Hadley -- lying p.o.s.!

Not to mention, he's on the short list for being the Plame leaker.

Farking criminals and liars ALL!!!!`

sw

[Athame]

253. Short list for being the Plame leaker?

If that is so, I can't imagine how he ever managed to do the 60 Minutes interview at all. Wonder how he sleeps.

[Cush]

71. Clark: WH carefully manipulated public opinion

THey knew there was no connection, but they did it anyways

[revcarol]

Is it over?

x

[fairfaxvadem]

73. he knows what's coming too....

he basically said "oh, I expect they'll unleash the hounds on me..."

Folks like Clarke and O'Neill spilled the beans anyway, good for them. The Bush people are praying like hell folks keep NOT paying attention to these gentlemen.

I didn't think I could get any more angrier than I am, but I was wrong.

And Steven Hadley is a horse's ass.

[Jane Austin]

261. And wears stupid looking glasses, too. n/t

[Cush]

74. Hadley is in his own world

Their (Al Qaeda) sanctuary in Iraq is gone"

[kentuck]

76. You know Hadley would not be there if they didn't feel the need to respond

They are very concerned about this story. We cannot permit it to die.

[TahitiNut]

115. WHAT IF Clarke is really "damage control"?

Clarke has no "whistleblower" credentials I can see. Virtually everything he's said is already out there. He's merely confirming some limited degree of culpability of this adminstration. It's old news that the incoming administration blew off the briefings on al-Qaeda. It's old news that antiterrorism was put on the far back burner. It's old news that warnings were ignored.

Whenever I see someone like this, who has far more service to the corporatist right-wing than most, come out with "me too" revelations, I gotta wonder if it's damage control -- lighting a fire break to keep the real truth from getting lit up. :shrug:

[kentuck]

124. Good point, 'Nut but.....

The Bush regime has been acting scared for at least the last week, as if they were anticipating something about to break...

[RamboLiberal]

251. I've heard for several months that Rove's been staining his pants

over this book!

[cmayer]

164. Oh, come on... this shines a spotlight on the whole thing.

This is definitely not damage control. It's just a warm up.

[scottxyz]

187. I don't think it's damage control

It's true that everything Clarke said was already out there - but coming from a four-term terrorism czar, it sounds a lot stronger.

The guy sounded totally convincing and respectable. Al-Qaeda was the issue, they "went to the battlestations" and prevented an attack under Clinton, Bush II came in and ignored the last 8 years to go back and fight the Cold War all over again, and they came back and got bitten in the ass big-time.

Clarke did the best he could to warn them, to stop al-Qaeda, and they ignored him at every turn.

The very week when Bush starts running in earnest saying he's "strong on terror" might be the best week ever to release the book and do the interview. Probably his publisher knew that too. It will have maximum effect now, now that the country has done enough "rallying behind" this AWOL leader for so many months while he backpedals and coddles the terrorists.

[aquart]

206. Because they're such brilliant plotters?

And no mortal can defeat them?

Crap.

[Zhade]

232. A limited hangout, maybe?

I'm glad he's saying something...but I'm troubled. If this were such a huge issue, and Clarke was so upset over this, why did it take him so long to say anything?

Some of it rubs me the wrong way. Like the "pictures of terrorists" angle, which reinforces the absurd notion that the FBI was really able to identify the 9/11 hijackers so rapidly.

And, if he was running the show after the planes hit, isn't he responsible for the planes that should have been scrambled but weren't...?

I don't know. It just doesn't feel quite right.

[TahitiNut]

241. It's that "doesn't feel quite right" that has me wondering.

There's a core political cabal in the madministration, including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, Wolfowitz, Perle, and (maybe, but doubtful) Rice. I don't think Clarke was in that cabal. At the same time, I wonder if he's being played, even if he's not a player. The only things we're seeing "unraveling" are the second layer of politically ablative facades.

WMD was an ablative facade. Imminent threat was an ablative facade. These facades can be burnt away and the "intelligence community" and "prior administration" are heat sinks. Now we're seeing the "human error" facade getting burnt away. To choose another metaphor, it's like layers of the onion. We're getting much, much closer to the idea of LIHOP ... and maybe MIHOP. I just wonder if the next layers will be finally burnt away and we see that.

Hell, some people still believe Afghanistan was about OBL. (They offered to extradite him given "probable cause.") It wasn't. It was about petrochemicals and privatized control of the pipeline. (The Taliban were willing to have the pipeline. They just didn't want it to be privately owned by global corporatists. That was the impasse.)

Some people still believe there were WMD in Iraq in 2002. Some people still believe Iraq was an "imminent threat" to the US. Some people still believe the intelligence data was wrong. Hell, some people still believe this madministration is honest.

[Octafish]

248. Clarke's going to testify before 9-11 Commission this week...

... I understand he'll give them the whole story. And I'd like to hear his take on the August 2001 Crawford PDB, "Osama bin Laden Set to Strike in the United States." There's bound to be some serious weeping, gnashing of teeth, and flooding of Depends in the Naval Observatory bedroom tonight.

Please know that I agree with you, TahitiNut. The picture of this guy coming out and spilling the BFEE beans doesn't seem quite right. Parhaps it's waiting until 2002 (or 2003?) to resign is troubling. Still, Clarke seemed to be an honest broker, whose story is backed up by the resignations of counterterror specialists Kerrick, Downing, FBI John O'Neill, the agents in Chicago who were told to "back off" investing the Islamic terror money network (both Rove and Norquist work for), and all the CIA, FBI, INS and FAA warnings going back through January, 2001.

The Bush Organized Crime Family is in serious trouble, and buying time won't help them once the public finds out what the heck they've really done. Thanks to 60 Minutes, that day is a bit closer. Perhaps Clarke saw that if didn't come out now, he'd be going to the same place Smirk, Sneer, Poppy and the rest of the BFEE are heading -- Leavenworth, for the lucky ones.

[Zhade]

257. Maybe his demotion was to take him out of the loop?

I'm just thinking aloud on that.

Could they have removed him from a Cabinet-level position as a way to weed him out from their plans? Did those plans include LIHOP/MIHOP? Did they fear Clarke would not go along with their plans?

I wonder how much Clarke knew, and how much he was in the dark about. The "where were the fighter jets on 9/11?" question is central to why I wonder this.

[Octafish]

262. Good question and good points, Zhade!

Every day LIHOP/MIHOP becomes more obvious to more people. With luck and an honest Attorney General, America will have a chance to ask what you wonder. May the trials include all the those who've enabled the BFEE, as well as those surviving who've done their evil work since 22 November, 1963.

