Ouch

Kevin Drum posts a white house release of an August 2002 background briefing by Clarke in which Clarke takes exaclty the Bush administration line in contrast to the current Clarke line. All this really shows is that while he was part of the Bush administration he defended the Bush administration, that is, he wouldn't say who chopped down the cherry tree. Still it is an important event in the Bush vs Clarke struggle.

[update]

""I was a special assistant to the president," Mr. Clarke said. "And I made the case I was asked to make."

Mr. Thompson pressed, "Are you saying to me that you were asked to make an untrue case to the press and the public and that you went ahead and did it?"

After a bit more back-and-forth, Mr. Clarke insisted he had not said anything literally "untrue" at the time.

"I was asked to highlight the positive aspects of what the administration had done, and to minimize the negative aspects of what the administration had done," Mr. Clarke said. "And as a special assistant to the president, one is frequently asked to do that kind of thing. I've done it for several presidents."

There was a rare moment of laughter in the hearing room."

Knock out.

By far the best counter point the Bush administration has found, and in a minute or so Clarke has the audience laughing at the absurdity of claiming that anyone should conclude anything from the fact that an administration official was trying to put a pro administration spin on the facts.