Stomach Flu? No, Richard Clark!

Richard Clark, writing an op/ed in today's NYT, says it's too bad Bush squandered the unity the nation had after 9/11.

Before getting to the gist of Clark-induced nausea, can I just ask, what unity?

One singing of God Bless America and quick passage of the Patriot Act does not constitute unity. The DNC, still amazed that one of the worst Democratic candidates in history (in the pre-Kerry years, anyway) couldn't beat Bush, had about a thimble-full of unity to expend before going back into attack mode. This is not the loyal opposition, this is the rebellious opposition.

Back to Clark, who identifies three ways the "national purpose" was "eroded:"

1. Iraq and the "ham-handed attempts to erroneously link Iraq with the al Qaeda attacks." A bit of a dischord-builder there, eh?, since the Administration didn't link Iraq directedly to 9/11.
   
   
2. Eroding "fundamental American civil liberties" by "illegal wiretapping of phones in the United States without a warrant" and "abandoning of our treaty obligations under the Geneva Conventions" in getting information from captured terrorists. 0 for 3. No civil liberties have been lost for non-terrorist Americans, no "wiretapping" occurred, just data mining of calls with an international connection, and oh yeah, terrorists don't get coverage under the Geneva Conventions.
   
   
3. A "widespread sense that some in government have been waving the bloody shirt — scaring voters with the hobgoblin of Al Qaeda to reap political advantage." Al Qaeda is a hobgoblin? Really?! Well, then I guess Bush must be kicking butt in the War on Terror, diminishing a global threat to a mere hobgoblin in a few short years.

If Clark still thinks al Qaeda is a mere hobgoblin after all they've inflicted on our country, he should either (1) continue to study the past, even though his op/ed says we spend too much time there or (2) use his intelligence and experience for something useful, or (3) shut up and slither under a rock.

Related Tags: Terrorism, as Qaeda, Richard Clark, Bush