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Clarke: "The truth is a powerful force"
WH declines to respond
In an interview with NPR, Clarke says hell yes - declassify my testimony! Pass the popcorn!
March 27, 2004
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Kerry: WTF is the WH thinking??
"Every time somebody comes up and says something that this White House doesn't like, they ."don't answer the questions about it or show you the truth about it. They go into character assassination mode."
Besides Clarke, Kerry cited the examples of former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Medicare accountant Richard Foster.
"It is entirely inappropriate and almost hysterical of the White House to engage in this massive character assassination," Kerry said later in an interview with Kansas City television station KMBC.
He also had a few words for worthless national insecurity advisor Condo 'dirty' Rice.
"If Condoleezza Rice can find time to do 60 Minutes on television before the American people, she ought to find 60 minutes to speak to the commission under oath. We're talking about the security of our country."
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Newsview: cross Bush, face payback
"This team is tough. You cross them and they go after you and raise questions about you and your credibility rather than what you have to say," said Thomas Mann, a scholar with the Brookings Institution.
Richard Clarke joins a distinguished list that includes former economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, former Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, former Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill, former director of faith-based initiatives John DiIulio - and it looks as though Richard Foster will soon be known as 'former Medicare analyst.'
Honor, integrity, accountability.
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Reminder
"On August 2, 1996, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, commonly known as the Gore Commission, was appointed by Bill Clinton to analyze America's vulnerability to airborne terrorism and make recommendations for improvement. Unfortunately, the commission's final recommendations, issued in February 1997, were fought by both the airlines, who didn't want to spend the money necessary to make the improvements, and by powerful members of the Congressional GOP, particularly folks like Trent Lott, Tom DeLay, and Bob Barr, who accused the Clinton administration of trying to use the entire terrorism issue as a "smokescreen" to obscure the "real" issue of the day, the Whitewater/Lewinsky investigation. The Gore report produced over 50 specific and tangible recommendations for airline flight security." - PuppetPOTUS, BC forum.
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Quote
Bush: 'That Dick Cheney just drives me nuts sometimes. (pause) The other day he took me into the Oval Office (pause) and told me there was a coke spoon in the corner. (cue laugh track)'- Billmon.
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'Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere'
I found this via Hoffmania -
Chris 'Tweety' Matthews righteously pimpslaps Tucker Eskew, the Bush-Cheney campaign advisor, on Hardball:
MATTHEWS: There‘s a riff of four or five jokes where he made fun of the fact he couldn‘t find weapons of mass destruction.
Now, the reason I raise this is, we were just over at Walter Reed. There is like almost more than 3,000 seriously injured guys, amputees, the people that fought that war thinking they were protecting this country from weapons of mass destruction. They weren‘t because the guy didn‘t have any weapons of mass destruction.
ESKEW: They did.
MATTHEWS: They did what? They protected us from weapons of mass destruction?
ESKEW: They protected us from Saddam Hussein.
MATTHEWS: But not weapons of mass destruction, which was the case made to them and their families.
ESKEW: It was a case made.
MATTHEWS: A case?
ESKEW: It was a case.
MATTHEWS: What was the other case made before the war?
ESKEW: Oh, come on, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Before the war.
ESKEW: Before the war.
MATTHEWS: When we went to U.N., the case was they, had weapons of mass destruction.
ESKEW: That was a central part of the case. It was at the forefront of the case.
MATTHEWS: Well, it‘s not true.
ESKEW: And it remains at the forefront of the case.
MATTHEWS: It does? How?
ESKEW: Of course it does.
MATTHEWS: How does it still become an issue for the war?
ESKEW: Because I think the president has made clear that we disarmed a dictator, an evil man who had the capacity
MATTHEWS: Without the weapons, he was just evil. But he wasn‘t a threat to us, was he?
ESKEW: He was the same sort of threat to George W. Bush that John Kerry acknowledged that he was over and over and over again.
MATTHEWS: You‘re shifting here.
ESKEW: No, I‘m not. I think the case is that the American—bipartisan—on a bipartisan basis, the American leadership in this country understood the man.
MATTHEWS: Nice try.
--- snip ---
MATTHEWS: So you hold to the argument as a spokesman for the president that the president of the United States was right last night to make fun of the issue of why he went to war?
ESKEW: Listen, you can put it in that context, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Four jokes.