[TahitiNut]

263. That certainly seems to fit. I think Clarke was seen as a "good soldier."

Clearly, Clarke's Reagan/Bush credentials made him, at a minimum, a member of the political Wehrmacht, "Gott Mit Uns" belt-buckle and all. (Lest we forget, Clinton was certainly no "McGovern Lihbrul," so good soldiers were kept on.) But, like Rommel, such "good soldiers" must be kept from the disillusionment that comes from participating in the korporate realpolitik of the insider cabal. Clarke was almost certainly the target of frequent "reassurance" ... kept around because he'd be a handy fall guy (like Tenet?) and useful for the political defensive perimeter of "we were caught unaware." He's the prototypical "good soldier" turned "disgruntled former employee." I think he was kept around as an "expendable person." (Like Tenet?)

I don't believe for a single instant that Cheney/Rumsfeld/Perle/et.al. were caught unaware on 9-11. Indeed, they were all 100% in safe locations on that day. Only Barbara Olsen, due to a last minute change in flight plans, got caught. (I wonder how many company ink wells Ted's been dipping his pen into since.) No CEO's were caught in the WTC and no flag officers were caught in the Pentagon. John O'Neill's death in the WTC was just far too convenient. Airline short sales on the options market were too well-timed and Buzzy's involvement too coincidental. The almost immediate identification of OBL, al-Qaeda, and 19 "Islamic types" as the culprits portrays a breadth and depth of preparation far, far more comprehensive than a mere "we were caught unaware" political defense would indicate. Corporations like Enron have long experience with this "plausible deniability" game plan -- and these folks are part of that bacterial gene pool.


(FWIW, I think Junior is the "last ablative" to protect the cabal. There's no question in my mind he's a sociopath ... but a total sock puppet for the cabal. As an asset, his greatest value would be seen as a martyr ... or as the highest wall encircling the Inner Circle. There's just no way in Hell he's a planner or architect of anything more complex than snack foods. All the assaults on him personally merely take the heat off the real inside powers. As long as they make sure he gets his constant Narcissistic Supply, he serves as part of Oz's curtain.)

[Zhade]

255. Hell, some people still think Gore LOST Florida!

The levels of indoctrination into "citizenthink" are also like an onion, I believe.

I completely agree with your points. Very well-said.

[Dudley_DUright]

77. Hadley is getting his ass handed to him

What a liar.

[Nlighten1]

78. Holy shit...Clark pwnts Bush Administration

Where are the Emperor's clothes! The story can't be ignored by the whores anymore. Bush ignored terrorism before 9/11.

[Cush]

79. Clark was demoted by Bush

despite some 20 years of experience

[Catherine Vincent]

80. Wow! At least some repukes can tell the truth!

This Richard Clarke is a very brave man. The same as O'Neil.

[nostamj]

85. she's really really NOT a WHORE??

she gave the repukes the last word.

and the word was: ABSURD

(I don't think it worked. more SHIT just hit the fan then ever before)

[nostamj]

81. and now "sour grapes"

she's giving every RW talking point.

"are you working for Kerry"? jeez.

OK, she's NOT a whore. she doesn't charge, maybe she's just simply and purely stupid. I don't think so.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

83. I almost threw something at the TV

what a mediawhore

[dflprincess]

84. If she didn't ask the question

the RW would. She's heading them off at the pass at least with her asking them Clarke gets a chance to respond.

[lostnfound]

165. I agree--Clarke gets a chance to answer RW questions before they are asked

by the RW

[Athame]

254. Bill Moyers often does the same thing

I've noticed when Bill Moyers is on a really controversial topic, he asks the questions my mother would ask (she is completely taken in by the BFEE propaganda) and he usually has a little tilt to his head and the hint of a gleam in his eye when he does it.

A decent technique, if you want to be even heard by those saturated in faux news and opinions. Still, it makes me want to :argh:

[Wapsie B]

97. Of course she is.

She needs to to give the story credibility. Take away the rw objections before they start.

[HootieMcBoob]

120. Didn't Rand Beers work for the Bush adminstration too?

I think he left Bush out of frustration. He's now part of the Kerry team.

[Postman]

82. Bush criminals are a bunch of lying bastards !!!!

They did NOTHING about Al-Qaeda before 9/11..

Iraq exposed for what it is.... a diversionary war of choice falling into Bin Ladens propaganda

POTUS, VP, SecDef, SecState, AG.....all should be arrested.

[SammyWinstonJack]

86. Well then, the Pentagon says IT's absurb!

Alrighty then! Nothing too see here! Move along! :grr:

[scottxyz]

195. C'mon, that "note" from the Pentagon was as weak as it could get

She closes the interview saying "The Pentagon sent us a note dismissing Clarke's allegations as absurd."

So what else are they gonna say?

They couldn't have sent a weaker response.

A STRONG response would have been something with a few details: "We had meetings on such-and-such a day" or "We acted on information in such-and-such a way."

They didn't say anything strong like that. So they fell flat on their face. (And they lied in public on TV.)

So I don't think Leslie was helping the Pentagon by passing on their "note". She was just helping them dig their own grave.

[fujiyama]

87. What can I say?

Wow, that was a VREY scathing indictement of this corrupt WH.

[alfredo]

89. If congress doesn't move to impeach, then congress must be held

accountable.

Clarke was terrific.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

91. Congress is Republican-they won't impeach

[onecitizen]

129. I liked the part..........

where he said in his mind he imagines the Don(bush) sitting in his comfy chair by the fire marking off each terrorist he catches!! Oh my!

[SammyWinstonJack]

135. Right! Impeachable offense only involves a duly elected sitting Dem

Pres for lying about sex,between two consenting adults, by a repug Congress! :grr: Congress should move to impeach bush! immediately if not sooner! Hell, most of Congress should be removed from office immediately for their complicity, with regards to the treachery by this pResident against this Country!

[scottxyz]

199. I agree - Congress must move to impeach or be held accountable

9/11 wasn't something "unimaginable" - the President had been getting warnings from CIA, FBI, Clarke and foreign governments for months.

Clinton got the same warnings, sent everyone "to their battlestations" and prevented an attack on LA.

Bush DID NOTHING except go on vacation and have his Attorney General fly private aircraft.

Ignoring the warnings was a violation of applicable laws - and not mobilizing fighter jets and not using NORAD fully (as we had done on dozens of occasions before) was also a violation of applicable laws.

"High crimes and misdemeanors." Remember "It's not the sex, it's the perjury"?

It's not the missing WMDs, it's the dereliction of duty.

DERELICTION OF DUTY should become a left-wing meme.

[Zinfandel]

240. They don't care...

[sadiesworld]

92. I love the argument that Clarke is experiencing a case of sour grapes

b/c * made the counterterrorism czar a staff level position. Do the assholes realize that this is just one more example of their failure to give this issue high priority?!

