So, Larry, how many times, during those 3 A.M.-type calls that you were involved in, was Mrs. Clinton, sans security clearance, also involved?

If that number is greater than zero, I am willing to listen about your observations of her behavior in such situations.

And have you briefed Senator Obama, so that you are in a position to compare and contrast their reactions?

Oh, and Clinton's team also includes General Wesley Clark, who (admits in his book that), as the newly appointed Director of Operations for the Joint Chiefs, found that their were no contingency plans for dealing with the Rwandan situation--and then, as the situation developed and the genocide proceeded, never thought of the obvious: taking out the radio transmission towers.

I entered my first meeting with Hillary with strong reservations about her competence (based entirely on what I had heard and read in the media).

During her time on the National Security Council, as the senior person responsible for giving the President policy options on Africa, Rice reprised the role of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. She sat by while more than one million Rwandans were butchered in a bloody genocide. She let the phone ring and declined to offer any answer that would have saved lives.

EPIC FAIL.

Put a sock in it Larry. Your fifteen minutes are up...too bad you used the last 6 or 7 proving that you haven't forgotten most of what you learned as a Republican.

Richard Holbrooke is one of the last people on the Democratic side of the planet I want to see running national security.

"Now it's time to use an approach that builds on the fact that Saddam is the most dangerous government leader in the world today, he poses a threat to the region, he could pose a larger threat if he got weapons of mass destruction deployed, and we have a legitimate right to take action," Holbrooke told Chris Matthews on January 23, 2003, two months before troops opened fire. "The American public always supports its commander-in-chief and we unify in times of crisis, and if the action is fast and rapid and successful, afterwards everyone will think they supported it."

Just seven months later, on August 26, 2003, Holbrooke's views had changed radically: Iraq, in his view, had become the "worst foreign policy disaster since the Vietnam War."

Larry Johnson has become the male Taylor Marsh. Totally lacking in credibility.

So Susan Rice was the commander in Chief, and not Bill Clinton. So says Larry Johnson. With idiots like this guy working for them, no wonder the CIA has not been worth a skunk's fart for the past twenty years!

The phone rang in 2002.

Clinton was wrong.

Obama was right.

The only thing left to add is that Clinton STAYED wrong.

Larry:
Thank you for your thoughtful insight ... I see the Obama folks are brutal as always.
They can't admit their candidate has less experience with foreign affairs. He may be inspirational but he does not have the qualifications to be commander in chief.

What a hack. Given your distortions I'll put your opinion right next to where I put Paul Krugman and Bill Clinton's.

If people want to read some non-headuptheass looks at foreign policy differences, check these out.

http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4803

http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/post/27610653

http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/post/27520498

I see two out of ten ad hom's.

To be fair to Clinton, she does not lack foreign policy experience. Her problem is that her votes are all triangulation.

It is shameful to bring up Rwanda as an example. Nothing else could serve as a greater example of foreign policy failure by the Clintons. However, unlike you, they would not stoop to pinning their failure on an aide. Bill Clinton, at least, would recognize where the buck stops.

Quote: "Yep, typical Obamatrons. When you can't deal with substance go for ad hominem. Classy"

Oh my gosh. This is the Larry Johnson who's been interviewed on TV and radio? Accusing someone of ad hominem attacks even as he refers to Obama supporters as "Obamatrons"??

Amazing.

So now it's the Obama advisor's fault Clinton did nothing about Rwanda?

You people are shameless.

Is it normal for a comment to take an hour to post?

Since my first comment didn't go through (sent about an hour ago), here's my response to Larry.

If we're going to criticize Obama for not holding hearings on NATO's role in Afghanistan why not criticize Clinton for not holding a hearing on the link between breast cancer and environmental toxins. As chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health, it seems like Clinton was in a good position to help a large number of the voters who are backing her. But she didn't even hold a hearing on the subject . . .

And besides, doesn't America think 20 straight years of Bush-Clinton presidencies is enough?

Mr. Johnson,

Thanks for explaining why you went from being a "Hillary hater" to a Hillary supporter. I really appreciate your continued contributions in the face of so much disrespect and anger. I don't understand it, and I don't really want to.

Don't mind the peanut gallery, they're still a little upset over their schooling in Ohio.

