As accusations against Americans go, surely there's none more serious than that of responsibility for 9/11. Yet Maureen Dowd has seen fit to level just such a charge against Condi Rice en passant: as a simple afterthought, no explanation offered.
There I was this morning reading Maureen's musings on yesterday's hearings with Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. Pretty standard Dowd fare: a couple Shakespearean quotes pressed into service, a snippy sobriquet [dubbing Petraeus and Croker the "Surge Twins"], when suddenly came this [emphasis added]:
A confused Chuck Hagel asked the pair: “So, where’s the surge? What are we doing? I don’t see Secretary Rice doing any Kissinger-esque flying around. Where is the diplomatic surge? ... So, where is the surge? What are you talking about?”Condi is too busy floating trial balloons about being John McCain’s running mate to bother about the fact that she was instrumental in two historic blunders: 9/11 and Iraq.
Condi Rice was "instrumental" in the "blunder" of 9/11? Can one decently make such a charge and move on? Dowd did. That was the sum total of her discussion of the matter.
So just what did Maureen mean? I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she's not a lunatic of the Loose Change variety. Dowd is likely alluding to the August, 2001 memo entitled "Bin Laden determined to attack inside the U.S." For all its ominous title, this was a two-page document that contained no specifically actionable intelligence. But if Rice didn't see the handwriting on the wall, what about Bill Clinton--and a certain close advisor now running for president--who failed to act on the threat when Islamist extremists first bombed the WTC in 1993 and carried out a string of other terror bombings over the course of his administration?
Dowd's nasty little deposit was hit-and-run journalism of the wost sort.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
It's all going down in the Book
April 9, 2008 - 05:43 ET by sentforth5I sure hope Dowd reads this comment:
Maureen, without good people like Gen. Petraeus and our Blessed by God military, you would not be allowed to pontificate as you are so wont to do.
Were it not for the USA (which you OBVIOUSLY hate), the first of your "musings" would have been your last.
Thanks, Mr. Finkelstein.
Including Mr. Finkelstein,
April 9, 2008 - 08:33 ET by ThisnThatIncluding Mr. Finkelstein, that makes what? 10, maybe 11 people who read and care anymore what Dowd writes and thinks? Dowd only matters to the loonies.
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
Dowd What a Hoot
April 9, 2008 - 15:44 ET by robin25Hmm. Let me think here a minute or two. Okay that was hard work. I do have one question to ask Ms Dowd. Who the hell was the Secretary of State during the 911 thing? It surely wasn't Condi Rice. I would happen to think that it was Colin Powell. Why the acromony against Condi? I thought hardcore femnists like Dowd, woud be pleased to have a woman in an important position as Secretary of State. Oh that is right, Condi is a conservative black woman and thus, beneath the pale.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down
to their level then beat you with experience.
Look like Maureen found a
April 9, 2008 - 05:56 ET by Indiana JoeLook like Maureen found a way to make trolling pay.
Isn't that special?
Well, don't forget, Mark,
April 9, 2008 - 06:19 ET by motherbeltWell, don't forget, Mark, Richard Clarke said that during the changeover briefings, when he spoke to Ms. Rice about al Queda and OBL, she had a "blank look," like she had no idea what he was talking about.
Maureen Dowd's "craft" has deteriorated greatly, IMO. A long time ago, I used to enjoy her wit and sarcasm, even if I didn't agree with what she said. Then she descended into ridiculous caricatures of everyone she didn't like...as in what I used to refer to as episodes of the "Dick and Rummy" show...she would depict them as swilling Scotch while they plotted destruction; while they shoo'ed away that annoying stupid child (President Bush) who kept interrupting; telling him to go play so they could plot in peace.
It got to the point where she seemed more interested in the "schtik" she was writing than in the substance.
Exactly
April 9, 2008 - 06:57 ET by KC MulvilleShe's become a self-parody, at times. Instead of just writing, she's been filling in the script for some fictional heroine, named Maureen Dowd. I used to read her often, precisely because she could say something new and different (even if what she said was infuriating). Now, she's becoming completely predictable.
