Conservatives are continuing their assault on former Bush
counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke, a man who President Bush
personally praised
(http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...hxp2psc_photo0)
.. The right-wing attack machine is now resorting to unsubstantiated
claims and even racially charged rhetoric to try to change the subject.
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) demanded that
Clarke's 2002 private testimony to the congressional 9/11 commission be
declassified claiming that Clarke "has told two entirely different
stories (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/26/po...6CND-PTEX.html) ."
Frist specifically recounted details of what he said was Clarke's
closed-door testimony. But as questions were raised about the legality
of Frist's disclosure of still-classified testimony
(http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=4674261)
, Frist quickly "retreated" from his claims, admitting "that he
personally had no knowledge that there were any discrepancies
(http://slate.msn.com/id/2097884/) between" Clarke's 2002 testimony and
his testimony last week. On the talk shows, Ann Coulter disparaged
Clarke, saying he was just " upset a black woman took his job
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4608258/) " while Robert Novak asked a
guest "Do you believe Dick Clarke has a problem with this
African-American woman
(http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0403/25/cf.00.html) , Condoleezza Rice?"
But in all of the huffing and puffing, not one Bush official or
right-wing pundit has addressed the fundamental question: why was the
Bush Administration asleep at the wheel before 9/11?