[WilliamPitt]

93. Kerry went skiing! Kerry went skiing! Kerry went skiing!

:eyes:

[never cry wolf]

150. ROTFL

Methinks that Sen. Kerry knows some more bombs are due to be dropped and he deserves some vacay, IMHO! Gonna be some tough sledding ahead, exponentially tougher than what he has yet faced. But, he has the ammunition, WE have the ammunition. It's gonna come out, maybe not all but even 10% of the crap that has been pulled will be enough to smash the * "honor and integrity" fantasy.

Rest up John, have a nice vacation. Come back ready to fight...no, come back ready to KILL! (not literally, of course.)

All the drips are streaming into rivulets, soon to expose the rivers of lies. I am not a political strategist by any means and as far as this current admin goes I say ATTACK! But, the truth will out. Kerry does not have to go on the offensive, the truth will do it for him!

[smirkymonkey]

213. I have been thinking the same thing about Kerry's

vacation. He removes himself from the spotlight, knowing s*it is about to hit the fan for the bush gang. This way, it looks like he is completely removed from it. All the Kerry bashing that has been going on over the last week is going to fall flat with this new "revealation" per Clarke.

I think you are right - Kerry knows that the truth is going to bring them down faster than any offensive that his team could orchestrate.

[kskiska]

94. Smirk wanted to be provided with pictures

of the Al Qaeda top guns so he could draw Xs through them as they were captured or killed.

[Joanne98]

133. with his super-sized crayons LOL

[tlcandie]

152. Probably had his * in commander -in-chief uniform doll with those crayons

pretending to shoot em down! :+

EDIT: left out a word :/

[burythehatchet]

158. P-S-Y-C-H-O-P-A-T-H

[enough]

175. I loved when Clarke said he could picture Bush* sitting by the fire

with his playing cards, crossing out pictures, while new terrorists are being created every day by what we are doing in Iraq.

[juajen]

242. I've never understood their dumb reasoning on this

As if they aren't smart enough to have No. 2's for every position, even No. 3's and No. 4's. After all, what would we do if we lost our "leaders". Oh dear, I guess that is not a good analogy.

edited for spelling.

[tlcandie]

96. Thoroughly debunked Clarke and now his objections will go nowhere

just like the last person's :/ All because he was demoted and they are calling it sour grapes. This is all anyone will hear other than those of us who know differently.

Very depressing.

EDIT: Stahl was squeamish (cut away shot to her) when he didn't have anything to say good about the president after 9-11 other than he gave a good speech.

Also debunked the 'Wrong Answer' document/memo by showing Stahl a copy that did NOT have this remark, but a please check again remark.

[CatWoman]

111. LOL

"He gave a good speech............"

on edit: you need to remember that Clarke's revelations will mirror his 911 investigation testimony........

[indie_voter]

116. Sarcasm, right? LOL! My dad

called me just now (I am west coast, he is east coast) and told me it was very powerful.

I can't wait to see this!!!!

[tlcandie]

127. No .. I wish it was sarcasm. I was totally overjoyed at the prospect

that we could finally get these criminals, but after watching the piece I'm rather depressed :/

As Catwoman says regarding teh 9-11 testimony...I am crossing fingers... hopefully, this will all bear fruit but I'm not holding my breath.

I just don't undertand how these people can be so teflon coated that NOTHING is sticking to them!

EDIT: please do not get me wrong! I think Clarke did a fantastic job and was very forthright and such. It was just the packaging of it and how it was presented that makes my heart sick in that I don't believe it will hold water much like the last person's book except with peeps such as us.

I hope I am sooo wrong! I could certainly stand to be wrong about now :/

[indie_voter]

185. I hope you're wrong too. :( I haven't seen it

My dad, who can't stand the media(and Stahl), he thinks they are right wing apologists(I agree), was impressed.

I too would love to see a blow out expose, but I don't think that is possible. What needs to be done is to sow seeds of doubt in the average joe viewer. They can't be too heavy handed.

Unfortunately, this is a 'drip,drip,drip' situation.

Look how far the public has come, at least they are questioning the war& Bush in a way they weren't one year ago.

[scottxyz]

214. Don't worry about the "packaging" so much tlcandie

We on DU tend to state our views very forcefully - we've been trafficking in LIHOP and MIHOP theories for many months that would make the CBS demographic's pacemakers blow out.

Look at the commercials in the CBS breaks - all for prescription drugs, Medicare, Schwab and TD Waterhouse brokers. Next to Fox, CBS has the oldest, most conservative demographic in the country.

So Leslie had to break it to them easy. I think all her incredulousness was just a sort of posturing to make this whole outrage palatable to the viewers. Anyone who needed to see this show would be SHOCKED by what it said - so it helped to have her feigning a bit of shock too at the stuff Clarke said.

She didn't rebut him. She let him speak his piece, and she just acted all surprised at what he said. But she didn't contradict him.

Hadley on the other had she directly contradicted. When Hadley said that Clarke was lying, Leslie politely informed him that she had two other independent sources in the White House who corroborated Clarke. Hadley swallowed hard, wiggled his eyebrows, made a face, and weakly said "I stand by my statements" which in modern American political-speak means "You got me."

This show was packaged fine for CBS's demographic. The outrageous allegations that Bush is a traitor were stated calmly and rationally. Wide-eyed radicals screaming and yelling would not have helped - if CBS viewers were into that, they'd have already found it on the web. This was doled out to them softly and gently just like they're used to absorbing their news. It'll sink in all the moreso for being so gently delivered.

[tlcandie]

220. Thanks .. giving me a ray of hope here. I think that was maybe

why I was so disappointed. I was looking for more and for it to be perfect so there was no disputing it PERIOD! Looking at it from OUR perspective, etc.

Maybe and even moreso, HOPEFULLY, you are VERY right!

:hug: :hi: Thanks so much for the bit of encouragement and time to explain it to me in a different perspective instead of cutting me to shreds because I did not see it that way!

EDIT: I was also looking at it in lieu of my parents seeing it who will be voting for * and hoping for no mistakes...nothing wrong just a pure zinger straight to the heart!

[never cry wolf]

227. Don't forget, this is just Clarke's opening salvo

His book comes out tomorrow. Essentially, this was just the first in a long line of book promo interviews. Clarke is gonna be all over the media in the coming weeks and look for his book to rise in the charts quickly!!

[seaglass]

123. Clarke didn't mean someone actually wrote the words

"Wrong Answer" on the memo, you're not serious, right?

[scottxyz]

201. What are you talking about tlcandie? (or were you being sarcastic?)

Stahl HAD to bring up the "sour grapes" argument because it would be a natural question to ask. Clarke had gotten demoted from Cabinet to staff level after 20 years of loyal successful service, so the "sour grapes" question would be inevitable.

Clarke totally debunked the "sour grapes" question by saying that if he HAD had sour grapes he would have left after the demotion. Instead, he stayed on, did his best, kept warning them, ran the 9/11 situation room, and left 2 years later.

