DEAR ANN COULTER AND BOB NOVAK,

First of all, love your work.

Anyway, I noticed that both of you have pursued the same line of attack on Richard Clarke, accusing him of racism because he observed that Condi Rice didn't appear to recognize the term "Al Qaeda" in January of 2001.

I congratulate both of you for reading the first three pages of the "Before and After September 11th" chapter from Clarke's book.

But if I may, I have another passage, from earlier in the book, that may interest you. It's nearer to the end of a chapter, so it's less likely that you've read it.

Richard Clarke, Against All Enemies, page 31:

Most Americans had never heard of al Qaeda. Indeed, most senior officials in the administration did not know the term when we briefed them in January 2001. I found a moment without meetings and sat at my computer and began: "Who did this? Why do they hate us? How will we respond? What can you as an American do to help?" It all came out, in a stream of pages. I wrote of al Qaeda's hatred of freedom, of its perversion of a beautiful religion, of the need to avoid religious or ethnic prejudice...

So, Ann and Bob, does this mean that the senior staff of the Bush administration is full of African Americans towards whom Richard is racist?

Anyway, thank you for your time.

Yours in The Passion,

TFM

PS (UPDATE): Ann, I also noticed, via Bartcop, that on MSNBC you said:

[Richard Clarke] is, you know, a career chair-warmer who is upset a black woman took his job.

First of all, Richard Clarke was never National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger was. Second, if Clarke truly aspired to be Bush's National Security Adviser, then he probably wouldn't have voted for Gore in the 2000 general election, which he did, not to mention John McCain in the primary.