"The consensus was the same, from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration," she said. "It was the same intelligence belief that our allies and friends around the world shared.
"But I think that in the case of the [Bush] administration, they really believed it. They really thought they were right, but they didn't let enough sunlight into their thinking process to really have the kind of debate that needs to take place when a serious decision occurs like that." link
Who's desperate to CYA on Iraq??? Hillary hasn't been listening to the peeps, as usual. Howard Fineman even had to admit what's been apparent to us for weeks now:
The media loved the 9/11 commission hearings. By instinct, we thrilled to watch a prosecutor such as B-V [Ben-Veniste ]on the hunt, creeping in on a witness like a big cat. [ick, gag me] But the commission, which served as a platform for the theatrical Richard Clarke and the cross-examinations of Democratic members, eventually came off as too political and partisan to damage the president. Just the opposite, I think. Too many of the commissioners ended up looking like they were pressing to prove that Bush could have and should have prevented the 9/11 catastrophe—a theory the public doesn’t buy. In fact, most Americans tend to blame the rise of terrorism here on the eight-year Clinton administration. More
I had no idea when I wrote #152 that John Harris would have a front page article in the WashPost this morning outlining how conservatives are USING HUMOR against Kerry!
Meanwhile, a variety of surrogates and outside groups are amplifying and broadening this attack by using humor, insult and innuendo to portray the Kerrys as exotic figures whose rich lifestyle and cosmopolitan values leave them unable to understand ordinary Americans.LOL! Who but the effete use a word like "fop" anymore?! You have to read the whole thing!In the couple of months since Kerry effectively locked up the Democratic nomination, Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans asserted that Bush's opponent "looks French." [It was at least 6 months ago, Mr. Harris]. The conservative group Citizens United ran a television commercial last month highlighting his $75 haircuts and "four lavish mansions and beachfront estate." When Kerry this month unveiled his "misery index" to highlight what he calls Bush's economic failures, the Republican National Committee gleefully countered with its own mocking "Index de le Miserables." Conservative commentators chortled at news that Teresa Kerry had helped design an official scarf for her husband's campaign.
AND THE DEM RESPONSE?...
Mandy Grunwald...the wisecracks are an effort to say 'George Bush is a real guy and John Kerry isn't. John Kerry is a fop.' "
(Did you know Kerry's yacht is named the "Scaramouche"?!)