Red Herring
April 9, 2008 - 08:31 ET by Tom1969caI don't have links to the video right now (I'm at work; perhaps someone can help me), but there are numerous clips of Dr. Rice talking about the specific threat of al-Qaeda - and bin Laden by name - during GWB's run for the presidency in 2000. She knew who OBL was well enough to spend time talking about him on the Sunday shows; Clarke's version could be as much his own perceptions and biases coming to light.
~~~
I admire FDR for not insisting on getting the approval of France and Germany before going to war.
--Anne Coulter
I hope you didn't infer
April 9, 2008 - 08:45 ET by motherbeltI hope you didn't infer that I was saying Clarke was right.... I wasn't.
I guess I should have used the <sarc> tag....
Maybe Clark
April 9, 2008 - 08:58 ET by Hunter12Maybe Clark mis-interpretted the look. Hindsight being 20/20, anyone hearing all the information Clinton had on OBL and AQ, tying them directly to atrocities against the US, would have to sit there in stunned disbelief that they hadn't had the cojones to act.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Pure conjecture
April 9, 2008 - 14:16 ET by BuffNBonePure conjecture here.
One reason for her "blank look" could be, "Based on what you have just told me, why didn't you take any action? What were you waiting for?"
"Fighters are fun but bombers make policy"
Dowd- the REAL issue
April 9, 2008 - 06:28 ET by political mavenShe should be forced to use a photo thats less than 10 years old!
what do you guys think!?
That's always bothered me
April 9, 2008 - 10:32 ET by Indiana JoeThat's always bothered me about Ellen Goodman. There's a blurb from her on the back cover of The Cat in the Hat, for God's sake! Yet her photo looks like she's about 35 or so.
I take umbridge at your characterization, Mr. Finkelstein
April 9, 2008 - 06:32 ET by c5thenYou said: "Dowd's nasty little deposit was hit-and-run journalism of the wost sort".
It is in fact not journalism at all. It's partisan punditry. But I do agree it's of the worst sort. To equate what Ms. Dowd writes with journalism maligns and surely offends those few left who actually practice the craft.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
In all fairness, Ms. Dowd is
April 9, 2008 - 06:55 ET by motherbeltIn all fairness, Ms. Dowd is an opinion columnist, not a reporter. Still, she IS required to have her facts straight if she is using them to portray someone as good or evil, brilliant or stupid.
Dowd
April 9, 2008 - 07:07 ET by BritcomShe is entitled to her own opinion, but she is not entitled to her own facts.
---
Communist vs. Statist '08
Q. Is Panamanian born John McCain a "Natural Born Citizen"
"Dowd is an opinion
April 9, 2008 - 07:41 ET by Jerry"Dowd is an opinion columnist, not a reporter"
But what's the difference between an opinion columnist and an opinion reporter or an opinion news anchor? That's all the news is anymore, one long opinion column with a few factoids tossed in.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Hit and Run Journalism?
April 9, 2008 - 06:51 ET by BourbeauMaureen Dowd? Tell me you're jesting. I'm shocked! Why should any one be surprised at this type of egregious commentary, especially from the likes of Ms. Dowd? Very little of what she has to say comes from little more than her sitting at her p/c, typing away with her lame opinions. And to think, the NY Times continues to embarass whatever good journalists it may have left, by conitnuing to provide this person a forum to make a living.
"I'll give her the benefit
April 9, 2008 - 06:54 ET by heldmywI won't. I think she is exactly that.
Maureen Dowd is a B-List liberal nincompoop. She can't even rise to the heights of the Leftist menagerie for want of creativity, insight and an ability to do anything more than point and whine.
Her writings are insipid, derivative and spectacularly unimaginative.
She represents the very soul of the NYT in all it's crapulence.