That's not sour grapes. Just because an ATTEMPT was made to debunk Clarke doesn't mean that Clarke WAS debunked. Could you possibly take into account Clarke's ANSWER to the attempt to debunk him???

= = =

And regarding the "Wrong Answer" notation that Hadley supposedly put on Clarke's memo saying it was Afganistan and al-Qaeda and not Iraq that did 9/11: Of course the exact wording wasn't gonna be "Wrong Answer" - it was gonna be something more deniable like "Please update". The point is, the memo got rejected because Bush and the neocons didn't like it. Of course they couldn't scrawl "Wrong Answer" on it in so many words, so they wrote "Please Update" which means the same thing.

How could that have been confusing to anyone?

[tlcandie]

212. Sorry wasn't ignoring you. My response is in light of having family

who are going to vote for *. I watched it listening to see/hear what they would see/hear because they do watch programs like 60 Minutes and Dateline when they won't watch or listen to anything else but Faux News.

Once they said that he had been demoted and that the papers did not stated "Wrong Answer" along with a couple of other things, well it was three strikes you are out pretty much.

As Catwoman or someone said, there is still the public testimony for the 9-11 commission...I only hope it will help to break the dark cloud over the American people.

I just got into an argument with my Mom several days ago after finding out that my daughter-in-law was laid off w/o notice as a lab tech with a petroleum/chemical type plant. She has a BA in Science. I stated, well and I guess you will all still vote for *. I said it was all due to * and this outsourcing crap and the economy due to his ignorance.

She argued that it has NOTHING to do with him. I stated no you are right as long as they profess to pray to God and believe in Jesus then there is nothing that they do that is wrong. I ended the conversation on a not good note.

There was NO doubt in her at all about NOT voting for *. I don't usually get into the personal thing and get upset with my mom about politics, etc., but now part of my family is hurting due to his assine shit!

What is even more maddening is that it's like someone being in an abused relationship and NOT seeing that the beatings and such are killing them...they just can't or won't see the truth because of the fear!

I'm sure it is just something left over from that mess that is causing me to be overly pessimistc and I apologize. I'm not trying to dampen anyone's parade or shine an ugly light on something that will hopefully break the spell that is over the people of the US.

Cheers to you all...

[juajen]

244. I understand what you're saying

I have a very conservative, religious friend. Her pat answer to my telling her anything * has done wrong, is "You don't like anything he's done!" and "This is coming from the 'liberal' point of view!". What can I say? I don't like anything he's done, and I am a liberal. This is hard to refute. I do try to reason with her. I think she has come along some, but I still think she is going to vote "pug" because of her religious leanings.

[aquart]

211. Good grief. Clarke wasn't debunked on one single thing. Not one.

Saying it's sour grapes is what a baby says. It's a weak response to a man with outstanding credentials.

60 Minutes said they had witnesses to back up Clarke when the WH wanted to make him a liar. It did not work.

AND HE HAS A BOOK COMING OUT. Amazon.com ranks it at 5!

[tlcandie]

217. Please see my post above... plz do not compare me to a baby.

I have a reason for saying what I did. YOU believe it is good news and so do I, but will the average Joe Blow? I'm not so sure. I hope that YOU are right and I am wrong.

I did not say he was debunked as in I THOUGHT he was. I was stating that in light of the average person he was debunked.

Sorry I wasn't more clear, but I was severely disappointed.

[teach1st]

100. In the Tampa Bay area....

In the Tampa Bay area, there was a Bush ad right before and right after the 60 Minutes Clarke piece.

[tlcandie]

119. Also, at the beginning there was another against * right after his ..

something for American...can't recall. At first it came across like it was FOR * but in actuality it was not relating to creating jobs.... except they were in China and other foreign places rather than the US.

[teach1st]

131. From my perspective, those ads were a lesson...

...in poor product placement. Right after Clarke detailed why he thought Bush with doing a horrible job fighting terrorism, the Bush ad comes on saying how Kerry is weak on terrorism. Fence sitters watching that should be able to see right through the Bushit.

[EdGy]

207. Dems need to make a hard hitting ad using this info

just SLAMMING Bush for what Clarke is talking about!

[Joanne98]

250. Ohio too. Their soooo arrogant

grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[qanda]

103. That was delicious

eom

[scarletwoman]

108. Wow! I mean it -- WOW!!!

Ever since Sept. 11, 2001 I have dreamed of a day when someone from inside the criminal bush* maladministration would come forward and tell the damn TRUTH!

This was absolutely amazing, no punches pulled! I hope sales of his book go through the ROOF!

WAKE UP, AMERICA! You have been CONNED!

sw

[RamboLiberal]

190. Book Sales - Amazon # 5 B&N # 2

And on Amazon it took 5 clicks to get to the book, first four I got an error. I take that as a sign even the powerful Amazon site is getting inundated for orders following 60 Minutes. Just for the heck of it I clicked on another book and got there first time.

[Zynx]

110. That was devastating.

Bush had no idea what our national security priorities were and still has no idea what they are.

[Bonhomme Richard]

113. Attack dogs........

It was great when Clarke said that they would sick the attack dogs on him. And Hadley came off to me a a real weasel while still saying the Iraq/Osama bullshit.
The first top government guy I've seen in a long time with real balls.
Oh, and another thing. What world does Lesley Stahl live in?

[MidwestMomma]

118. That was good, now let's take some action

Someone posted this link in another thread earlier today. It's a list of questions the 911 Family Steering committee want answered by Bush Inc UNDER OATH. Warning: After you read through the questions, you'll be pissed off all over again

http://tomflocco.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1

Let's get those Bush bastards!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

121. No wonder shrub doesn't want 9/11 investigation.

Looks pretty bad on him, eh?

[ret5hd]

122. NOTICE HADLEY"S PHRASING!!!...

<paraphrase>
*bush asked (previious to 9/11) about attacks on HOMELAND
*bush was worried (previous to 9/11) about attacks on HOMELAND
*bush asked for reports (previous to 9/11) about possible attacks on HOMELAND

how common was the term homeland prior to 9/11? I never said it, no one i know ever said it. i never heard it on the news. Everyone discussing it prior to 9/11 would say "domestic" or "here" or "at home".

If the conversations between *bush and hadley actually happened, wouldn't hadley tend to repeat *bush's phrasing, even once out of the three or four times he mentioned these discussions? But no, he keeps repeating the word "homeland".

wouldn't this be an indication that he is lying about the meetings?

[gulliver]

134. Good catch!

I hope someone will ask Hadley about that.

[leftchick]

137. I thought exactly the same thing...

in addition, I wonder why Leslie did not follow up with why Clarke did not get the begged for meeting until Sept. 2001?

