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

NBC News ^ | March 28, 2004

[Ooh-Ah]

MR. RICHARD CLARKE: I believe the Bush administration in the first eight months considered terrorism an important issue but not an urgent issue.

MR. ANDREW CARD: The reflections in his book and what we hear in the media today are not the reality.

[McGruff]

President Clinton ordered the assassination of Osama bin Laden, breaking with years of tradition and precedent, and the assassination of his deputies, by CIA.

Well why didn't he take him on a silver platter from Sudan?

[Psycho_Bunny]

President Clinton ordered the assassination of Osama bin Laden

I don't believe that at all.

[mikegi]

Look at the bottom of the transcript for the most important quote. It shows how deceptive this cretin is:

MR. RUSSERT: And we're back. Did you vote for George Bush in 2000?
MR. CLARKE: No, I did not.
MR. RUSSERT: You voted for Al Gore.
MR. CLARKE: Yes, I did.

Now, at the 9/11 hearing, Clarke CLEARLY indicated that he voted for Bush in 2000. He said, "I asked for a Republican ballot in 2000".

He is a sick, bitter old man who failed at his job. He left America defenseless and now wants to profit from his incompetence.

[mikegi]

Well, they left out a few words in the quote:

"President Clinton ordered an environmental impact assessment of plans for the assassination of Osama bin Laden."

That's more in line with Clinton's actions.

[Psycho_Bunny]

And speaking of "assassination", do you notice how, in 4 separate spots, he cries about "character assassination"?

[Agnes Heep]

It's axiomatic that there are many, many people who would destroy the entire world, and civilization as we know it, for the sake of their single egos. Few have the power to do it, for which I thank my Creator on bended knees.

[Stirner]

You ask for a Republican or a Democratic ballot only in the primary. Clarke could have voted in the R primary (for McCain, I'd bet) and then voted for Gore in the general.

[FReepaholic]

>>...President Clinton ordered the assassination of Osama bin Laden...<<

Slick ordered him to be taken alive thus vastly increading the odds that they could get him at all.

[Thebaddog]

Clinton might have said it, but everybody knew that he didn't mean it and acted against it.

[Randjuke]

"I don't think we're getting the message through. These people aren't acting the way the Clinton people did under similar circumstances."

And this was a bad thing?

[COEXERJ145]

I just love how the Bush hating liberals on another forum I'm a member are having orgasms over Clark's showing on MTP. They think he is the greatest thing on earth and that it doesn't matter if he perjured himself before either Congress or before the Sept. 11th Commission. To them it is all an evil Neocon character assassination to bring down a good, honest, decent man.

[cincinnati65]

If the Clintons were going to play this game with Clarke, they should've realized that Clarke would have had more credibility if he had been openly critical of both the Clinton and Bush administrations. But leave it to Clinton's ego and "legacy". He just couldn't stand for that to happen. Clinton did everything, Bush did nothing.....Hey guys, that will only work with the 25% of the vote, you already have.

[HarryCaul]

Clarke is no politician, and he's in waaaaaaaaay over his head now. No clue how to play this game.

It's also funny to see him use the same phrases Dems are using verbatim. The collusion is so obvious it's sad.

[mikegi]

He's pathologically deceptive and every word he utters needs to be parsed carefully. According to a Washington Post article on his 9/11 testimony, he clearly indicated he voted Republican in the 2000 election (remember, he asked for a Republican ballot). Of course, the implication was that he voted for Bush and thus could not be accused of partisanship in his testimony.

What a lying sack of sh*t...

[cubreporter]

Sad, defeated, vengeful, bitter old man indeed. His credibility is gone. He lies on the scale of the dem/libs.

[AmishDude]

Now, at the 9/11 hearing, Clarke CLEARLY indicated that he voted for Bush in 2000. He said, "I asked for a Republican ballot in 2000".

In the primaries. To vote for McCain.

[Ooh-Ah]

Does anyone remember this happening?

...Now, after September 11, people in the Islamic world said, "Wait a minute. Maybe we've gone too far here. Maybe this Islamic movement, this radical movement, has to be suppressed," and we had a moment, we had a window of opportunity, where we could change the ideology in the Islamic world. Instead, we've inflamed the ideology. We've played right into the hands of al-Qaeda and others. We've done what Osama bin Laden said we would do.

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

thanks for the post. I was hopeing Russert would have riped Clarke a new one.
For some reason I was hopeful Russert would have taken his nads out of his nightstand and tell Clarke he was full of Sh*T. Oh Well! I am just too trusting I guess.

[presidentbowen]

"I just love how the Bush hating liberals on another forum I'm a member are having orgasms over Clark's showing on MTP."

Let me guess, is the forum politics1.com?