Larry, I will echo the poster cutta2k4 comments. I really want to take you for your word because you obviously have some experience in foreign policy/military matters. And to be fair you are one of many who have this type of experience but I appreciate you bringing your perspective to the table. I have some problems with your reasoning and I also have some problems with your clip you provided.
Let us talk about the clip first. You provided a clip that was very short of Mrs. Rice appearing on TV. At the end of the clip she states that she believes that neither candidate is ready to take that 3AM phone call. First I have problem with 24(the show) type scenarios, it is not that I do not believe that this situation could exist it is simply that I would imagine that many of the people in the know about these things are also in the know about how micro-managing every situation is counter-productive as the main thrust in government. Let me expand on this micro-management critique, would you not say that both macro and micro are important method used in establishing a clear picture? Also the president can not be everywhere at once nor can they make every decision, in fact I would imagine that the trusts they place in the system as well as the people who work in that system are very important to having functioning government. Back to the clip, it is obvious that she did not finish her sentence with the clip you provided. A little hint, many of the readers of sites such as these have an aversion to anything that looks like it might have been taken out-of-context or cherry-picked, so transparency and the appearance of impropriety are biggies. So please next time provide the entire exchange thus you can avoid this apparent hitch from bloggers such as myself. Here is the transcript from the conversation on Tucker Carlson:
Ms. Rice: He hasn’t and he hasn’t claimed that he’s been in a position to have to answer the phone at 3 o’clock in the morning in a crisis situation. That’s the difference between the two of them. Hillary Clinton hasn’t had to answer the phone at 3 o’clock in the morning. And yet she attacked Barack Obama for not being ready. They’re both not ready to have that 3:00 a.m. phone call.
The question is and what Barack Obama raised is, when that phone call is received for each of them for the first time, who’s going to make the right judgment? Who is going to make the right decision?
On the critical foreign policy issues of the day, whether it was a decision to go to war in Iraq or the decision to give President Bush the benefit of the doubt and beat the drums of war with Iran, Hillary Clinton has made the same wrong judgment as John McCain and George W. Bush. Barack Obama has made a very different judgment.
So neither one of them, and nor John McCain for that matter, have had that 3 o’clock phone call that others have had. And I think we have to be honest about that.]
No tell me does this change your opinion? Can you say that she has been in this position of answering this type of call before?

Ok on to the next issue I have with your post you said this, "Susan Rice, a senior Obama foreign policy advisor, who served on the National Security Council and later as the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs at the State Department under Bill Clinton...During her time on the National Security Council, as the senior person responsible for giving the President policy options on Africa, Rice reprised the role of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. She sat by while more than one million Rwandans were butchered in a bloody genocide. She let the phone ring and declined to offer any answer that would have saved lives." There seems to be a bit of dodginess in this because this was a Clinton person right? Surely even if she was the senior person in charge she answers to somebody, right? Also there were people who work under her, what do they have to say about these decisions? What happened in Rwanda was a horrible disgrace to the US and the International community at large (UN). Obviously the Rwandan are mostly to blame as it was genocide and civil war mixed together with a whole lot of innocents being slaughtered by their neighbors and friends as well as militants.
If she is to blame, then fine but then again blame would have to put on Bill Clinton as well to go along with many others. I just don't see how you can put all the blame on her for this incident, it just doesn't add up. So please if you can explain how an appointee such as Susan Rice is to blame because she truly was the one that ignored 'Rome' while it was burning tell me how her higher-ups aren't also complicit?

As to you believing that she is smart, astute, and a good listener when it comes to any range of issues, I think that is great. That is what I would want as any person in government service let alone a candidate for president. I also believe that she is all of those things but that is not the reason that I do not support her in the Democratic nomination. Rather it is because she has failed in the past, as has her husband, to take responsibility for her actions and her words. She has never, to my knowledge admitted that she made a mistake in voting to authorize the war in Iraq (and I know that she says that she was not authorizing war, but that is what it did). Her judgment had it been different would make me see her in a completely different light. I understand the evidence to support the authorization was flawed but many stood up against the war with Iraq simply because they thought it was distraction from the war to get Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. I look forward to response and I am glad that you see Hillary as being a woman who can handle the Commander and Chief role.

The 'droids are out in force Larry, how dare you speak ill of Dear Leader. Obama lived overseas for cripes sake, how much more foreign policy experience do you need to be leader of the free world? What could possibly go wrong?

Larry, with all due respect, I have to know if you have also briefed Senator Obama on the same subject matter and what his responses were. If not, it is very hard for me to read your argument objectively.

Hillary Clintons Resume:

In a Nutshell
.

I married a guy who became governor of a small state.

