Tim Russert gave Clarke 3 Minutes on Iraq. I timed it.

[frank frankly]

Clarke explicitly requested that the role of the invasion of iraq in undermining terror be THE TOPIC.

Instead, Tim gives him 3 minutes.

Clarke, by the way, was the best I've ever seen on an interview. The best.

If you email that lazy slob russert, please mention this incredible error. Or, tell him you know his lousy game and know he didn't want to discuss Iraq because everything Clarke said is terrifying and true.

The way he described it put me in a whole new level of awareness on this. As bad as this invasion seemed last year, the implications are much worse than even understood here at DU, simply because the specifics have a life of their own. Actually, a lot of us knew that or sensed it or knew history.

It may be our waterloo.

We are in such big trouble.

Send those emails and don't hold back.

[e-mail]

mari333 said it well here, but this is the critical issue with tim's performance today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1302047

ON EDIT: Added Clarke was the best.

[LittleApple81]

1. When did Clarke request that Iraq be the topic? I want to be able

to mention this to my repug acquaintances. Thanks.

[Junkdrawer]

4. The transcript should be out soon. It was at the very start --

and Russert said that he would get to it - then he (Russert) proceeded to throw every criticism he could find at Clarke. Unfortunately for the Bushies, Clarke hit every one out of the park.

[FARAFIELD]

10. it wont matter

Clarke "killed" this morning. his missive about unclassifying everything was the bombshell. In fact although people are cynical after nixons "im not a crook" and clintons "i didnt have sex with". Anytime a person says go ahead and prove me wrong it carries a certain weight. Clarke proved he had nothing to hide, In fact he stuck it to everyone while coming off as humble "I like Condi rice" "my mother taught me to be polite" etc. Showing the note that bush wrote to him and upping the ante on Frist was the best way of saying that he means what he says.

[frank frankly]

12. i would have liked to hear him speak on iraq

no question in my mind he would have started connecting dots that timmy's masters will not allow to be mentioned, much less connected.

i agree that clark was magnificent. he was the best i've ever seen.

[0007]

32. The best I've ever seen, no doubt about it!

[Adelante]

50. Transcript

Meet the Press

Transcript for March 28
Guest: Fmr. White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke
NBC News
Updated: 12:10 p.m. ET March 28, 2004

~snip~

MR. RUSSERT: But if you were willing to go forward, and, as you say, "spin" on behalf of the president, then why shouldn't people now think that this book is also spin? Why should people believe you?

MR. CLARKE: Because I have no obligation anymore to spin. When you're in the White House, you spin. And people have been doing a lot of that against me this week. You know, they're engaged in a campaign. People on the taxpayers' rolls, dozens of people, are engaged in the campaign to destroy me, personally and professionally, because I had the temerity to suggest that the American people should consider whether or not the president had done a good job on the war on terrorism. The issue is not me. The issue is the president's job on the role on terrorism.

I think, before 9/11, he himself said--if you look at what he said to Bob Woodward, he himself said before 9/11, "This was not an urgent issue for me. I didn't feel a sense of urgency." He acknowledged bin Laden was not the focus of him or his national security team. So, before 9/11, not as focused. After 9/11--I say by going into Iraq, he has really hurt the war on terrorism. Now, because I say that, the administration doesn't want to talk on the merits of that. They don't want to talk about the effect on the war on terrorism of our invasion of Iraq. And so, instead, A, they try to do character assassination of me; but, B, they try to punish me for having said it by going after my professional life, by going after me, besmirching me. This is just not appropriate.

And you know, Tim, what I would like to do, beginning today, it's been going on for a week now. What I would like to do beginning today, is let's raise the level of discourse. Let's get some civility back into this issue. And let's talk about the issues. Let's not talk about the personalities. I have great respect for Dr. Rice. People have been saying all week that, you know, I must have a grudge against Condi Rice. I have known Condi for a long time. I think she's a very, very good person. And I don't want this to be about personality. I want it to be about the issues, about the war in Iraq and its affect on the war on terror.

MR. RUSSERT: You did tell Time magazine that the review that the administration did moved as fast as could be expected.

~more~

Full Transcript: Meet the Press: Richard Clarke 3/28/04

[Junkdrawer]

2. Yep. I wonder if Condi would be forced to answer critics for 9/10ths..

of her appearance? Or will they just let her rant in any direction she chooses? My money is on her ranting.