Her writings are insipid,
April 9, 2008 - 06:57 ET by motherbeltHer writings are insipid, derivative and spectacularly unimaginative. -heldmyw
Bullseye!
It was calculated, she
April 9, 2008 - 09:32 ET by general companyIt was calculated, she threw out there Condi's (supposed) involvement with 9/11, with the Vice Presidency for a reason, They are scared she might entertain the idea, and are already actively undermining her.
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Agreed, Dowd is shunting HillBilly's failure to Condi. Vicious b
April 9, 2008 - 07:03 ET by Britcom---
Communist vs. Statist '08
Q. Is Panamanian born John McCain a "Natural Born Citizen"
These so called writers/press/media can say anything they want b
April 9, 2008 - 07:04 ET by PawpawNThese so called writers/press/media can say anything they want but we can not call BHO by his middle name of HUSSEIN! If we do we are being mean, racist, etc! Just who is making the rules in this Presidential Contest! Oops, I forgot, it is them, the media!
so i guess Maureen Dowd is a racist
April 9, 2008 - 07:37 ET by lunaticcringeradiobecause just about any time a conservative criticizes a minority for anything regarding their actions and abilities, that has no bearing on their ethnicity, the media instantly kicks in the racist charge. so i'm sure that rule applies equally to a liberal "journalist" when they criticize condi rice and the proper monicker will be applied across the board equally right?
just pointing out how absurd the media is to falsely play the race card at their or their player under scrutinys convenience, and how hipocritical they are to ignore and justify the same actions with out their own twisted sense of logic. obviously the race card is played like a sex toy in the hands of eliot spitzer, but it's just as obvious when it isn't when there isn't a purpose to be served.
lunaticcringeradio
Being given a vague warning
April 9, 2008 - 08:02 ET by JerryBeing given a vague warning of terrorist threats makes her implicit in 9/11? Well, the mayors of New Orleans were warned for FORTY YEARS that a catastrophe was inevitable, and when it finally happened, who was blamed? Bush. Forty years of warnings, and they didn't even have an EVACUATION PLAN! Your city is BELOW SEA LEVEL, and you didn't have a plan. And Bush caught the blame.
Clarke: "You see Condi, there's this Al-Queda threat. We didn't do anything about it for EIGHT YEARS, even after we were hit several times, but you might want to look into it."
Condi: "Ok"
See. That's proof that Condi was to blame.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Excellent Point!
April 9, 2008 - 09:45 ET by HypocriteHaterAnd New Orleans' warning was much more specific than any warnings Condi ever got pre-9/11.
"The levee will break after a major hurricane and your city will flood" vs "Bin Laden determined to attack inside the U.S."
No mention there of box cutters being used to subdue an airplane's crew and passengers so the terrorists can take over and ram them in to buildings.
So what was Condi suppose to do, create a police state with that August 2001 warning? Like that would have gone over well with the left. We can't even use all the surveillance tools available to track terrorists NOW even AFTER 9/11 without the left going into fits.
Wasn't all this covered in
April 9, 2008 - 08:03 ET by charlietexasWasn't all this covered in the 9/11 Report???
Maybe Mo is going through the "Change"
mom
Simple and plain Dowd...
April 9, 2008 - 08:16 ET by vrwc13...yesterday Condi was "floated" as a possible VP for McCain.
...now Dowd follows with a big Condi 911 fault.
...my read is the dems/Dowd are truly concerned about McCain and also who he picks as VP. With Condi, McCain gets a woman (vs. Hillary) AND a black (vs. Obama).
...so Dowd is only the first to send a salvo, watch there will be more...
v
The future has a way of arriving unannounced. - George Will
Well, I see that Dowd is
April 9, 2008 - 08:53 ET by marpelWell, I see that Dowd is again fresh from a little cocktail or dinner party, possibly with the likes of that senile, Phil Donahue. These unimaginative kooks write to please their friends and to possibly "school" the "little people".
If Maureen Dowd were a man, she'd be a prick. She not only drinks the left koolaid, she serves it up on a silver platter.