[tlcandie]

138. Wondered the same thing myself.. Homeland was not a casual

term to be used in every day conversation UNTIL the Dept. of Homeland Security was created. Unless these criminal always used it referring to something in relation that only hey knew about? :shrug:

[MidwestMomma]

155. It always creeps me out to hear any Bush people talk about the 'homeland'

I didn't like it when they picked it for the department name. It just conjures up visions of the 'Fatherland' or something for me.

[many a good man]

176. "Homeland" used in Hart-Rudman Report

if I'm not mistaken. You think maybe they read it after all?

[osaMABUSh]

204. Right, "homeland" was not in the lexicon then

It would not be a stretch for a Pres. to question the threats here in addition to those abroad but the use of 'homeland' undermines the story.

Actually, it is pretty obvious that we would be thinking about terrorism abroad and here on US soil. I'm sure many underlings already had thought through that.

That whole conversation about the homeland and Bush reminds me of many business meetings that I've attended where the senior vp guy asks a question (Mr. Obvious questions, I call them) that is the right question and everybody sucks up and thinks, wow, what a brillant question this guy's a fucking genius. While I sit there and think, well, no shit Sherlock, and proceed to answer the question because I thought of that and all the ramifications of it months ago.

[aquart]

216. True!

All I noticed was how skeevy I feel everytime someone uses that word.

[davekriss]

226. I thought the same thing too

Very odd use of phrasing, "homeland", since the term was not hammered into use until after 9-11.

[Norbert]

125. Imagines bu$h in the oval office crossing off terrorists

and thinking he is doing a great job on terrorism. Clarke pretty much said shrub still doesn't get it.

[tlcandie]

143. He probably used them for hunting practice ... that's about all his

brain can handle. I can hear it now... BANG .. kerplunk.. plink DAMNED IT! /various curse words regarding brown-skinned people getting in the way....

[kskiska]

126. What must Poppy think?

All these trusted old hands who have worked for multiple administrations are coming out against Sonny. Can they all be wrong?

[DemonFighterLives]

128. Great Show

Made Condi look like the buck stopped with her. I wonder if Bush will dump her? The administration was preseved in amber and when they came to all they could think of was Iraq- Star Wars. < No lie
Bush ignored terrorism when he took office and to go around as though he did so much agered Clarke. He said we are less safe and risking lives with his policies. In his opinion Bu*h has done a "Terrible Job". < This from the counter terrosism expert.
Hadley looked like a stupid clown--
Bush needed pictures of Top Al Qaida so he could put a big X on them when we got em.
Final word from Lesley Stahl came from the Pentagon- "Absurd"

[leftchick]

130. When Leslie asked how he felt in the moments after the attack on 9/11...

I was hoping he would say... "I was wondering why the president was sitting on his ass reading to school children when it was very apparent the US was under attack!"

[Jane Austin]

260. Maybe

Maybe he says that in the book!

[Wapsie B]

132. Very good story!

You know the detractors are scheming right now on how to spin this tomorrow on all the talk shows. But you know that's gonna happen anyway. Jeff Christie can say what he wants. Brit Hume and Faux News can spin it anyway they can. But the bald-faced truth is that we have we could've done something to stop 9/11 and our so-called leaders were hell bent on something else.

[AlinPA]

136. The most powerful statement was when

Clarke said "a lot of Americans went to their deaths in Iraq thinking they were avenging 9/11..."

[Florida_Geek]

139. $#$%#$53 Damn #%$#%$% Another book I MUST read

:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

[Eurobabe]

142. next on my list,

on page 175 in two days of House of Bush/House of Saud. Nice set up and background material for the Misleader's admin.

[jumptheshadow]

170. Bought that book today

I was amazed at all the political books on prominent display, most of them critical of Bush.

[NJmaverick]

140. Some Dems are traders!

Sen. Joe Lieberman (news - web sites), D-Conn., said Sunday he doesn't believe Clarke's charge that the Bush administration — which defeated him and former Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) in the 2000 election — was focused more on Iraq than al-Qaida during the days after the terror attacks.


"I see no basis for it," Lieberman said on Fox News Sunday. "I think we've got to be careful to speak facts and not rhetoric."


And Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that while he has been critical of Bush policies on Iraq, "I think it's unfair to blame the president for the spread of terror and the diffuseness of it. Even if he had followed the advice of me and many other people, I still think the same thing would have happened."

[tlcandie]

148. We wil never know if it would or would not have happened, but as

Clarke said so eloquently, "At least we would have had a fighting chance!"

[gauguin57]

154. blood, blood, blood

on their hands. I pray that Bush and the PNAC-ers who have as good as taken the lives of so many young people fighting in Iraq -- not to mention of Iraqis -- will wander their homes, somnabulistically, all night,for the rest of their lives, rubbing their hands and wailing "Out, out damned spot!" After they serve their sentences for international war crimes!!!!

When I saw a couple of reports last week about the Iraq war veterans with amputated limbs (Nightline, CNN), I thought, "Well, George. I hope you're happy. You've gotten revenge for your daddy, and secured the oil wells for your buddies, at the expense of these young men's arms and legs (and others' lives).

May the Bushies and the PNAC-ers ROT IN HELL for what they've done.

[Vadem]

196. I was screaming at Joe Biden today on MTP? telling him to...

shut his GD traitorous mouth! The damn Bush ass kisser, who has been from the beginning of this Iraq nightmare.

[juajen]

252. OK, so call me anal

It's "traitors" not "traders". I thought maybe we dems were going to start trading some of these books. I can't afford them all, and can't decide which one would be the best to read. We really should set up a trading post on DU for swapping these politically charged books.

[mindfulNJ]

145. I don't know what else the sheeple need

to convince them that the Bush Bastards should be perp-walked out of the People's House.:mad:

[underpants]

146. Remember that Hadley was the guy they pinned the "16 words" on

Why is he still employed?

[SmokeyBlues]

147. The same old spin

The spin will be the same as before: crazy old vindictive coot who's angry because he was demoted/discharged by *hole and is out to publicize his book.

If nothing else, the jackasses who have hijacked this country are consistent in their mode of attack after the truth emerges. And in no way am I complementing them.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

149. Lets hope some of that NCAA audience bled over to 60 Minutes

As this was the UofK vs UBA game you probably had fans from Kentucky watching, & thats been, in the past, a swing state.

[lostnfound]

156. Loved hearing that Clinton prevented attack on airport (?) by high alert..

while Bush did nothing under similar circumstances..!!

Also the great-because-truthful (though tragic) comments about how the war on Iraq is only encouraging terrorism since binLaden has been preaching in his recruiting videos for years that the US just wants to come in and occupy a Mideast oil-rich nation, and here Bush has gone ahead and done just that -- which is causing potential terrorists to flock to the cause.

And how he could just picture Bush sitting by the fire in the Oval office scratching cards off his most-wanted-terror deck thinking he was making progress, while his very actions were creating more of them.

Depressing but GOD it is so much better to hear the TRUTH on mainstream TV.

