Will the Real Dick Clark Please Stand Up?

Bob Newman

I love a parade, and this week’s parade before the mostly career politicians on the so-called 9-11 commission was quite a sight. The most intriguing of the guests was chameleon-man Richard “Tricky Dick” Clarke.

Dick, who is praised as a demi-god by most Democrats because of his slanderous and almost wholly unsupported attack on his most recent boss, George Bush, was called on the carpet by former U.S. Navy Secretary John Lehman, who said the one-time counterterrorism czar had a serious credibility problem. But it isn’t just Lehman who is taking Tricky Dick to task, for many unaligned reporters, as well as those with a usually clear-cut agenda to influence rather than inform, are digging into the facts of the matter as they pertain to a man many say is looking not only to sell books, but wrangle the job of Secretary of Homeland Security if war-hero-turned-Viet Cong-hugging socialist John Kerry manages to get into the White House.

Dirty Dick, whose long list of graphic failures include the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, 1993 loss of 18 U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force commandos in Somalia, 1996 missed capture/shoot-down of Osama bin Laden as he flew from Sudan to Pakistan, 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers that killed 19 Americans, 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, 2000 near-sinking of the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors, and 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, says all this was mostly the fault of other people, even though he was the lead “expert” responsible for helping to make sure such things as the aforementioned didn’t happen.

Oh, sure, he put on a good act before the commission, saying “I failed you,”
but that transparent mea culpa shtick doesn’t pass muster among those who know propaganda when they see, hear and smell it. He was going for the sympathy vote, and I for one was not surprised when Clarke’s groupie schmucks ran to hug and kiss him after his bogus display of emotion.

Clarke has three clear goals: sell as many books as possible, talk enough trash to seriously boost what he can charge for speeches and personal appearances, and secure the position of Secretary of Homeland Security if Kerry gets elected. (Can you imagine the howling rage this loser let loose when he learned that Tom Ridge was being offered that position instead of him?)

Clarke is on record as time and again singing the praises of the Bush Administration’s approach to the war on terror and counterterrorism. But now he is out for revenge and spinning his earlier assessment of President Bush, the president’s people, and the president’s policies so he can enrich himself and extract his pound of flesh.

Clarke is right about one thing: he failed our country time after time after time after time after time after time after time. Sadly, instead of being held accountable, he will get rich.

Sleep well, Dick, as your head rests on the graves of thousands of Americans you failed to protect.

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Winner of a 2002 National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (terrorism and homeland security), Bob Newman is the host of the "Bob Newman Show" & "Newman Report" on AM 850 KOA in Denver. A retired U.S. Marine, Mr. Newman is recognized as one of the world's most respected authorities on counterterrorism and special operations, and has appeared on numerous national television news programs and nearly every network. The author of 21 books and thousands of articles and columns that have appeared in dozens of publications, is the Director of Counterterrorism Programs for BSI2000, Inc., and is a counterterrorism consultant to industry and governments. His latest book is Trenches and Hard-Points, a Gulf War novel based upon true events.
bobnewmancomm@msn.com