Clarke came prepared for fight - Gene Lyons

[TacticalPeek]

Clarke came prepared for fight
By GENE LYONS Friday, April 2, 2004 10:56 AM CST

snip

Knowing that his book, "Against All Enemies," (Simon and Schuster, 2004) would depict a White House that dismissed terrorism as a Clinton-era obsession, reacted passively to warnings of an impending Al Qaeda strike during the summer of 2001, then did precisely as bin Laden wished by attacking Iraq without finishing the job in Afghanistan, Clarke clearly anticipated the administration's counterattack.

Over the past two weeks, he's single-handedly made the Bush White House look like chumps, anticipating their every move and outmaneuvering the GOP smear machine. Accustomed to bullying adversaries into silence, the White House has made one tactical blunder after another. The result has been a political disaster.

snip

"Like most of his advisors," he writes, "I was beyond mad that the President had not shown enough discretion or self control, although. ... I was angrier, almost incredulous, that the bitterness of Clinton's enemies knew no bounds, that they intended to hurt not just Clinton but the country by turning the President's personal problem into a global, public circus for their own political ends."

Each time Clinton struck Al Qaeda or warned against terrorism, Republicans accused him of trying to divert attention from his sexual sins. So, yeah, Clarke has an ax to grind. He clearly believes Republicans put party over country during the Clinton years, and that the Bush White House is doing it again. And so far, he's getting the best of the argument.

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http://www.decaturdailydemocrat.com/articles/2004/04/02/news/opinion/editorial02.txt

[MarianJack]

1. Their Every Move is Easy to Anticipate.

They do the same sh*t over and over and over again.

Like all bullies, they have NO IDEA of how to handle somebody who fights back. That's why I'm glad to see a combative JK!

[LiberalFighter]

2. Just got to this part at work today

He clearly believes Republicans put party over country during the Clinton years, and that the Bush White House is doing it again. And so far, he's getting the best of the argument.

They just don't care what happens to this country.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. "There are no facts in Bush World, only motives."

This is so true! The Bush cabal avoids discussion of, and responsibility for, acts of fact by making everything about motive, usually "political." And what is truly disturbing is that the press plays right along, framing every issue as a political one, with two sides, or dismissing a story because the teller of it has a motive. There aren't two sides to every story, Bush and his allies are guilty of outrageous wrongs -- and usually the motive for those who take the courageous step of telling their story is deep concern for their country.