He went on to become President.

That allowed me to jump to the head of the line, without having to work my way up through the elected ranks, like that Senator Obama fellow who wasted his time doing. If he really were smart, he would have married his way to the head of the line, where he too could start pretending that being married to a leader is the same as being a leader.

I married Bill...... Experience Experience Experience.

Eat your heart out Obama. I bet you wish you could have married yourself to the head of the line, instead of having to work your way to the top.

I am Hillary Rodham Clinton, and I approve of this message.

Larry are you still around?

Hillary at her experienced diplomatic best. How the hell does she get her foot in her mouth wearing those tight pantsuits!

Obama radio ad targets Clinton’s Mississippi comments
Posted: 04:50 PM ET

(CNN) – Barack Obama’s campaign has debuted a new radio ad in Mississippi called "Respect," highlighting what they call “derogatory” remarks Hillary Clinton made about the state late last year.

The ad also argues that Obama will “practice his Christian faith by respecting us” — an apparent push-back against the false Muslim rumors that have dogged him throughout the campaign.

In the 30-second spot, former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus, an Obama supporter, derides Clinton for comments she made last fall singling out the state’s record of electing female politicians.

"I was shocked when I learned Iowa and Mississippi have never elected a woman governor, senator or member of Congress," Clinton told the Des Moines Register in October. "There has got to be something at work here. How can Iowa be ranked with Mississippi? That's not the quality. That's not the communitarianism, that's not the openness I see in Iowa.'"

Mabus accuses the Clinton campaign of calling Mississippi voters “second class.”

“Now I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of people putting us down,” Mabus says in the ad. “Tired of politicians trying to divide our nation instead of lifting it up.”

Mississippi voters head to the polls next Tuesday, March 11, with 33 Democratic delegates at stake.

So Senator You-Know-Her sleeps in her pantsuit piñata outfit, does she? Stays up real late at night just waiting to do scripted TV attack ads about ringing phones, does she? As I recall, the attacks of 9/11/2001 happened in broad daylight while the President of the United States sat in a kindergarten classroom trying to read "My Pet Goat" to some children who could read better than he could. And Ohio voted for this dyslexic dwarf chimpanzee TWICE. No wonder a TV commercial with sleeping blonde girl children scares the shit out of Ohio. What wouldn't? When Gore Vidal called Americans "among the most easily frightened people on earth," he must have had Ohio in mind.

As I recall, someone other than the Deputy Dubya Bush answered the phone on 9/11/2001 and passed along the message to the President. It often happens that the President of the United States has other business during the day than sitting by a RED (SUBLIMINAL DANGER! SUBLIMINAL DANGER!) telephone prop trying to look intelligent and alert at the same time. And this public relations posturing "qualifies" Senator You-Know-Her for "commander in chief"?

This Vietnam Veteran does not think so. Anyone like Senator You-Know-Her who slept through decades of national trauma -- like the one my friends and high-school classmates died in for nothing -- doesn't deserve election to the board of directors for Hillbilly Homeschool Charter Cretins, Inc.

But perhaps Larry Johnson can explain Bogus Bill Clinton's monumentally stupid appointment of George "slam dunk" Tenet to lead the "Can't Identify Anything" claque -- you know, those bureaucratic buffoons who came up with the bombing co-ordinates for the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. I can still recall pictures of enraged mobs of Chinese citizens stoning our Beijing embassy over THAT colossal fuck-up. So perhaps Larry Johnson can enlighten us as to precisely what the "experienced" wife of Bogus Bill Clinton -- a spouse with no security clearance or need to know -- have to play in George Tenet's appointment? I mean, if she had anything to do with a choice so bad that even Deputy Dubya Bush re-appointed the credulous kiss-ass, then why on earth would any sane electorate want such incompetent "experience"?

Of course, one would not expect a former CIA flunky to know this, but Saddam Hussein DID NOT "kick out" the UN weapons inspectors in 1998. Nor did Saddam Hussein "not let in" the UN weapons inspectors in 2002. Yet Senator You-Know-Her continues spewing these lies today, indicating that she not only didn't know the real Iraq situation during her own husband's presidency but she knew nothing about Iraq during the Dick Cheney Regency, either. Or else she lies just to keep in practice; just so she won't forget how. This clueless, back-bench Senator doesn't even have a FLAT learning curve. She has a flat-lined EEG. Larry Johnson, though, finds such brain-dead mendacity dispositive.