[coltman]

3. Maybe not our Waterloo....

but the bush administration is a definite turning point in our brief experiment in Jeffersonian democracy.

[frank frankly]

5. yes, coltman

something like that...

damn it.

[Broadslidin]

7. Richard Clarke's Position Has Been Strengthened, Overall

The Three minutes given the Iraq invasion was all that was needed
for Mr. Clarke to express his well thought out and clear position
of discrediting the blood revenge drugstore cowboy's
"shock and awe" failure in fighting terrorism

[frank frankly]

9. agreed. he was perfect in those 3 minutes

but timmy could not let him connect dots that well. tim's job is to keep reality within the accepted range.

clarke blows minds. it is that bad. we were right here at DU and of course people like ivins.

but now that it is all real and tangible, the last thing the press can allow is for someone to talk at length about what is really happening on our planet.

motherfucking bushco may kill us all.

pharoahs trying to bury us in the tomb with them, one last time.

[Touchdown]

55. Well, it's certainly not our Carthage.

I sincerely hop eyou're right about our Waterloo, but I can't help but think sometimes that Bush is our Nero, fiddling away as we burn down.

[frank frankly]

6. THREE MINUTES

THREE MINUTES

[MAlibdem]

8. On CABLE, the show was blinking in and out

EVERY other major network and cable news channels and everything were fine.

NBC was the only one not coming in clear.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. I've noticed that with a lot

of other politically sensitive news broadcasts recently. Seems the delay system is screwing up?

[shtinkycat]

13. Clarke was great

And thanks for the info on the 3 minutes. I knew it was brief, but come on, 3 MINUTES?! Here's part of the emai I just sent to MTP:

"I watched Tim Russert's interview of Richard Clarke, anxious to learn more about the substance of Mr. Clarke's allegations. Instead, Mr. Russert used 90% of the air time to challenge Mr. Clarke not about the substance of his book, but about the ad hominem attacks against him. What a disappointment. At the very end of the interview we got about 3-4 minutes of substance on why the war in Iraq may have made us more vulnerable to terrorism. I guess you at MTP did not think that was serious enough a topic to explore more fully."

If I hear "liberal media" once more, my head may explode.
:mad:

[frank frankly]

14. great email

and yes clarke was perfect. he will take them down.

[nostamj]

15. while TR was not confrontational

as he often is, he did exactly what Clarke openly accused him of:

playing the WH strategy of smearing his character

TR played tapes of that hideous pig Frist
TR showed a letter fromm 42 9/11 families that are against Clarke
TR brought up every negative angle being floated by the bushies

TR didn't show Clarke with the 9/11 families at the hearing
TR didn't show a minute of tape from anyone supporting Clarke

it was a pathetic, WH-driven character attack.

and Judy Woodruff is doing exactly the same script on Last Word.

EXACTLY.

[frank frankly]

16. bingo! propaganda is both what they tell you and what they do not tell you

still, at least he articulated it. watch him and others get better with our press. his guy's gravitas is obvious, until bully timmy's hamhocked mitts and aggressive postering and RW quotes.

clarke is THE ONE, as jon stewart said.

[eleny]

17. I hope he's a guest on Air America this week

He'll be given free reign to discuss everything he wants to in depth!

[frank frankly]

18. i will be listening

lets see if the mainstream whorrible press responds to our echo chamber

[Bread and Circus]

19. This is what I sent

"As a citizen of the U.S. I rely on the press to challenge the government to be honest and give us their best.

Richard Clarke has helped expose what seems to be failings of our government to protect us. He is a whistle blower,
an American Patriot, and a hero.

What’s wrong with Tim Russert? We want issues being discussed, not him repeating White House spin and
perpetuating the “controversy” invented by Rove’s political spin machine.

I’m sick of the media perpetuating the politics of personal destruction. We want the facts, not the spin.

The real issues: Why was the Bush administration looking the other way prior to 9/11, putting al Qaeda on the back
burner? Why attack Iraq, deverting attention away from al Qaeda?
Why did Bush go on vacation the month prior to 9/11 when he
should have been working on the issue harder? Why does the Bush administration seem like some sort
of punitive Crime family who goes on a coordinated assault against anyone who might put them in a bad
light? Why is their so much partisanship at a time when we need to come together and fight the war on terror?

America is in trouble right now and Tim Russert is not helping make things better. He is being part of the problem."

[frank frankly]

20. zing!!!

fantastic email, familydoctor!

