Clarke part XXXIX

A tale blogged by a fool ?

13 days into the Bush administration’s Sound and Fury campaign against Richard Clarke, I am reminded of a vivid phrase turned by Brian Fortson in 12th grade English. He said the Benjamin Compson, the character in The sound and the Fury could “lose a debate with a pound of sugar.”

Richard Clarke is no pound a sugar. Maybe he’s a a ton of pure truth or maybe he’s a megaton of vinegar. However, as noted below, the Bush administration would be losing the debate even if Clarke had been transformed into a pound, nay an ounce of sugar.

When you are totally wrong, it is possible to lose a debate even against a fool. This makes me think of this post by Josh Marshall. It is clear to me that, even if Rice’s response on the 11th of September had not been so rudely interrupted, she would have lost the debate to Joe (not bright) Biden.

Anyway Mr Marshall doesn’t need my help. He is not Mr Compson, he is not wrong, and he can surely win a debate with a pound of sugar.


However Mr Kaus needs a reminder or two. First, when arguing with Mr Marshall, he should quote Mr Marshall not Robin Wright. The fact that Robin Wright wrote about al Qaeda specifically does not prove beyond doubt that Mr Marshall was referring to al Qaeda specifically in an article which does not contain the word “Qaeda”.

I agree with Mr Kaus that the answer to his question “Are there any hard pre-9/11 factual disputes--…--left between Rice and Clarke?” is "no". However there is still a dispute, which is not one of the “questions of emphasis.” Should we conclude, as Mr Clarke does, that the Bush team is unsuited to conduct US counter terrorism policy ? The conclusion seems to follow from Mr Clarke’s claims of fact, which are, as Kaus notes, currently no longer challenged by Rice. Perhaps Mr Kaus feels that Mr Clarke has not earned the right to draw conclusions as Mr Kaus has. Perhaps Mr Kaus is trying gently to get the Bush administration to face the facts.

If a pound of sugar is needed to get them to swallow the bitter pill, then more power to Mr Kaus.