Now that the CIA has thoroughly discredited itself -- yet again -- thanks in large part to the Clinton/Bush appointee George "slam dunk" Tenet, perhaps America can disband the worthless forty-billion-per-year dollar-drain and rename our spooks “P.I.A," or "Peripheral Incompetents Anonymous." I hereby submit Larry Johnson's name for first president, based on his demonstrated "experience" in screwing pooches and fucking-up soup sandwiches. We had a pretty dumb "intelligence community" back in Vietnam, too, but nothing this spectacularly stupid. The new P.I.A organization can even invite both Bawl and Pillory Clinton to give the inaugural address, regaling the corrupt cretins with insider tips about how to lobby for Dubai and Kazakhstan without even having to register as agents of a foreign government.

If Larry Johnson finds this simple recitation of uncomfortable facts "ad hominem," I can only reply that "ad hominem" means "to the man;" and since I don't consider You-Know-Her (even in her ubiquitous 3:00 AM pantsuit) a "man," my remarks cannot possibly pertain to her. Ditto for him. Those like Larry Johnson who uncritically swallow You-Knw-Her's lizard-language fear-mongering and crocodile-tear sympathy-soliciting have even worse problems than Buffaloed Girl's ignorance and mendacity. They seem to have fallen for the Clinton bullshit even when twenty U.S. senators and over one hundred U.S. Congressmen -- not to mention millions of clear-eyed "liberals" world-wide -- had no trouble seeing reality and rejecting the ersatz. Illinois State Senator Barack Obama had plenty of company seeing though the militarist crap flogged by the American government. No "secret" or "classified" -- i.e., curveball credulity -- "intelligence" required.

At any rate, America cannot stand another four years of scandal-plagued Clintonian soap opera. Another go at "two for the price of one" still leaves each one of the Partners in Pathos worth only half-a-loaf. Senator Obama does not walk on water and he will not achieve all that he attempts, but at least with him American will have a complete whole President instead of two dysfunctional feuding halves of one.

This time around the Democrats don’t need a Ross Perot to split the Republican ticket in order to help get a mere-plurality Clinton elected President. This time around the Republicans have so discredited themselves and their radical “conservatism” that Barack Obama will have no trouble wiping up the floor with the "experienced" Geriatric Old Poop, John McBomb. No "experienced" McCain-lite Clintons need apply, either. Inept "Experience" like that, America does not need, should not want, and cannot afford.

To sum up a little...

I'm reminded of what they say about departmental battles at universities...where it's professor against professor to the death. The battle is so heated because there's so little at stake.

The truth is this: Barack and Hillary's positions are almost identical. Beyond that, he's selling the vapor of hope. She's selling the vapor of experience or competence. She's a fighter. He's a uniter. End of story.

It's hard to lay a glove on him because he's done so little. So controversy has to be ginned up...and it will be...because this is not a philosophical discussion...but a campaign in which the goal is not to uncover the truth...but to win.

It's easy to lay a glove on her because, in fact, she's done a lot and been around a lot. (And people are willing to believe all sorts of fantastical things about her.) So it's important to erase, or try to erase, a lot of what she's done...because the goal here is not to uncover the truth...but to win.

Saying that Hillary married well...or slept her way to the top...is an argument that would impeach a lot of our mothers. A wife who's always stayed at home, raised the kids, never worked outside the house...but lives in a 1.2 million manse and drives a nice Merc...gets her hair done four times a week...plays bridge... enjoys the benefits of her husband's 500K lawyer's salary...did she sleep her way to the top? Or did she in some way earn her share of the 500K?

Of course, this isn't even a fair comparison to Hillary. Because Hillary IS a lawyer, just as much as Bill. Hillary had a budding career in government and in the non-profit sector when she gave it up to move to Arkansas. And Hillary continued to work while she was there. In fact, Hillary's always worked outside the home, and often for good causes she's believed in deeply.

It's also not a fair comparison because Hillary was always a partner in Bill's political career and advised him while he was in office. This seems clear and without question, even though she never had her hands on the levers of power. Until recently.

Unfair advantages. Let's look at that a bit. Isn't it true that every white person in America benefits from the advantage of being "white?" Immediately, 10% of the population start off life several notches behind white folk. So 10% of what should be the white person's just competition is out of the running right from the get-go.

Does this mean that my white daughter isn't earning her way? Does this mean that, somehow, she's unqualified for position X because, well, she had the advantage of being white? Does this mean that my daughter shouldn't get position Y because she started off life with this unfair advantage? No.

