I'm trying to figure out what actually came out of the Condipalooza today

[WilliamPitt]

I had a few questions:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/040804A.shtml

They didn't get asked, of course.

Thompson gave her a long, luxurious backrub. Kerrey snarled and looked like he got frustrated. Condi...spoke...very...slowly...and managed...to eat up...a lot of...time. She got pressured on the August 2001 PDB, and maybe we can beat up the White House on that. I'm waiting for Clarke and the others to get their responses into print.

Dunno. She's a connsumate bullshit artist, and we got fed a lot of bullshit. It'll be a day or so before the dust settles.

[matcom]

1. PLEASE bet me on the release of that memo

:D

for it WILL be released!!!!!!!!!!!!

bet?? bet?? huh?? huh???

:bounce:

[Beetwasher]

7. The PDB is the "Smoking Gun"

Look at this way, she kept saying it was a "historical" compilation, yet the title was LOOKING AT THE FUTURE. The title was "AQ Determined to Strike the US" There's nothing historical about that title, as a matter of fact, the title itself is A FUCKING WARNING ABOUT A COMING ATTACK!!!

[matcom]

8. AND IT WILL BE RELEASED!!

they CANNOT STOP THIS NOW!!!

:bounce:

[proud patriot]

32. positive Visualization Of the Light of Truth enveloping the world

:loveya:

[Mandate My Ass]

9. That most definitely

was the biggest baldest-faced lie that Condi uttered today. You could see Roemer fuming about it as he demanded it be declassified.

[Qutzupalotl]

50. Even better...

"Bin Laden Determined to Strike IN the U.S."

[htuttle]

2. I think one big 'new thing' that came out

...was an explict statement that the Aug 6th PDB stated that Al Queda was planning hijackings in the US, and soon.

Condi's answer that they 'stepped up' airplane security after this was blocked when it was pointed out that there is no evidence they did anything different after this briefing.

I don't think that had been verified until today.

[RBHam]

3. Listen to the silence

What Condi DIDN'T say and what the commission DIDN'T ask reveals a lot.

Why weren't your questions answered?

Because, to do so, would reveal LIHOP, if not MIHOP.

Simple, really.

[balanced]

10. Rice and airport security

Silence on the question:

"Did anyone in the administration recommend that airports be put on high security right before the 9-11 disaster?"

Nobody wanted to ask this specific question. And it is an excellent question because if somebody in the Bush administration recommended that airports be put on high security, and Bush ignored those recommendations, he would be toast.

[charlie]

4. She's not good enough to be called a bullshit artist

She's just a jabbering marathoner. My lungs were aching in sympathy.

[Zomby Woof]

5. Many people have learned to LOVE the taste of bullshit

It's a delicacy with that the 40-odd% hardcore Bush faithful love. Mmmmm, serve me up a slice! Stick a flag in the steaming pile and salute it, you traitor.

We shall see, but I am running low on my Optimist Funds today.

I think the events in Iraq are what is corroding their credibility far more than the 9-11 hearings. Could be wrong, but stay tuned...

[hippiegranny]

6. i said on another thread

that what i heard on the radio sounded like a kid reciting a memorized book report. my other impression was that, as usual, it was all style and no substance. "nothing to see here, folks, move along. we did our best." hey if that's your best, you're in the wrong line of work, kiddo.

if nothing else, i hope the aug 6 pdb is now fair game.

[Plaid Adder]

12. Nervousness meter was interesting

I was listening most of the time instead of watching. On TV she seemed pretty put together. On the radio, it was more obvious how much her voice was shaking. I mean, maybe she always sounds like that, but I do a lot of speaking in public and I know what happens when you get nervous: your breath gets shorter, you talk faster, you trip more, and for women often your voice gets higher. All of that was happening to her at the beginning when she was reading her prepared statement.

Her worst moment was when that one guy was running down the list of "Were you aware that"s and she had to keep saying "no." At that point it sounded like she was going to cry, especially the sequence about Saudi Arabia. She seemed much more comfortable once she got back to the kind of boilerplate bullshit that she is obviously used to spouting.