[0007]

33. Yes it was.

Richard A. Clarke is an authentic heart felt countryman that all Americans should salute.

Thank you Sir

[frank frankly]

21. my letter to Tim

Mr. Russert,

I admire journalists first among all professions. In my first book, I chose a journalist as my protagonist. It is a noble, relentless, often dangerous, and overlooked art.

That is why it sometimes pains me to watch Meet The Press. Mr. Russert, propaganda is not only what we are told that is not true, it is also what we not told that is true.

The smears against Mr. Clarke are untrue. Yes, you are correct to cover them anyway, but the time you devote to covering them is part of your art. You spent far too long on that today. Still, that would have been acceptable, but what you did not devote time to is the larger issue.

The fact the War in Iraq does not equal the War on Terror and that it has undermined the War on Terror is fact. You devoted 3 minutes to that and, as I am sure you remember, you moved Mr. Clarke along at one point. The points Mr. Clarke made are terrifying, Mr. Russert, and although they are obvious to so many of us in the citizenry, these are the points you do not choose to cover. These were also the points Mr. Clarke expressly wished to cover today.

I hope, Mr. Russert, that you someday share the urgency regarding the truth about 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq that so many of your fellow citizens experience.

We knew the war was based on lies before it happened. You and the press largely covered that up. You let The Bush Administration trick Americans into linking Iraq and 9/11, you let people like Judith Miller make easily disproven myths about WMD into fact, and you helped turn the American press into an international laughingstock. You helped start this war. You will carry that failure for the rest of your life. It will, I am afraid, be a heavy weight for you, Mr. Russert.

We are now in enormous trouble as a country and a species. You simply must do much better, starting now. This may seem like a game in DC and I'm sure a lot of it is a game, but on some levels it is not a game. This is one of those levels, Mr. Russert.

Are you not afraid yet?

Once again, my deepest respect and thanks for the excellent work you do some of the time. I can't imagine the behind the scenes and classified nature of the work you do. Some of this may be beyond your control. But we need you to do better, now.

Sincerely,
Eric Sisak

If you'd like to see what some of us know about The Bush Administration and the press, please spend a moment at either of these sites. Have you heard of PNAC, Mr. Russert?

www.buzzflash.com
www.newamericancentury.org

[nomatrix]

36. Excellent letter

Of course, Russert knows about PNAC
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/nightline/DailyNews/pnac_030310.html

At least nightline had the integrity to broadcast it.

[frank frankly]

37. thanks and i didn't catch the abc piece on it

will check it out!

[Adelante]

40. Excellent letter. Frankly

"The fact the War in Iraq does not equal the War on Terror and that it has undermined the War on Terror is fact. You devoted 3 minutes to that and, as I am sure you remember, you moved Mr. Clarke along at one point. The points Mr. Clarke made are terrifying, Mr. Russert, and although they are obvious to so many of us in the citizenry, these are the points you do not choose to cover. These were also the points Mr. Clarke expressly wished to cover today."

Very nicely put. Says it smoothly and pointedly at the same time. That's hard to do.

[frank frankly]

42. i hope he reads all the letters

the press can end this instantly.

[frank frankly]

22. kick

:kick:

[frank frankly]

23. kick for tim to receive more emails

lets send a lot

[Robbien]

29. I sent an email

basically I said I was interested in what Clarke had to say. Wished Russert gave Clarke some time to say it and wished he would have asked questions about the testimony and not just rumor mongering questions about Clarke's motives.

[frank frankly]

24. kick

let's focus on Tim today. one whore at a time.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

25. Here's mine

Dear Mr. Russert:

As you know, there are families of 9-11 victims who have pushed for investigations in the face of shameful stonewalling from George Bush and Dick Cheney. I wish you would be as half as solicitous towards those poor, innocent people as you were toward the Bush administration in that Clarke interview. Poor, poor George Bush, he wanted to run as the big hero of 9-11 and now critics are daring to question his performance. As my mother used to say, let me get out the hearts and flowers and tiny little violins.

[Warren Stuart]

26. There has been a sea change

A real sea change starts with a very slight movement, a small piece of equipment known as a trim tab starts the process.

Timmy tried to put words in his mouth, he wouldn't let him.
Timmy tried to call him inconsistent, he came back with specifics.
Timmy tried to call him disloyal, he taught Timmy a lesson in loyalty

Richard Clarke the Human Trim Tab.

[Warren Stuart]

27. dupe

[BillZBubb]

28. Sent an email

Basically chastised them for spending all the time discussing BushCo ad hominem attacks and not covering the real issues.

