March 25, 2004

WHAT CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION LIMITS?:

Richard Clarke KOs the Bushies: The ex-terrorism official dazzles at the 9/11 commission hearings. (Fred Kaplan, 3/25/04, Slate)

Among the many feckless or snarky statements that Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and White House spokesman Scott McClellan have issued about Clarke the past few days, the observation they've recited with particular gusto is that this disgruntled ex-official was in charge of counterterrorism policy during the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the attacks on the U.S.S. Cole, and the bombing of our East African embassies. Their implication was: How can this guy, who allowed so much bloodshed on his watch, be blaming us?

And so now here's Clarke, in an official, nationally broadcast forum, announcing: I failed, I'm sorry, please forgive me. Which, as one member of the panel noted, is more than any official in the Bush administration has said to any victims of the far more devastating 9/11 attacks.

I am not suggesting that Clarke's apology was cynical or purely tactical.


Odd that Slate doesn't run a disclaimer that Mr. Kaplan is assisting the Kerry campaign, perhaps illegaly, no?

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 25, 2004 5:05 PM
Comments

I thought Slate reserved such slobbering as this for Clinton only.

Posted by: Raoul Ortega at March 25, 2004 6:02 PM

I find it somehow impossible that no-one has ever before told any of the 9/11 families that they were sorry that 9/11 occurred... if not by words, then by deeds.

Posted by: Just John at March 25, 2004 6:18 PM

J J:

Remember FDR's famous speech: "This is a day that will live in infamy...because I completely failed to protect the United States and its servicemen...sorry..."

Posted by: oj at March 25, 2004 7:00 PM

Kaplan, again. Last time I read a Fred Kaplan article was here a couple weeks ago and mistook him for the Kaplan that writes for Atlantic Magazine. I won't make that mistake again.

This entire subject by the way (lack of diligence by the Bush administration) is starting to annoy the h*ll out of me. Especially given the accusations that Bush is a wild, unstable cowboy from the same people who are now saying he should of invaded Afganistan BEFORE 9/11!!

Posted by: h-man at March 25, 2004 7:09 PM

Naw, they're consistent ... consistent in their anger for Bush. And they're not called "Bush haters" the way that Clinton critics were inevitably tagged with the 'H' word - the journalists are consistent too.

Posted by: John Barrett Jr. at March 25, 2004 9:58 PM

All of the above. As I've watched Clarke on television during the past year I've always had the visceral feeling as that of watching a snake. Actually I don't think he's smart as a snake, and they're pretty dumb despite the reverence of the Greeks.

Posted by: genecis at March 26, 2004 12:09 AM
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