Richard Clarke & politics

Dick is still trying to come to grips with Richard Clarke and his testimony to the 9/11 Committee. Dick, a few things to bear in mind.

1. Clarke was a "big man" in the Clinton admin and was effectively demoted when Bush came in. Human nature being what it is, he's bound to bear a grudge.
2. This report from September 2000 does not paint a picture of the "well-oiled" anti-terrorism machine that Clarke would like us to believe the Clinton administration was.
3. Clarke's rather self-serving portrait of all that went right with regards to the planned attack on Los Angeles does beg the question as to what happened when the embassies were attacked in Africa or when the USS Cole was attacked in Yemen.
4. And, from this report by the Montreal Gazette, it seems to me that stopping the Los Angeles Airport attack was more down to dumb luck (the attacker's nerves) than anything that R. Clarke did. {Note how the customs officials behaved as if they'd scored a drug smuggler. By the way, this report is one from a long series on Ahmed Ressam, the LAX bomber, who lived in Montreal.}

Whether Bush is doing harm to himself or not is debatable. I think the more he keeps September 11 in the public's mind, the more he wins. That's why I believe that the Bush team will hesitantly respond to the 9/11 Committee. They want this thing to drag out as much as possible. Dick Morris has the numbers in today's NY Post.

And, Dick, one more thing. Don't worry yourself with rumors about rumors.