The Gods-among-men must have decided President Kerry was okay.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

160. woah...LAX....damning "compare & contrast" bit there.

I never heard anything about this LAX attack or attack attempt, did you?

But he sure made the Bush crowd look lame by doing that little compare & contrast bit.

[I Lean Left]

188. Yep, was planned for Y2K.

The assumption was with all the celebrating and concern of computers crashing, they could slip right by. Stopped at the border and never got close!

[davekriss]

233. The Millenium Bomb Plot

(For Waverly_Hills_Hiker who may have been out hiking in 1999 when stories about the following abounded. :) )

Amhed Ressan, an Algerian terrorist, attempted to cross the Canadian border in December 1999 but an alert border guard got suspicious and instead searched his car. They found a bunch of explosives in the trunk of his car. Turns out they were destined for LAX.

It was also uncovered that Ressan and his accomplices were connected to Al Qaeda and trained in Afganistan camps.

Link: http://www.atour.com/news/international/20010710c.html

[peacetalksforall]

161. I couldn't watch it, but I read all your comments, particularly about

Stahl. From the text and the way you presented it, it certainly seems that she was trying to raise and dispose of some the typical objections - get them out of the way as officially as possible. But her words and your interpretation don't provide the body language and tone, so I'll give weight to your whore assessment, but I'm left with the feeling that she was operating on two levels.

Hope I can see it somehow.

Looks like a book to buy to get the detail.

[scottxyz]

205. Stahl was playing devil's advocate

As "higher class" intuits: "She was trying to raise and dispose of some the typical objections - get them out of the way as officially as possible."

I haven't watched 60 Minutes for years but this seems to be what she was doing. Lob them questions and let them either exonerate or hang themselves.

[Andy_Stephenson]

162. So is it bad or what?

really and truly now...someone please tell me.

[Wapsie B]

167. Very bad

for the chimpy administration. Clarke was kicking ass and taking names.

[Cheesehead]

198. Clarke is pissed because:

The administration was warned (by him and Tenent) and refused to listen.
He had friends killed at the WTC and Pentagon in an action that he predicted and could have been prevented.

He has written the book, and all is on the record.

[mindfulNJ]

163. Whoa...look at this CNN poll!

Do you think people just may be waking up?

http://www.cnn.com/

[otohara]

179. yes, but how do we explain

bush's poll numbers? Awake or sleeping, these loyalists will still vote for liar.

[PaDUer]

246. midnite--

Created: Sunday, March 21, 2004, at 18:40:19 EST
Do you think the United States "chose to ignore" information provided by weapons inspectors before the Iraq war?

Yes 74% 46662 votes

No 26% 16426 votes
Total: 63088 votes

[immoderate]

168. I wonder if Clarke is holding documents

Like Paul O'Neil did.

--IMM

[Andy_Stephenson]

174. I hope to God he stays out of small planes and

SUV's

[davekriss]

236. SUV's refer to Athan Gibbs?

Tragic. :( May TruVote International carry on!

[bvar22]

169. bush* admn. did NOT IGNORE impending attack warnings.

They took drastic measures.....to save their own cowardly butts.

Ashcroft quit flying commercial airlines the summer before 9-11,

bunnypants* left the White House (priority target) in late July and didn't come back until after 9-11.

So CLEARLY, they heeded the warnings!

[Lorien]

173. Contact 60 minutes

(CBS) 60 Minutes:

ADDRESS:
60 Minutes
524 West 57th St.
New York, NY 10019

PHONE: [phone]


Their site doesn't provide an e-mail address.

[captain_change]

178. Invading Mexico

I loved the piece, especially the part about invading Iraq . A few months ago I wrote the exact same words in an op ed reply to our local freeper's (probably AstroTurf) piece in the paper.

"Bush did the equivalent of FDR, instead of attacking Japan, invading Mexico"

I added "because it was convenient and had oil.

I need to find out if Clark gets the Windham NY Journal!!

[Zorra]

180. Aug 6th and 7th, 2001:

The PDB from Aug 6th, 2001:
Washington Post
Friday 25 July 2003
With respect to Bush, the congressional panel indicated that it tried to determine "to what extent the President received threat-specific warnings during this period" -- but obtained only limited information.

Among the only clues cited in the report about Bush's knowledge of al Qaeda's intentions against the United States is an Aug. 6, 2001, President's Daily Briefing (PDB) -- described in the report only as a "closely-held intelligence report" -- that included information "acquired in May 2001 that indicated a group of Bin Laden supporters was planning attacks in the United States with explosives."

The PDB also said "that Bin Laden had wanted to conduct attacks in the United States for years and that the group apparently maintained a support base here." It cited "FBI judgments about patterns of activity consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks," according to the report.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/072603A.shtml

What Bu$h did at dawn the day after he supposedly read the Aug 6 PDB:

(I apologize for the right wing news source, but it makes this info that much better. Scroll down to read the excerpt.)

Bush Golfs, Doesn't Miss Washington
8/7/2001 5:16 PM
President Bush rolled out of his ranch at dawn Tuesday for golf and talk, saying he is thoroughly at home amid the outdoor play and work of his Texas vacation. "I'm the kind of person who likes to be outdoors; it keeps my mind and my spirits up and it keeps me a balanced person," Bush told reporters moments before he teed off at Ridgewood Golf Club on a hill overlooking Lake Waco.

http://www.teamgop.com/archive.php3?m=08&y=2001

The republicans are already trying to blame Clinton, and will probably try to discredit Clarke. Right after Intelligence tried to inform Bu$h of al Qaedas' intentions to attack and the methods they might use, he nonchalantly went golfing. Strong on defense?

Republican administrations are strong on golf. Obviously, defense concerns are of little importance to them.

[Malva Zebrina]

181. Stahl did a good job

I think she did and I was not put off by her-- all the pertinent points of Bush's incompetent handling will be remembered.
All the questions were answered well and allowed to stand on their own. Hadley--all that will be remembered is his red rimmed eyeglasses.

Geez, I got focused on those improbable and ridiculous looking redrimmed eyeglasses.

they are what women wear usually.

[peacetalksforall]

182. Question about their madness...

They had to know about the attack plans - the former administration went out of their way to warn them, the intelligence agencies of Israel, Germany, France and one other major country warned them, they were supposed tohave had a CIA, Rumsnut had his own Pentagon intelligence agency in place, and the exact people who asked Clinton to invade Iraq in 1988 were the peole in charge.....

so if there was a MIHOP or even a LIHOP, why didn't they plant identities of Iraqis for the highjackers? Did they totally count on the stupidity of enough citizens to successfully swallow their brown stuff about Iraq being the threat?

O'Neill, Clarke, Clarke witnesses may not be enough. We need a few more...we need a Condoleeza Rice coming forward. Let's start the mantra torture...just come forward, Condi. Just admit it, Condi. Just say your're sorry, Condi.