For what it's worth,

The Plaid Adder

[0007]

24. That guy was Lehman and appeared to me to be in her corner

and the questions did appear scripted.

[maggrwaggr]

33. I suspected Lehman and she had "talked" previously

and he coached her on what he was going to ask.

Lehman is a whore. It was obvious with Clarke. Clarke pretty much destroyed him.

[0007]

53. I know!

[kysrsoze]

26. Her hands were shaking like a leaf when she tried to pick up the 8/6 memo

Ha!

[mcar]

41. I got that too

I watched a portion of it and heard the rest in the car. You could tell how nervous she was when you were only hearing her testimony.

I agree with another poster too: she smiled at really inappropriate times, kind of like *'s misplaced guffaws.

[Dunedain]

52. Agreed

I heard some of the testimony as opposed to watching it on TV, and I came away with the same impression. Where I differ from you is my impression of the "Were you aware" series of questions from Lehman.

[Plaid Adder]

11. I think her biggest problem is her failure to take responsibility.

Not only did she not offer an apology, one of the commissioners basically demanded that she do it and she wouldn't. She's acting like she just rear-ended someone and is expecting a big lawsuit any day now, instead of like, you know, a human being.

The contrast between her performance and Clarke's will be pretty great for people who saw both. For people reading about it in the media, I don't know how much has changed, apart from the release of the title of that memo.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[charlie]

17. Not just no apology

Her response was the most hackneyed chunk of baloney, I muttered "would have moved heaven and earth" before she said it. Grrr...

[leftofthedial]

19. she has rear ended some people all right

we're all sore from the bushgang rear ending us.

[pezcore64]

13. ill tell ya

ill tell ya what we learned from Condi today.

jack shit.

its the same crap the white house has always been spouting. there was nothing knew learned. but it was refreshing to see republican commisoners praise her so much. haahahahahaha.

'bi partisan'

hahahahah
my arse.

[xchrom]

14. that no one is to blame

except the mysterious intel community.
she wasn't asked a lot of questions like why did 11 countries go on the record as saying something big was going to happen in the u.s.
she was given an easy out all over the place.
we know that lot's and lot's of people knew that something bad was coming at us -- why didn't SOMETHIING happen to try to get some warning, understanding, comprenhensive intel warnings and profiles, etc?
i heard nothing like that during her testimony.

[tnlefty]

15. This is what I got out of it....and I'm furious!!!

While she had the attention of (probably) lots of folks she slapped my gender back a couple of decades and for that I would like to thank her from the bottom of my heart.

A woman who has achieved the position that she has:

couldn't put 2 and 2 together to get 4 - incompetent

lied to cover up for the males who are pulling her strings

demonstrated that she's willing to take the heat and do her part to clean up the mess - no accountability from her male superiors there

it was obvious to me that she wasn't forcefully told to can the pontificating and stonewalling and just answer the damned questions 'cause she might cry

Yeah, I took her whole performance a little personally.

[mzmolly]

16. "Condipalooza"

[Desertrose]

31. I agree thats the best so far *snork*

Condipalooza
:crazy:

[KittyWampus]

18. Clarke, Who Knows More Than DU Blowhards, Said:

Clarke's Rebuttal Comments To Rice Testimony

Rice & Prez needed to act PERSONALLY to shake trees WHEN the threats were occuring in June-July-August.

Prez had 40 meetings with CIA director warning attacks were imminent.

Neither Rice nor Prez convened Cabinet Meeting.

This is different than Sept 99 when Clinton DID prevent attacks.

Rice corroborated that Prez thought it INEFFICIENT to bring Cabinet together and work to stop attacks.

Rice claims structural deficiency in CIA/FBI.

Clarke says to OVERCOME these deficiencies there could have had daily meetings White House meetings
under CRISIS MODE where info buried at CIA/FBI could have been brought out.

Rice ADMITS she didn't have these daily Crisis Mode Meetings.