ESKEW: The president—come on. The president has talked about WMD over and over and over again, since David Kay reported and before.
MATTHEWS: Would you have him tell those jokes as he tours the hospitals?
ESKEW: He tours the hospitals an awful lot. He doesn‘t need a lesson in compassion toward the American soldiers, Chris.
MATTHEWS: No, it‘s just he has a—maybe there‘s a question here of taste.
ESKEW: I think the president has very good taste.
MATTHEWS: You felt the jokes were right?
ESKEW: That‘s self-deprecation, Chris. I think you misinterpret it.
MATTHEWS: So you think the guys who got hurt and killed in this war thought it was funny?
ESKEW: I wouldn‘t say that and I don‘t think you really mean that.
MATTHEWS: I just don‘t think it was funny. I was there last night. I didn‘t think it was funny.
Now, the reason I raise this is, we were just over at Walter Reed. There is like almost more than 3,000 seriously injured guys, amputees, the people that fought that war thinking they were protecting this country from weapons of mass destruction. They weren‘t because the guy didn‘t have any weapons of mass destruction.
ESKEW: They did.
MATTHEWS: They did what? They protected us from weapons of mass destruction?
ESKEW: They protected us from Saddam Hussein.
MATTHEWS: But not weapons of mass destruction, which was the case made to them and their families.
ESKEW: It was a case made.
MATTHEWS: A case?
ESKEW: It was a case.
MATTHEWS: What was the other case made before the war?
ESKEW: Oh, come on, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Before the war.
ESKEW: Before the war.
MATTHEWS: When we went to U.N., the case was they, had weapons of mass destruction.
ESKEW: That was a central part of the case. It was at the forefront of the case.
MATTHEWS: Well, it‘s not true.
ESKEW: And it remains at the forefront of the case.
MATTHEWS: It does? How?
ESKEW: Of course it does.
MATTHEWS: How does it still become an issue for the war?
ESKEW: Because I think the president has made clear that we disarmed a dictator, an evil man who had the capacity
MATTHEWS: Without the weapons, he was just evil. But he wasn‘t a threat to us, was he?
ESKEW: He was the same sort of threat to George W. Bush that John Kerry acknowledged that he was over and over and over again.
MATTHEWS: You‘re shifting here.
ESKEW: No, I‘m not. I think the case is that the American—bipartisan—on a bipartisan basis, the American leadership in this country understood the man.
MATTHEWS: Nice try.
--- snip ---
MATTHEWS: So you hold to the argument as a spokesman for the president that the president of the United States was right last night to make fun of the issue of why he went to war?
ESKEW: Listen, you can put it in that context, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Four jokes.
ESKEW: The president—come on. The president has talked about WMD over and over and over again, since David Kay reported and before.
MATTHEWS: Would you have him tell those jokes as he tours the hospitals?
ESKEW: He tours the hospitals an awful lot. He doesn‘t need a lesson in compassion toward the American soldiers, Chris.
MATTHEWS: No, it‘s just he has a—maybe there‘s a question here of taste.
ESKEW: I think the president has very good taste.
MATTHEWS: You felt the jokes were right?
ESKEW: That‘s self-deprecation, Chris. I think you misinterpret it.
MATTHEWS: So you think the guys who got hurt and killed in this war thought it was funny?
ESKEW: I wouldn‘t say that and I don‘t think you really mean that.
MATTHEWS: I just don‘t think it was funny. I was there last night. I didn‘t think it was funny.
Gawd. Most of the time I'd love to take Matthews outside and tie him up to a stake for the bears to play with, but he gets a big high-5 for that one.
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By popular demand, part 2
"What situation was he saving it for?!"
Jon Stewart and The Daily Show bitchslap the misadministration in 'Belittle Richard.'
Our hero.
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GOP survey question draws ire in Asia
A voter survey tied to a reboob effort to raise money for House candidates mislabels Thailand and the Philippines as countries that "harbor and aid terrorists."
Accompanying the survey was a four-page letter signed by House Speaker Dennis 'yes, Mr DeLay' Hastert.
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Reminder
With all that bullpoop spewing from the WH about how if they only KNEW the terrists were gonna fly planes into buildings... we're reposting this:
On July 26, 2001 - 47 days before the Sept. 11 attacks - Fishing rod in hand, Attorney General John Ashcroft left on a weekend trip to Missouri Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered government jet, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart.
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.