(Remember the mantra from the Clinton character assassination - all the operatives started with one for a couple of weeks, then moved to the next for a couple of months, then the third. It was a barrage similar to a warship assault - very orchestrated and transparently stupid.

[Malva Zebrina]

186. You know, I don't think Condi even knows anymore what she thinks

or what she has to do.

Obviously she has been used and is quite willing to be used.

She , in spite of all her academic qualifications, has been nothing more than a whore and a whore that is not listened to at all by anyone in the Bush administration. She is mere window dressing.

Who exactly is it that is in charge here of everyone including Condi, Bush, Powell and all the rest?

I am convinced it is the ex CEO of a very influential corporation that is probably running our country now.

Dick Cheney is in charge.

He is NOT as stupid as Bush and is quite clever when it comes to accumulating wealth for himself. He is also the most secretive of them all and must have something awful to hide.

Bush is too stupid to really be held accountable, but, we must hold him accountable because the fact is that he thinks he can get away with being the Dauphine and not being held accountable due to his elitist birth, and all those, like Rice, Powell are mere players waiting out their time so they can retire in luxury after it is all over.

None will be held repsonsible for the slaughter done in our names in Iraq.

[scottxyz]

208. Excellent question, 'higher class'

In an earlier post, 'higher class' asks: "So if there was a MIHOP or even a LIHOP, why didn't they plant identities of Iraqis for the highjackers?"

That's a good question. But I would guess it just comes down to the usual incompentence and hubris. They figured they could get away with lying later, talk about WMDs and uranium and just keep saying "Saddam - Al Qaada" over and over in a bunch of speeches.

It seems pretty clear that way before 9/11 PNAC was itching for another "Pearl Harbor" in order to go after Iraq. So it would have made sense for them to "plant" identities of Iraqis for the hijackers.

Then again, that may have been too hard to do. The identities of the hijackers were probably all over American Airlines computer systems. Would have been too much work to alter that. Better just plant stories about WMDs and uranium later.

[BabsSong]

191. repition is the key--perhaps Kerry could put him in ads

I'm serious. It's going to take that kind of exposure to get it through the first layer of cement of the typical American skull. How many even saw this. How many will let some other media whore explain it to them in the next few days. A few Kerry ads with this guy introducting who he is and what he knows could go a long way.

[Jim__]

193. Clinton went to battle stations and prevented the attack on LAX ...

... Bush ignored the problem. We'll never know if it could have been prevented.

Dynamite! This should destroy Bush's pose as the national security candidate.

[robbedvoter]

194. Our Clark is on it alreasy as per this:

Our General was just on my local AND national ABC-TV station
(Tampa/St. Pete FL) speaking out about Richard Clarke's book and
how
the Bushies wanted to attack Iraq immediately after 9/11. ABC
national
TV said that he was speaking for Kerry. Local TV station will have
more of his interview at 11:00 PM

[proud2BlibKansan]

197. Go to 60 Minutes website.

They have the whole interview posted there.

[napi21]

202. They also have a "feedback" link at the very bottom of the page.

Send them a note te let them know you liked the piece!

[Oilwellian]

225. Here's the feedback link

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/feedback/fb_news_form.shtml

I found Leslie Stahl's report to be very damning for the Bush administration. I didn't find her to be whorish at all and knew from the questions she asked that they were what the rightwing would be asking. I was happy to see Clark have the opportunity to answer them pre-emptively. For example, her question about him having sour grapes because he was demoted after Bush came on board was actually quite damning. Clark was considered an expert on terrorism by 4 consecutive presidents so the people will wonder why Bush demoted him at a time when the threat of terrorism was greater than ever.

Let's also remember, it was Clark who traveled to Crawford on August 6, 2001 to forewarn Bush of an imminent attack on this country and it's that briefing that Bush is so intent on keeping secret. Hadley tried to spin it by saying Bush was very concerned about terrorism as well but of course we all know he wasn't concerned enough to postpone or even shorten his month long vacation.

And last but not least, Hadley's about to be indicted for outing Valerie Plame. Why would they choose him as the person to defend Bush on 60 Minutes tonight? If this is the man who's now the terrorism expert for the Bush cabal, the American people will wonder why he outed a CIA agent who monitored the proliferation of wmds.

[i_c_a_White_Ghost]

203. We need to keep this story alive!

Email the cnn, msnbc and fox and tell them you are shocked!

[roguevalley]

229. Hadley blamed clinton. did you see that? My family and I waited for it.

Hadley got a standing-O, the wanker. :)

[onehandle]

209. I've had a fear of Bush from the start.

Now I finally fear terrorism, because this inept fraud is our "protector".

We've got to get rid of this corrupt administration.

[osaMABUSh]

215. Bush playing with deck of cards - the whole thing was awesome

Random thoughts on the segment:

The mental sight of Bush crossing off a card at time is hilarious and paints a picture of his simpleton approach.

Stahl was fine. She asked the questions and Clarke nailed the answers. I think William Pitt was right, I'm falling in love with Richard Clarke too.

The bit about Clarke thinking Rummy was joking about bombing Iraq underscores Clarke's message. It makes Clarke more believable by him thinking that Rummy's reaction was ludicrous.

Condi does come out of this looking bad. Bush may have to take this exposure out on someone. Might as well be Condi.

Can you imagine being Kerry and sitting in his room out in Idaho and watching this on TV? Obviously he knew the content of the show before it was aired but to actually just sit there and watch it on national TV - sweet. Kerry has time to formulate a response to the response the Bush Admin will have about this.

Also, the timing of the show was impeccable, back here in the East we saw the conclusion of great Kty - UAB game and then went right into 60 Minutes (7:20 PM) ET. Everybody loves March Madness so the audience could have been huge. Also, the Clarke segment ended before the top of the hour (8 PM ET) so most folks probably saw the whole thing before going to something else.

[scottxyz]

223. My overall take:

The overall take I got from this interview (and the following report on Zawahiri) was OPTIMISM.

When we have snipers or rapists or whatever here in the US, we send law enforcement after them, we all go on the lookout, we post pictures on TV, and after a while we catch them.

Up until now, I had been kind of unsure how you go about getting terrorists who blow up buildings. The main point I came away with after watching the Clarke interview (and the following report on Zawahiri) was that this is just like any other sleuthing and enforcement operation: You pay attention, you "go to the battlestations", you have daily meetings with intelligence heads, you report if "a sparrow falls out of the tree".

The really important fact to notice in the interview was this: The LAST time they had a spike in chatter similar to the summer of 2001, was late 1999 before Y2K. So Clinton had daily meeting with the head of the CIA and FBI and Clarke, and they told their people to report upwards anything strange that they picked up - and they caught that Islamofascist coming in at the Canadian border heading to blow up LAX.