It's often said by folks who know NY politics that Nita Lowey should have gotten her shot at the Senate seat instead of Hillary. You know, if Hillary hadn't been Hillary Clinton and/or hadn't been "wronged" by Bill, she would never have been in that position. And that's true, as far as it goes. It's not fair that Nita had to step aside to make way for Hillary.

But the fact is, Hillary WAS qualified to be Senator, despite the unfair advantages favoring her. Fortune smiled on her and she made the most of her opportunity. Just like every single person in the world who is fortunate enough to be born into the "right" family, race, country, etc, or to have made a few lucky choices. Heck, Barack is one lucky so-and-so because his erstwhile Republican opponent in Illinois liked kinky sex and the Republicans, in their wisdom, turned to Alan Keyes as a replacement. Christ, I could have won that race.

And the fact is, once a Senator, Hillary performed. She moved into that role and worked hard and has tried to deliver for NY, however successfully.

Did she use her Senate as stepping stone to the Presidency? Did Barack? You bet.

I've decided that workerbee and I are soulmates because she lives in Connecticut, and I grew up there (Weston). Must be the nutmeg in the water.

Not ready for primetime? You expect people to respect your opinion on Obama? For those that don't know, this is what Larry Johnson had to say about Obama in February:

My neighbor, who is a prominent Republican lobbyist, was commenting the other day on the inspiring nature of the Obama campaign. He was repeating the positive vibe. I then asked him about issues such as Rezko and the disconnect between his rhetoric and how he actually votes. He was surprised and shocked. He said, "I haven't heard any of this." Obviously he's not a reader of NoQuarter. But he is a politically astute, well-informed guy. When he heard the true story of Obama's past (including Obama's Kenyan ties and muslim relatives). He flipped.

And this:

In the meantime, we have to watch the equivalent of a papal coronation, as the media and fans exhult in the Obama Messiah, the black Jesus come to save us. But sometime in the next four months, the excitement will fade as the reality of who Obama is comes out.

You're a real class act, Larry.

Hey Larry, here is your Life Long Experience(Clinton & McCain

American Deaths 3974

American Wounded Official Estimated
29320 23000 - 100000

Did Hillary promise you a job, Larry?
Hillary has already betrayed her principles and her party. Is her country next on the list? As for "not ready for prime time", her campaign, which is by far the largest organization she's run, is a very public clusterf*ck.

She's proven herself, all right. She's proven herself to be an incompetent, negligent, petulant, egocentric, nepotistic little twit who puts her own ambition ahead of all else. Talk about a third Bush term!

This is the kind of character assassination I've come to expect from Mr. Johnson. A shorter version of his screed might read Susan Rice did nothing right during Bill Clinton's administration because she acted traitor to his wife a decade or more later. If she was so very bad back then, and she has so much blood on her hands, why didn't Hillary advise Bill to retire her? I suspect that had she not jumped ship, Mr. Johnson would be singing her praises today.

I read him with less and less trust, and certainly no pleasure.

Reading these posts is like looking into a playpen;

"My dad can beat up your dad"

"oh yeah? Well, well, your dad is ugly, so there!"

For the record, Denis and Margaret Thatcher were married in 1951 and she won her seat in Parliament in 1958 (on her fourth try).

you're blaming Rice, and NOT the Clintons, for what happened in Rwanda?

you truly are a joke.

Josh Marshall writes (correctly):

"The Obama folks can either withdraw to a world where the 'new politics' reigns or focus on the fact that here in the real world there are two 'old politics' practitioners standing between him and the presidency and he needs to decide how he's going to deal with that fact.

As I've written before in different contexts, you can't get distracted by the literalism of the moment. To understand how politicking works you need to look not at the often terribly silly discussion points of the unfolding debates. You need to look at the larger picture the engagement is telling people. And right now this one's saying that Obama won't fight back, that he's easy to fluster, that he's weak. And that's precisely why Team Hillary is taking this tack."

If you don't like what's happening to Obama, give him your money. Canvass for him. Get involved. But sitting back and whining about her attacks ain't going to cut it. She made the mistake of thinking her nomination was inevitable. He's now making the same mistake, along with many of his supporters who think that Hillary should just do the math and get out.

Not the way elections are won. When people say that politics is a contact sport, they DON'T mean one side can only say and do those things that are acceptable to the OTHER side. No; it means you take every advant