Clarke's Memo was supposedly in "Historical Nature" according to Rice and she sez Clarke didn't try hard
enought to meet Prez.

Clarke: His documents and attachments from Jan 25 should be declassified. Sez URGENTLY needed to have
meeting with full Cabinet to approve strategy.

Clarke presented a strategy but BUSH NEEDED TO MAKE DECISIONS

Sept 4th strategy that WAS adopted same as earlier. BUSH WASTED TIME.

Clarke DID ask for meetings after Transition but was told he couldn't meet with bush til after POLICY
DEVELOPEMENT PROCESS was completed

Clarke had Cyber-Terrorism meeting with Prez but was told NOT to talk about Al Qaeda that he would
EVENTUALLY get to talk with Prez about it in the future possibly sometime in September.

[Guaranteed]

51. AWESOME summary. EVERYONE READ THIS nt

[returnable]

20. If nothing else...

...she completely failed to discredit Clarke's testimony, which I think had been the administration's aim in letting her testify.

[KittyWampus]

23. Correction, Rice CORROBORATED Clarke's Testimony

People on DU don't read, I guess.

Clarke said that Rice corroborated his statements when she said:

FBI/CIA had structural deficiencies
Bush Administration failed to have Crisis Mode Cabinet Meetings Daily
Bush Administration thought such Crisis Mode Meetings were insufficient

Rice also asserted that such Daily Crisis Mode Meetings that were done in 99 did NOT lead to preventing terrorist attacks.
That Clinton Admin was LUCKY.

[returnable]

36. Like I said...

...she failed to discredit Clarke's testimony :hi:

[anarchy1999]

21. Yesterday on CNN I heard she had been rehearsing all week with her staff.

I knew when I heard that statement we when in for a whole lot of nothing today.

Rehearsing all week with her staff asking her questions so she could practice responding. WTF?

Why did she need to rehearse?

[WilliamPitt]

22. Because it was a campaign appearance

[leftofthedial]

27. Bingo

Has any American adminstration--even Nixon or LBJ--had such utter contempt for the truth?

[theboss]

40. That's not the least bit unusual

As an attorney, you never let someone testify cold. You always prepare. And it the case of a plaintiff or defendant you definitely rehearse.

I am certain that anytime Clinton, Gore, or a member of their team testified under oath, they rehearsed.

[Eurobabe]

47. yeah on how to chew up 15 minutes

go on for 5 minutes w/unrelated BS for each question, that gives them about 3 questions each. Now where's that stopwatch?

[underpants]

25. 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.'

that is your headline...........short and simple and everyone will know what it is about and what is being referred to.

They want bumpersticker politics....be careful what you wish for.

[Beetwasher]

28. Nothing HISTORICAL About That Title

The title itself is a fucking warning...SMOKING GUN!

[JohnOneillsMemory]

44. Dubya to Woodward: "I was not on point..."

Besides the ominous title of the 8/6/01 PDB, the other self-incriminating phrase that Rice tried to mumble through when she tried to put Dubya's 'lack of urgency' quote in the context of what he was telling Woodward is

"I was not on point..." Like a hunting dog, I suppose.

I don't have the book for the whole quote but Rice plowed through it this morning in an effort to not flag this confession by the pResident that he was not vigilant about the nation's security against terrorism despite all the 'spikes' in warnings.

And while he was on vacation no less. No one watching the store.

[underpants]

46. Hamilton had a "What in the h*ll are you talking about" look on his face

She was trying to give "context" and it came off about as coherent as Hannity trying to read something.

[proud patriot]

29. The Elephant in the Room is IMHO .....drumroll please

She accidently let out the Title of the Aug.6th PDB

osama determined to attack the U.S.

[indie_voter]

30. The diehards aren't going to sway

From another board(not freeper,not politics, unrelated to anything political in fact):

"I think she kicked their a$$. I was clapping myself by the end.

I gotta tell you, and I know, this is a political statement that is bound to inflame some people, but I have to say it - HOW STUPID DO THE DEMOCRATS THINK WE ARE?

