So much for our "war president"

Government "failed you," Clarke testifies

For anyone not paying attention, this is pretty devastating for the Bushies. Clarke's testimony -- which by all accounts was brilliant in the face of sharp questioning by GOP lawmakers -- kicks out what was presumably the strongest leg of Bush's election platform. Everyone was willing to overlook his total incompetence on the economy, slavish submissiveness to big business and, of course, utter stupidity. He was a bold, decisive leader, after all. Well, so much for that myth. Watch the testimony -- the Bushies are floundering.

Highlights include:

"You urge policymakers to imagine a day after hundreds of Americans lay dead at home and abroad after a terrorist attack and ask themselves what else they could have done," Roemer said to Clarke. "You write this on Sept. 4, seven days before Sept. 11."

In response, Clarke simply replied, "That's right."
(From the LA Times story)

And, my favorite:

Then he admitted there was a difference between his earlier testimony and his book. "There's a very good reason for that," he went on. "In the 15 hours of testimony, nobody asked me what I thought of the president's invasion of Iraq." The heart of his book's attacks surrounds the war. "By invading Iraq," he said, taking full advantage of Lehman's opening, "the president of the United States has greatly undermined the war on terror." End of response. Lehman said nothing.

In the second round of questioning, Thompson returned to the August 2002 press briefing. "You intended to mislead the press?" he asked, perhaps hoping to pound a wedge between the media and their new superstar.

"There's a very fine line that anyone who's been in the White House, in any administration, can tell you about," Clarke replied. Someone in his position had three choices. He could have resigned, but he had important work yet to do. He could have lied, but nobody told him to do that, and he wouldn't have in any case. "The third choice," he said, "is to put the best face you can for the administration on the facts. That's what I did."

Well, Thompson asked in a bruised tone, is there one set of moral rules for special assistants to the White House and another set for everybody else?

"It's not a question of morality at all," Clarke replied. "It's a question of politics." The crowd applauded fiercely. (From Slate.)

By the way, I'm back from Brazil.