Newsweek later reported that on Sept. 10, 2001, "a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns."
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.
Newsweek later reported that on Sept. 10, 2001, "a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns."
Did either Ashcroft or the Pentagon have advance information about a 9/11-style attack and, if so, why wasn't this shared with the American public?
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By popular demand
Link to Dumbass's shameful "White House Election Year Album" (scroll down).
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Reminder
Reagan's Navy Chief bitch-slaps Bush
The Bush campaign now claims that these issues are largely moot and that Bush has proved himself as a competent and daring "war president." And yet his actions in Iraq, and the vicious attacks against anyone who disagrees with his administration's logic, give many veterans serious pause.
Bush arguably has committed the greatest strategic blunder in modern memory. To put it bluntly, he attacked the wrong target.
Bush arguably has committed the greatest strategic blunder in modern memory. To put it bluntly, he attacked the wrong target.
- this was from a USA Toady editorial, by James Webb - secretary of the Navy during the Saint Ronnie of Reagan administration.
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'Notice that the BFEE stories aren't coordinated this time?'
Bush says: "If we had any inking, we would have done everything we could." (stupid)
Powell says: "We did know and we were trying as hard as we could to stop it."
Condi Says: "Clarke is lying, but I can't say how. Waa!"
Cheney says: "Clarke? Never heard of the guy."
- Party_like_its_2004, at the BC forum.
Is Spring finally here?
Slept with the windows opened last night - and the spring peepers were peeping.
Happy happy.
A public relations nightmare
'Condoleezza Rice says the Bush administration has a good story to tell about fighting terrorism and she's pouring it out in television appearances, interviews and newspaper articles. The one place she won't talk is in public, under oath, before the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
'The White House finds itself in the awkward position of trying to explain why Rice, the national security adviser to president Bush, can talk at length to reporters but not at the commission's televised hearings because of the constitutional principle of separation of powers.'
Fun fact: it's confirmed: Condo will be appearing on 60 Minutes on Sunday.
March 26, 2004
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Republicans for Kerry?
'When George Bush was elected in 2000, moderate Republicans thought he was on their side. But that illusion was dispelled in his first few months of office. "When the president was elected, everyone was looking for a breath of fresh air - Democrats and Republicans alike - for the good of the country we wanted a bipartisan effort," Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-RI, tells Salon. "We were all so weary of partisan trench warfare, and now it is deeper than ever."'
"Oh yeah - and Tom DeLay is a first-class asshole!"
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LOL
An unseen vandal scrawled the word "LIES" across the walls and pillars of Ohio Republican Party headquarters overnight Thursday.
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Heh heh
Book criticising Bush anti-terror efforts flying off shelves
Seen on yahoo news just now: Richard Clarke's book has shot to the top of the bestseller lists.
Since going on sale Monday, Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror has gone through six printings as the publisher has struggled to keep up with demand.
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Rethugs panicking
Congressional reboobs hope to declassify Clarke testimony from 2002.
"We'll show you!" Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist screams.
"Clarke investigated for perjury!" to become major news story for whore media flagship CNN.
You watch.
Here comes the media slag-fest again.
I may have to watch the news tonight with my hands tied behind my back to avoid a recurrence of flipping off blitzer syndrome.
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Word
WMD 'joke' "one of the most despicable acts of a sitting president''
"Well, that's not a joke to us, Mr. Bush. Five hundred soldiers lost their lives, looking for weapons that weren't there. Billions of taxpayer dollars were spent looking for weapons that weren't there. But guess what? You gonna look out that window in January and see a moving van to send you back to Texas.'' - Reverend Al.
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Quote
Richard Clarke 'made himself a hero in the eyes of 911 victims when he did something George W. Bush has failed to do in two and a half years - he sincerely apologized to the families of the victims for failing to protect their loved ones. Slate's Fred Kaplan called this "a stunning blow to the Bush administration - the political equivalent of a first-round knockout."'
'A simple request for the President'
"Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with Mr. Clarke's facts, he set an eloquent example for all of us yesterday. He accepted responsibility for September 11. He made himself accountable and he tried, in my view, to help us understand what happened in the months and years before September 11. I couldn't be more disappointed in the White House's response. They have known for months what Mr. Clarke was going to say. Instead of dealing with it factually, they've launched a shrill attack to destroy Mr. Clarke's credibility." - from Tom Daschle's remarks to the Senate, 3/25/04.
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