Bush was in office 8 MONTHS and they expected his administration to do something about all this AND the way the government was structured? They're still trying to figure out which commuting route to take to get to the White House!

Clinton's administration is the one that should be on the hot seat now. They had 8 YEARS to do something about this. Shame on them! And shame on the Democrats for thinking we're all so stupid we can't figure that out!

It's insulting."

Some people are going to believe until the day they die this admin is the best thing since sliced bread.

[KayLaw]

49. Yeah

I agree they hadn't been there that long, so why did Bush and Cheney take monthlong vacations? Pretty strange for swamped new guys.

[ConcernedCanuk]

34. Henry Champ layin' it on the line on CBC NewsWorld

.
.
.

" US effectively blind to what was going on . . .

Telling moments, information WAS in their hands

Alot of Dr. Rice's answers were NOT substantial

NOT a non-partisan commission, is BI-partisan

Obviously Clarke more effective, as Clarke was aggressive, while Condoleeza Rice was defensive

... Ben Venisle (sp?) . . living proof . . when you get them by the throat it's not time to relax the wrist (I believe that was in reference to the Cole, and something to do with Clinton there, not sure)

Her job WAS to protect the nation, acted more like a traffic cop

never really rolled up her sleeves

On Balance, Condoleeza Rice's testimony did NOT help the President

A number of people being held without charges, no protest that they are in jail, should not say not any, there is SOME protest but not enough

[dkamin]

35. Didn't Rice say...

Something like "We had no indications there would be a terrorist attack..." right up until the Clarke testimony?

How come no one is demanding a perjury investigation of Condi? Her lies are obvious and numerous, ranging from Iraq's Al Qaeda links to 9/11.

A goddamn liar, I hope she goes to jail.

[Sparkly]

42. "We had no indications"

or some such -- apparently, to the Bushies, a "warning" gives date, place, time, nature of incident, etc... Otherwise, there's just nothing that would have been effective, so why have meetings or "swat flies" or "contain, not eliminate" etc...? What a bunch of nonsense!!

[Oilwellian]

37. We learned she lied under oath

The following is a great counter to her lies:

Claim vs. Fact: Condoleezza Rice's Opening Statement

April 8, 2004

CLAIM: "We decided immediately to continue pursuing the Clinton Administration's covert action authorities and other efforts to fight the network."

FACT: Newsweek reported that "In the months before 9/11, the U.S. Justice Department curtailed a highly classified program called 'Catcher's Mitt' to monitor al-Qaida suspects in the United States." Additionally, AP reported "though Predator drones spotted Osama bin Laden as many as three times in late 2000, the Bush administration did not fly the unmanned planes over Afghanistan during its first eight months," thus terminating the reconnaissance missions started during the Clinton Administration.

CLAIM: "The strategy set as its goal the elimination of the al-Qaida network. It ordered the leadership of relevant U.S. departments and agencies to make the elimination of al-Qaida a high priority and to use all aspects of our national power -- intelligence, financial, diplomatic, and military -- to meet this goal."

FACT: 9/11 Comissioner Jamie Gorelick: "Is it true, as Dr. Rice said, 'Our plan called for military options to attack Al Qaida and Taliban leadership'?" Armitage: "No, I think that was amended after the horror of 9/11."

CLAIM: "We bolstered the Treasury Department's activities to track and seize terrorist assets."

FACT: The new Bush Treasury Department "disapproved of the Clinton Administration's approach to money laundering issues, which had been an important part of the drive to cut off the money flow to bin Laden." Specifically, the Bush Administration opposed Clinton Administration-backed efforts by the G-7 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that targeted countries with "loose banking regulations" being abused by terrorist financiers. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration provided "no funding for the new National Terrorist Asset Tracking Center."

CLAIM: "We moved quickly to arm Predator unmanned surveillance vehicles for action against al-Qaida."