So paying extra attention, being on alert, checking the borders - these things WORK. There are concrete steps we can take to reduce terrorism, and our top anti-terrorism people have all this stuff already worked out.

Now switch to the second half of the show. Some top spokesman from Egypt is talking about the #2 at Al-Qaeda, Zawahiri, the brains behind Osama's money, and it turns out this guy has been in jail in Egypt for the plot to assassinate Anwar, and then he got out and was wandering all over Europe and the US. The Egyptian spokesman then says that Egypt was still after him, but they couldn't get cooperation from Europe and the US because Egypt had a death sentence over the guy's head and that violated some European laws.

So the guy who thought up 9/11 was running all over Europe and the US during the 90s raising money and making plans, his home government knew about him and wanted other governments to help get him, but they were ignored.

So we have the following scenarios:

(1) Chatter spikes around end of 1999, Clinton goes on high alert, everyone's under orders to keep their eyes and ears open, and we catch a guy and prevent LAX from getting blown up.

(2) Zawahiri helps assassinate the president of Egypt, he gets to Europe and the US while Egypt is saying "Catch this guy", everyone ignores Egypt, he dreams up a plot to blow up the WTC, and he succeeds.

(3) Chatter spikes in the summer of 2001, it's ignored, we get attacked, thousands die.

What's the point here? The point is:

It's not that hard to reduce terrorism! You just go on alert and tell your intelligence people to pay attention and you cooperate with foreign governments too.

Duh.

So this gives a big message of hope. There ARE intelligent, competent counter-terrorism professionals available, there ARE tried and true standard operating procedures for preventing or at least reducing terrorism, and when ideology and international cooperation allows it, these procedures WORK!

Of course, Bush is NOT following standard operating procedures, he DEMOTED the top terrorism czar of the preceding 3 administrations, IGNORED all the guy's warnings plus the warnings from the CIA and the FBI and our allies - so we got attacked.

QED. You follow the rules, and you safe. You break the rules, and you're fucked.

But at least it's doable. At least there ARE rules that work. All that remains to be done is throw the guys in jail who break the rules, and hire back / vote back in the people who know how to follow the simple anti-terrorism rules.

[G_j]

224. great quote

"Rumsfeld was saying that we needed to bomb Iraq," Clarke said to Stahl. "And we all said ... no, no. Al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan. We need to bomb Afghanistan. And Rumsfeld said there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan. And there are lots of good targets in Iraq. I said, 'Well, there are lots of good targets in lots of places, but Iraq had nothing to do with it.

"Initially, I thought when he said, 'There aren't enough targets in-- in Afghanistan,' I thought he was joking."

[leesa]

231. I fail to see the logic in bombing Afghanistan. Outside of killing

a lot of people who had absolutely nothing to do with 9-11, what did it accomplish? Expand the roster of "terrorist" club members?? Why did we bomb Afghanistan? Why did we not investigate and arrest those involved?? This is the only method that works.

Excellent interview and I admire this guy's courage. I only wish these people had spoken out BEFORE the wars!

[G_j]

239. I agree, the war on Afghanistan didn't need to happen

I was out on the street corner demonstrating against that too. Bush turned down an offer to have Bin Laden turned over to a third country. That was just another "war" they couldn't wait to start.
Just a bunch of blood thirsty monsters IMO.

I thought the quote was good for how insane it makes Rumsfeld look.

[gristy]

228. Lead story on local fox news (channel 13) in Sarasota, FL

RW spokesjerk pointing finger at Clarke.
At end of story, reported said that Clarke said that in his first meeting with Rice, it appeared that she had never heard of Al Qaeda.

[Robin Hood]

230. His accounts support Oneill's account.

When the attack dogs try to paint him as a liar, all you have to point out is that Oneill and Clarke both have similar accounts of the Bush administration pre 9/11 and after.

The truth is that Bush through his ineptness failed the US on 9/11 and after. Bush has maid this country and the world a more dangerous place to live.

BTW: Clinton and Clarke never seem to get any credit for thwarting a millenium attack on the LA airport that was to be carried out by Al Qaeda.

[robbedvoter]

234. Wesley Clark kicks it up on Faux

I didn't see it, but somebody on DU posted this:

The guy on Fox was clearly cheerleading openly for Bush. Clark first
corrected him in saying that Richard Clarke was NOT a Clinton "aide"
but was a career civil servant who also served under Bush. The host
asked Clark if he was speaking on behalf of Kerry, as though such an
admission would damage his credibility. Clark had no problem saying
that 'yes' he was speaking for the Kerry campaign. Clark mentioned
Harry Truman in that the buck should stop with the President, when
the host tried to bring Clinton into this, mentioning that in nine
months Bush did nothing to fight terrorism. When the host tried to
get Clark to admit that we were better off eliminating Saddam and
trying to bring democracy, Clark praised the military by over-
achieving under difficult circumstances in Iraq but suggested that we
were now over-extended in the world in trying to fight terrorism
because of Iraq. He also said we will need more than just a military
effort to fight terrorism but also diplomacy and the help of our
traditional allies, something he said Kerry will be able to achieve
where Bush fails. The host tried to get Clark to admit that
Afghanistan was going well, but Clark pointed out that Bush had had
the opportunity to catch Al Qaeda's leadership, for example at Tora
Bora and flatly failed. The host tried to get Clark to admit that the
recent events in cornering Al Qaeda in Pakistan were getting results.
Clark said that Bush, by focusing on Iraq has given Al Qaeda time to
adjust and now they are far more decentralized than before and will
require a different strategy, suggesting that Bush continues to
remain one step behind. Finally, the host tried to suggest Clark's
bias in a parting shot, by suggesting that Clark was speaking up
because he wants to be Secretary of State. Clark said that he was
speaking up because he wants America to be safe. It was ugly for the
Faux host, as Clark hit one slam dunk after another around him, as
though the host were nailed to the floor.

[Gloria]

235. Hard Target on History Channel this AM with ret. Lt. Col. Karen

Kwaitkowksi (sP?) . She unloaded on the Bush neo-cons and the Iraq adventure.

60 Minutes should have her on next week!@!!!

[scottxyz]

256. BillMon at Whiskey Bar has a great analysis of the interview

Billmon: "Well, if tonight's 60 Minutes doesn't shake our fellow Americans out of their illusions about George W. Bush, nothing will."

Lots more here:
http://billmon.org/archives/001239.html#more
http://billmon.org/archives/001249.html

[scottxyz]

258. And what about this pathetic quote, from Bartlett I think

"The Clinton Administration had eight years to address this. We only had 243 days."

What the hell is that supposed to mean? They didn't have enough time to prevent 9/11? What the fuck?

[coda]

259. So what if they lied?Just one of those"infinite number of situations"

"It's easy to imagine an infinite number of situations where the government might legitimately give out false information,"

- Solicitor-General, Theodore Olson March 18, 2002