She's another reason why the "Grey Lady" is now the "Bitter Bitch".
how about a British euphemism
April 9, 2008 - 09:26 ET by RousseMaureen Dowd is a cow.
This woman is nothing more
April 9, 2008 - 09:44 ET by bassndudeThis woman is nothing more than a Code Pink mentality, in drag. Her powers of reasoning are non-existent, and her observational skills are lacking, even more. Her writings are outrageous, liberal blabbering that only the insane can follow.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
I don't know if anyone has
April 9, 2008 - 09:47 ET by marpelI don't know if anyone has seen her on shows like Meet The Press, but when she speaks, she looks and sounds like she should be in a straight jacket. She's seems to be a mental patient (and I'm not saying that to insult the mentally ill).
(and I'm not saying that to
April 9, 2008 - 09:52 ET by bassndude(and I'm not saying that to insult the mentally ill).
Well, I'm not sure, but I would say the mentally ill will take offense, if any of em read that. Unless, maybe, it's Barney Frank:-)
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
BASS!!! LMAO!!!! I was
April 9, 2008 - 10:11 ET by marpelBASS!!! LMAO!!!!
I was afraid of insulting the mentally ill by grouping Maureen with them. I would be insulted if I were crazy...
Barney needs to put his teeth in his mouth when he goes on national TV...
Mean, bitter, .....
April 9, 2008 - 09:58 ET by Blogger Guy00001Dowd is a mean-spirited, bitter, castrating woman. It's no wonder she's unable to find a boyfriend.
Condi Rice was
April 9, 2008 - 10:04 ET by dscottCondi Rice was "instrumental" in the "blunder" of 9/11? Can one decently make such a charge and move on? Dowd did. That was the sum total of her discussion of the matter.
Typical liberal drive by assertion: Assumes facts not in evidence: the question assumes something as true for which no evidence has been shown. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objection_(law) In fact you should read over the list of legal objections, you will find numerous liberal rhetorical tactics. Where do you think liberals learned this stuff - LAWYERS???
The entire liberal agenda is based on "assertions" where they set up the rules so that if you don't object, then you're condoning of their statement by failure to challenge which makes the "assertion" a fact. This is exactly how it works in Court. A failure to object elevates an assertion to the level of fact.
Dowd's intellectual dishonesty is clear to see otherwise she wouldn't engage in drive by assertions. Liberalism has degenerated into a sales pitch where ideas are prattled off in rapid succession in order to get the sale of the listeners belief.
Lord Sidious / Darth Vader 2008 Long Live the Empire! Come to the Dark Side, it is your Destiny.
Wow, dscott, I think you
April 9, 2008 - 10:45 ET by Indiana JoeWow, dscott, I think you nailed it. Liberals have been using this strategy for years. And it also illustrates why "making nice" with them doesn't work. It's merely "not objecting" to their assertions, thereby making them "facts" in the minds of the public.
It's also why Bush, when he didn't come out swinging, was doomed to the popularity numbers he now carries. He ceded the battle for the "hearts and minds" with his damned "compassionate conservatism."
(A term I hated from the start. btw. It cedes the notion that "regular" conservatives are inherently not compassionate. It's now used as an example of an oxymoron, as used by Syrius (I think) today in another thread. Infuriating.)
But, Joe, get ready to get
April 9, 2008 - 11:06 ET by marpelBut, Joe, get ready to get more furious if John McCain wins the election. I agree that Bush never stood up to the liberal left the way he should have. If he had done so I think his popularity would be much higher. Besides the border issue it's one of the few things I have disagreed with Bush on.
But, John McCain will be much more "compassionate" with the left and the "drive by media" than Bush could ever want to be. He's already cow-towing to the left, the media, the Blacks and everyone else and he hasn't even been declared the nominee by the party yet.
Unfortunately, he's the only one the GOP has at this point. I really don't know if Huckabee would have been better but at least he would have been more entertaining.
