Topic: Clinton on Fox News
Summary: Kirby gives his fair and balanced analysis of Clinton's Fox News interview over the weekend, using some really thin "evidence" to imply Clinton exaggerated the truth in the interview.
For Clinton's claim that neo-cons thought he spent too much time on Bin Laden, Kirby pulled out a single Newsday article written after the Sudan cruise-missile strikes that featured Republican statements approving of the action. However, the article only quotes a handful of Senators and Congressmen, and none of the neo-cons that at that time were hiding out in various places like PNAC. However, there are numerous quotes from people in the Bush administration before 9/11 such as this one on CNN's Inside Politics on 4/30/2001: "unlike last year, there's no extensive mention of alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. A senior State Department official tells CNN the U.S. government made a mistake in focusing so much energy on bin Laden and `personalizing terrorism.'"
Next, Kirby claims that Clinton was never really concerned with Bin Laden, using as evidence a history or wars during the Clinton administration (Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, etc) that fails to mention anything about Bin Laden. Notice that the book is described as an "examination of how the lessons of Vietnam have influenced American foreign policy in the post-Cold War era". The details of Clinton's actions against Bin Laden would pretty obviously be outside the scope of a book like that.
Time: 00:45 - 01:00
Topic: Important interview
Summary: Kirby reveals a "very special interview" he's been promoting all morning, which turns out to be a Bush impersonator. ugh.....
Time: 01:00 - 02:30
Topic: National Intelligence Estimate>green-latern theory of war that our main problem is a lack of will to get things done.
Classic Quote:
KIRBY: I have to ask yourself, these people being recruited as terrorists, what would they be doing if Saddam Hussein was still in power. I think it's an legitimate question. If we were to suggest that people in the street in these countries are signing up to fight for Al Qaeda because of what we've done, then I think it's fair to say what would these people be doing if we had not overthrown Saddam Hussein, if he were still in power. Would they be financial advisors, running bowling alleys, would they be cab drivers, what would they be doing? See, I don't really think that the average person can be recruited to be a terrorist. And the terrorists in Iraq anyway are killing Iraqis, aren't they? Very few Americans are killed by the terrorists compared to how many Iraqis are killed by other Iraqis and other terrorists. The thugs in the terror campaign are against fellow Iraqis.
Time: 02:30 - 02:45
Topic: NIE
Guest: Peter Brookes, New York Post Columnist
Summary: Kirby talks to columnist/former-intelligence-agent/wingnut-welfare-queen about the leaked NIE report on how Bush's polices have made terrorism worse. The guest explains the general NIE process and speculates that it's probably not as bad as initial reports have said.
Time: 02:45 - 03:00
Topic: Football in New Orleans
Summary: Kirby talks about the first NFL game in New Orleans since the flood. zzzzzz....
Time: 03:00 - 04:00
Topic: Clinton on Fox News
Summary: Kirby repeats his fair and balanced analysis of Clinton's Fox News interview over the weekend
Classic Quote 1:
KIRBY: I don't understand this. He talked about the right-wingers who criticized him. I don't know of any right-wingers who criticized him for going after Osama.
Classic Quote 2:
CALLER: And furthermore, you know that interview? I saw that interview on television yesterday. You know? I thought at that moment, that he blew up at Chris Matthews, I mean Chris Wallace. I really feel, you know that Juanita Brodderick, that he raped her? I think showed his true colors there.
KIRBY: What do you mean?
CALLER: Psychologically. I think he could be more capable of rape than anybody I've ever seen on television.
KIRBY: Well he got a little strident, but I don't think I'd go that far
CALLER: I think he came pretty close to trying to wring his neck.
KIRBY: Well he got pretty close and very intimidating.
CALLER: And that's why I believe he women when they, um, said he raped them, and all that.
KIRBY: Right
CALLER: And I feel it like a woman would feel it.
KIRBY: Thanks [CALLER], I appreciate it.
Classic Quote 3:
KIRBY: But you see, Bush shifted the focus from Bin Laden as opposed to Al Qaeda, and lifted the entire issue of state sponsorship of terrorism too.
CALLER: He said he doesn't even care where Bin Laden is. I'd be very interested to know,
KIRBY: No, come on [CALLER]
CALLER: He did. And if you read Richard Clarke's book, you won't see it.
KIRBY: You're taking that out of context, number 1. He didn't really think that the President said 'I don't care where he is.'
CALLER: I heard him say it, and so did you. He said 'I don't really think about him and he's not on my radar.'
KIRBY: Well yeah, because why? Because the whole focus on Bin Laden makes this a criminal enterprise. But this is not a criminal enterprise, it's a war.
CALLER: But you've got a war against an organization and he'd the ideological leader of an organization.
KIRBY: Look, if Bin Laden died tomorrow, do you think the war would continue? Would the war be impacted at all if he died tomorrow?
CALLER: You want to take out the leader of the organization, not only for the war but for justice.
KIRBY: That's fine, but would the war be over? No.
Classic Quote 4:
KIRBY: And by the way, those of you out there who are really Clinton partisans, empirically consider this. When Clinton bombed that aspirin factory in Sudan that later turned out to have nothing to do with terrorism, a lot of us defended him. Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott, and myself, a lot of us defended him. The people who raised the issue of whether this was a distraction from Monica Lewinsky was the mainstream press! The comedy channel, the comedy show, John Stewart, said Desert Shield defended him from impeachment! It was the media that questioned whether this was a real attack on terrorism.