Russert is an ass

[59millionmorons]

Every thing he say's is from RW talking points, He is using quotes straight from the Washington Times. Reading quotes from that butt head Charles Krautheimer. Why did Russet not just let Limbaugh do the interview? Reading from a letter that say's C;larke is profitting from the death, like we all don't know these people are Bush supporters.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

1. Clarke is KICKING ASS!

poor timmy looks like the whore that he is.

[Babel_17]

I agree

Better than I expected, better than I dared hope.

[Kahuna]

3. I also agree. Twenty minutes into it, I don't see that Tim..

is being an ass. He's asking good questions. And Clarke is answering them very well. Tim isn't cutting him off or changing the subject so far. :shrug:

[59millionmorons]

6. ugh

The whole interview is about Clarke, not the issues.

[Kahuna]

7. That's not what I'm hearing. I'm getting a lot more out of..

the issues than you did. Obviously. :shrug: I'm learning a lot about what happened that I didn't already know. That's a good interview, IMHO.

[murielm99]

11. I agree. This interview is suprisingly civil.

But it is Clarke who is maintaining the civility, setting the tone. Timmy is following his lead.

When most repukes come on MTP, they talk over the host and anyone else there. They have to get all their spin and talking points out there.

This is pretty good, for Timmy.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

20. pretty scary stuff.

Clarkes claim that this is not just a potlical thing and that he has intel that the WH is trying to destroy him professionally too is pretty creepy.

The level of political hardball here is pretty intense.

Clake is the head of a cybersecurity consultancy, so you can see how this would be damaging.

[Wickerman]

2. I thought Timmie did a good job of tossing the issues out

and letting Clarke hit them out of the park. Its an incredibly damning show for Bush and Tim has let Clarke answer the questions needed to be answewred.

Note that I am NO Tim Russert fan.

[asjr]

4. Clarke was ready for

anything Tiny Tim threw at him. I thought quoting Chas. Krauthammer was one of the more stupid things Tim did. He must think the citizenry of this country is dumb.

[SOS]

24. The long Krauthammer quote was

simply beyond belief. Krauthammer has no authority on anything. He's a right-wing hack who writes for AEI, Frontpagemag, NY Post etc.
Russert might as well be quoting Ann Coulter (or Noam Chomsky!) The whole piece was irrelevent, but revealing as to Russerts covert position within the Bush campaign.

[ClintonTyree]

5. People..............

read these attacks in the papers and hear them on the news. It's better that Clarke defuse these attacks on national TV than to let the GOP run roughshod without addressing them. Russert is doing what he's paid to do............for once.

[boobooday]

8. I think Tim is lobbing them at him

And Clarke is hitting all the petty right-wing smear balls right out of the park!

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Kahuna]

12. Yep. And Tim's posture isn't particularly combative...

Like the infamous Dean interview.

[ulTRAX]

9. I see nothing really wrong with Russet's questions

If Russert only stuck to the Right's attacks, I think a good point could be made. But Clarke has to be given a chance to respond to his character assassins.

[Ilsa]

10. I don't want the repukes screaming that Russert gave him a

free ride on MTP. Clarke did great, from what i saw.

[librechik]

17. I agree--Clarke isn't lying, so he can answer the questions easily

no dissembling here--just, finally, tell the truth. Russert is asking the toughest questions that the RW has been mumbling for days, and he's doing us a favor by doing so. Pay attention to Clarke's responses. We will need them when we go out into the forums to rebut the misadministration.

The righteousness of Clarke's responses will silence them. How can you rebut the truth when you have been lying? only more lies. And everyone is seeing the lies now, the veils have been dropped.

[chelsea0011]

13. "This Presidency is over" Tim Russert

On the Clinton Presidency..not the Crooked Administration.

[monarch]

14. Slam dunk for Clarke

Way better than I could have dared hope! Wish they could have shown Frist backing off from his slanderous comments but, hey, it was great.

[americanstranger]

15. I thought the letter from Bush was a brilliant touch

Everyone's making such a big goddam deal about how nice Clarke was in his resignation letter, and how that somehow disproves what Clarke is saying now.

To produce an equally flattering letter from Bush - in his own handwriting - is throwing it back in their faces big-time.

I'll say it again - this guy is on a much higher level than what the RW smear machine is used to dealing with. Beautiful to watch.

-as

[calimary]

22. Yeah, I saw that. SAVORED that.

Clarke was fully prepared. FULLY. Spoke evenly, in measured tones, kept the exchanges completely civil. To his credit, Russert let him complete every sentence and say everything he wanted to say, instead of barking at him, interrupting him, huffing and puffing at him, and throwing his inquisitor's frown lines at him. I think Russert knew he had a tiger by the tail and that he better go carefully.

Man, Clarke is - what? Babe Ruth? Joe DiMaggio? Hank Aaron? Mark McGwire? He's the Teflon Testifier.

[meti57b]

16. Clarke wants everything declassified ... wouldn't that be great!!

[Beam Me Up]

18. YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!

As someone who REFUSES to watch TV, just want you all to know how much I APPRECIATE having you guys report on what goes on on a TV show like MTP. Of course I *have* watched such shows in the past. At this point in my life I absolutely can not STAND watching commercial television of any kind. I stopped sometime after 9/11--too obvious that I was being brain washed by the fallacious 'reportage' (propaganda).

Anyway, thanks for the reports, DU!! I get a good sense of how this went.

BMU

[trag]

19. Where do I get

an "I love Richard Clarke T-shirt?

[calimary]

23. I'd love to send him a thank-you note. Flowers! Dinner and concert tickets

or champagne. Well, let's save the champagne for the bush indictments (hopefully, well, but yeah, I realize who's pulling all the strings, so fat chance for THAT), or Election Night.

[Entente]

21. Wow!!! I agreee!

This was a great interview. We need the transcript ASAP. I learnt even more how this administration operates. It proves what I supected but now is more detailed.

[Jane Austin]

25. Russert had to ask those questions

Although not necessarily by quoting the Washington Times, but he didn't get any traction for the RW line and Clarke handled each question masterfully.

(Edited for typo.)

[Unknown Known]

26. Russert is responsible for 3,000 dead Americans

and the 550+ deaths of American soldiers in Iraq.