The August 6 PDF
April 9, 2008 - 10:38 ET by ArminiusIn a March 24, 2004 interview with Salon.com’s Joe Conason, Clarke had the following to say about the August 6 PDB:
"I really can’t recall it. I think its importance has been overblown."
http://dir.salon.com...
Just another moonbat myth. It is more interesting to note what Michael Scheuer, who headed the bin Laden unit at the CIA, said about 9/11: “That trio, in my view, abetted al Qaeda, and if the September 11 families were smart they would focus on the dereliction of Dick, Bill and Sandy and not the antics of convicted September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui…. So, I look forward to ABC’s mini-series, as well as to seeing the quality of the network’s fact-checkers. If they do their job well, some of the September 11 Commission’s whitewash may start to be peeled away. If they fail, however, the reality that Bill, Dick and Sandy helped to push Americans out of the windows of the World Trade Center on that September morning will be buried in miles of fantasy-filled celluloid.”
Scheuer is referring to Bill Clinton, Dick Clarke, and Sandy Berger.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060704-110004-4280r.htm (will need the Wayback Machine at www.archive.org to view this URL).
www.sinsofthehusband.com
Which is ultimately Dowd's
April 9, 2008 - 11:25 ET by dscottWhich is ultimately Dowd's purpose even though she supports Obama over Clinton. While Dowd knows the significance of the Clintons connection to 911, she dare not tar and feather them lest she harm the rest of the Dem Party and Obama in the resulting colateral damage. The only way to attack the Repubs is to sidestep the entire issue of the Clinton presidency.
Bill Clinton and guilt by association Hillary who was his advisor, laid the ground work for 911 by their sheer incompetence in foreign affairs. Their premature pull out from Somalia due to the Black Hawk down incident showed them to be paper tigers. OBL publicly said so. The illusion of power is only as good as the believer's faith in it. The Clintons failed in their ability to project power. They failed to recognize that their triangulation and manipulation tactics are of no use against the terrorist, even though those tactics may work at times against governments, political parties and on an individual level. Let's face it, if terrorism wasn't an issue and OBL didn't exist, triangulation and manipulation would be a singularly successful foreign policy tool.
Lord Sidious / Darth Vader 2008 Long Live the Empire! Come to the Dark Side, it is your Destiny.
Why give her the benefit of the doubt?
April 9, 2008 - 12:09 ET by SGriffisShe is a lunatic of the Loose Change variety, otherwise known as the far left wing-lunatic fringe.
I wouldn't worry too much
April 9, 2008 - 13:58 ET by fitzfongI wouldn't worry too much about this one. Maureen Dowd is one of the most frivolous, inconsequential, self-described "journalists" out there. She's the living embodiment of Sarah Jessica Parker's character on Sex in the City...with less clothes to whore and (if it's even possible) less intelligence.
"Dowd's nasty little
April 9, 2008 - 16:42 ET by ToddonCapeCod"Dowd's nasty little deposit was hit-and-run journalism of the wost sort."
It's not hard to understand. It's a pre-emptive shot at Condi because she's being spoken of as a VP running mate for McCain. The Dems -- those ever-tolerant paragons of inclusion -- are trying to marginalize her now to protect their boy BO from competition from a <gasp!> competent black woman who is neither a racist, anti-Semite, nor anti-American, someone thoroughly vetted who has no skeletons in her closet. Yep, that's downright dangerous to the O minions. Expect such stupid attacks to get worse. I guarantee you that this will start being bandied about on the message boards as early as tomorrow, as though it were absolute fact.
Jamie Gorelicks' "WALL"
April 10, 2008 - 01:08 ET by gfrrman...from orders of Bill Clinton between the FBI and CIA had most of the blame for 9/11. But I guess to a "journalist" like M Dowd that would mean having to actually do some work to figure out those FACTS!!!............................................................"Eventually, Socialists run out of other peoples' money...." MARGARET THATCHER