Everyone, send them a message!

[frank frankly]

34. good work

send those emails to mister hamfisted russert

[Catherine Vincent]

30. Clarke was awesome, as usual.

When Russert asked if Bush* should apologize for his terrorism failures and Clarke answered, but it pissed me off when Russert asked if Clinton should apologize. Apologize for what! 9/11 didn't happen when he was the president.

It just goes to show you that the media and the bush* cronies are doing their best to put the blame of 9/11 not just on bush* but on Clinton too.

Bastards!

[frank frankly]

31. clarke was amazing

they love to blame clinton so much

[Disturbed]

35. Sent

The TV Media is liberal? BS!!!!

[Adelante]

38. Here's my email to MTP

That was a riveting show this morning, Tim. I've been thinking about it all day. The question of whether we should have gone into Iraq or stayed where we were in Afghanistan, and finished what we had started there, before diverting our forces, resources, and treasure into a second war, is something I have seen both Gen. Wesley Clark and Sen. Bob Graham address more than anyone, prior to Richard Clarke's revelations in his book and before the 9/11 commission. It occurs to me that these three men represent, in their long experience in government, the military, the executive, and the legislative branches, and would offer an informative and important panel of experts to discuss both Iraq and counter-terrorism, and how our government's policies over three or four administrations protected us or didn't. This is a "Meet the Press" I imagine the entire country would watch with great interest and appreciation.

[frank frankly]

39. really good idea. good email. it takes the carrot and the stick.

mine is post #21

:hi:

[Adelante]

41. I also want them to start acknowledging

that Democratic candidates were saying this all along. The media chose to call them crazy and loose cannons, repeating the right wing spin, instead of taking a serious look at what they were saying and giving it to the public. These journalists are guilty of screwing with every single one of our candidates in some way or other, and they are as guilty as anybody in government and like Richard Clarke and Bob Graham have had the balls to do, should start apologizing.

[worldgonekrazy]

43. The force with which Clarke came at the Bush Admin told me something

It told me that Clarke felt Bush's foreign policy was SO bad for the United States that, as a public servant, he simply HAD to step forward.

He was a career professional in counterterrorism. He's gone through four Presidents in something like 20 years, and despite toeing the line all that time he felt that what Bush was doing to this country was so egregious that he just had to do something.

And yes, the man is an incredible interview. Did you see him before the 9/11 Commission? You don't want to be on this guy's bad side.

[Adelante]

45. Tough as nails

Yet in an oddly gentle way.

[worldgonekrazy]

47. yeah, he really grabbed your attention but without freaking you out

I think a lot of that might have been because of the apology he gave to the families at the beginning. You could tell that he was being absolutely sincere.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

48. Actually he did kind freak me out..

....with his "Youll never make a dime in this town again" remark, about the personal level this attack is operating at.

Im wondering if we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg of the White Houses program to destroy Clarke.

[SlingBlade]

44. A Great Site....

Man, This is great, I’m new here and have been spending my time on a local newspaper forum.
It’s crawling with right wing lunatics, And whenever a question is brought out about this Administration or its obvious contradictions, The poster is buried under a ton of rhetoric and personal attack.
There are just not enough free thinkers there I guess, But I keep plugging away.
A breath of fresh air here, Thank you all.....

[Adelante]

Welcome to DU, kiloman

:hi:

[frank frankly]

46. welcome, kiloman

it is an amazing source of information.

check out Late Breaking News.

as long as BushCo is sending us straight to hell, this place is my first hub for all things.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

49. Welcome, I know the feeling!

The online right wing pileon. I get that at work too.

[Adelante]

51. "a ton of rhetoric and personal attack"

We have that, too. :)

But if you can stick it, you grow stronger, and there is no better place to be than DU to knock ideas around and figure out what the hell is going on in the world.

[NoMoreRedInk]

52. Does the interviewee always get to select the topic on MTP?

That's interesting.

[frank frankly]

53. yes, always

every single time. if by always, you mean President Idiot War Criminal Bush.

[chelsea0011]

54. Remember when Meet the Press was actually a panel that changed weekly?

There were four with a moderator. They would all get to ask a question or two or three. It happened once a week. Now when that happens it is called a debate. Tim Russert is not Meet the Press and I'm surprised that they keep that name just for names sake. It is the Tim Russert Show and should be called as such.

[frank frankly]

56. kick

kick