FACT: According to AP, "the military successfully tested an armed Predator throughout the first half of 2001" but the White House "failed to resolve a debate over whether the CIA or Pentagon should operate the armed Predators" and the armed Predator never got off the ground before 9/11.

<more>
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=44887

[Sparkly]

43. Why isn't anybody asking about Catcher's Mitt?

Every time I hear them bring up the FBI and surveillance in the US, I think "now they'll ask..." But they don't! Was this ever discredited, or what? Why aren't they asking whether Clinton's tracking of suspects in the US was continued by the Bushies??

[maggrwaggr]

38. we learned she actually thinks her job is to wait and be told

what to do.

And that when it comes to actually doing anything, well, the staffers take care of that.

So .... what is it exactly that Condapolooze DOES do?

Except laugh and smile at the president's jokes and and draw a paycheck.

[donsu]

39. I learned that she smirks just like Smirk does

nt

[RapidCreek]

45. To put it succinctly....

Nothing...exactly as was intended.

To expound on this opinion with my earlier posts on the subject:


The following post was made on Wed Mar-31-04 12:45 AM


I posted the following on Wed Mar-24-04 at 06:13 PM in response to a thread which proclaimed "condi must testify"


42. don't fall for the friggin scam!!!


What's the matter with you people? ....Well we think it's a shame "Dr. Rice" won't be testifying...and it's really unfortunate...becuase her private testimony was powerful and eloquent......For Christs sake the media whores and "non-partisan" Rethuglicans have been pumping this grift for a week. Don't you wonder why? Ask yourself....Do you actually believe the slimy bitch won't "testify"? I'd just about bet my testicles that Rove is rubbing his little paws together as I write....his little whiskers twitching over a humorless smirk.

Just you wait. We'll be hearing soon that the Bush administration, in an effort to put to rest the doubts that may still exist..."in this time of change"....has graciously decided to break with precedent and put forward "Dr. Rices" testimony. At which point she will get up and recite the lies she and Karl have been polishing to a blinding gleam for the past month. Pull your heads out....the "commission" was put together by the very people it is investigating. If you believe for a second that "Dr. Rices" testimony won't be used as a velveteen hammer to squash the anger of the victims families...you are fools. Mark my words...it's gonna happen.

Why insist the silly bitch testify? She already has....in the media....and she quite obviously told a bunch of fucking lies. We should insist that she NOT testify...as the commission was designed to air the truth....NOT misdirection....NOT rationalization...and most particularly NOT lies. We should be pointing out that she is ignorant, ill equipped for her job and not the least bit interested in pursuing the greater good if that pursuit makes clear her short comings. We should be saying, in short, that we would prefer she not testify as her lies have already clouded the issue enough. Let's constrain her hydrocephalic chipmunk babble to cable "news" shows. She is IRRELAVENT....as the loss of 3000 lives makes quite clear....She was irrelevant before 9/11, during 9/11 and after 9/11. Why give her relevancy now. We should agree with her handlers...that yes indeed, she IS irrelevant and as such should have no place in a proceeding which is of course irrelevant itself but has been engineered to give the impression of gravity. Let's leave the testimony to the experts....the people who are and were, really calling the shots.

RC

Tonight after I witnessed AWOL saying exactly what I said he'd say a week ago, I listened to "our liberal friend" Chris Matthews slobbering all over himself about Condoleezza Rices Beauty, brilliance and eloquence. Before reality bit me in the ass I thought he was once again sharing his fancies about Howard Deans fore arms. Not once did our little tweeter pose to either of his blindly obsequious guests what either might ask Ms. Rice if he were on the commission. Nope...what we were treated to was platitude and vagaries. Nothing of consequence, nothing of weight. Nothing mentioned about specific times, specific dates, specific meetings which were pointed to by Condi's rebellious republican brother, Mr. Clarke. Chris asked his guests whether they "trusted Clarke". What he didn't ask was why either felt the way that they did. What testimony specifically made them feel the way they did. Neither did he follow this line in regards to Ms. Rice. No...nothing more than superficiality. Chris, forever the sycophantic patsy of the team who he believes currently holds power was doing his part to oil up the public for Condi's appearance before the Kangaroo Commission. He didn't want to address specifics but perception.

And that my friends is the point of this little harangue. I'll once again bet my testicles...and I don't do that lightly...that Ms. Rice will not be asked questions regarding specifics. No who, what, where or when questions....nope, not a one. The questions which have no doubt been agreed upon ahead of time....questions which were certainly supplied three weeks ago or longer, will be the sort which will allow Ms. Rice to evade any breaking of the oath she will take. They will be questions about her perceptions. The perceptions one holds, are ones own. They may be correct or incorrect......they may based upon lies or truth but they themselves cannot be lies or truths as they are relative to the holders state of mind.

Mark my words folks. We are about to be treated to some of Mr. Roves finest work. Patriotic platitudes, painted on a canvas of vagaries, hung in a gallery of inconsequence. When Condi finishes her "testimony" those of us who think will be scratching our heads...wondering what exactly it was she testified to. We'll feel something uncomfortably large, throbbing away in our backsides and we'll at last recognize that we asked to have it put there. Those of us who do not think will be feeling sorry for that eloquent, "beautiful", brilliant woman...the one with such glowing patriotic perceptions. We shall understand that Mr. Clarke, a man who focuses on uncomfortable specifics and welcomes introspection, makes us feel yucky...and we don't like to feel yucky, so we just won't listen to him anymore.

Pardon me for the less than eloquent post. I am so enraged by the grift job Dems have insisted upon that eloquence escapes me. I've just about had it. My Dem Senator called and asked me to campaign for him last week. I said I would....in fact I offered to run his office in my town. I'm thinking of giving his office a jingle and telling them to jam it. These people are stupid...or complicit. Either way I'm having a hard time supporting more of the same.

Well as far as I'm concerned I should get a job as a fortune teller. All the whinnying and barking from this mornings Kangaroo Commission left me feeling predictable non-plussed.

RC

[anarchy1999]

55. Hooray and thank you for your excellent summation.

Kudo's to you.

Unfortunately, I feel, so much the same myself.

[robbedvoter]

48. Title of the briefing, W's obsession with opening Wall Street

(lying about the EPA report on toxic air), the fact that Clinton's military plan was included in Clarke's jan 25 report - and therefore in the Sept 4 policy - and this is why they don't release his papers - THEY ARE USING HIS PLANS. The fact that " he wanted to eliminate AQ" is pure BS - it was not mentioned anywhere.... A few things...

[Redneck Socialist]

54. I'd give it a C+

for political theater and an F for revealing inquiry.

That's about all I expected though.

[nomatrix]

56. Just a thought about the widows

The day just proved that it IS the national security advisor's job to advise the president about security. She didn't do that job. Let's compare that to......

Those wonderfully brave widows that are the genuine heroines of this century. They continually climb into the fire. They go where seasoned politician fear, in the face of the attack dogs.
Their message slaps the smirk off those loafing liars.

No, Cheney and Bush will not testify under oath or in public, but most of all not with their eyes peeling away the layers to underlying agenda.

Press on iron jawed angels, do not fear. You have faced the demons and they cower in your presence.

You have given your children and this world a legacy of courage.
Of truth rather than greed.

Of true love and honor for those who were stolen from your lives.

You rose from the ashes
to shine a light of hope in these dark days.

May this Easter be a tribute to your dignity.
Bless you.

[No Mandate Here.]

57. Nothing, Nothing at all, except

a completely new thread...


Isn't Silver Bullet a trade name for Coors beer? Isn't Coors a Wingnut family who make the Scaifes look moderate?

She turned the hearings into a GD beer commercial for a friend!!!!!!!!!!

[No Mandate Here.]

58. Nothing, Nothing at all, except

a completely new thread...


Isn't Silver Bullet a trade name for Coors beer? Isn't Coors a Wingnut family who make the Scaifes look moderate?

She turned the hearings into a GD beer commercial for a friend!!!!!!!!!!