The "Silence" was deafening...

[Postman]

after Clarke hammered the Bush administration for hijacking the war on terror and focusing it on invading Iraq.

The silence after that statement was an incredible moment in broadcast history.

[yardwork]

1. I heard it on the radio.

I thought I heard John Lehman choking silently on his own bile.

[eleny]

2. hehehe

[wryter2000]

3. Yeah

I thought for a minute I'd lost the connection to CSPAN.

[Neecy]

4. it was better than silence...

It was accompanied by a defiant, extended glare at a PNAC traitor.

Totally electrifying.

[hippiechick]

9. Which traitor, please ?

Some of us have been in cubeland all day ...


Thanks !


:hippie:

[Neecy]

11. Lehman

The glare, to me, was better than the silence.

He was DARING that bastard to defend the invasion.

[Manix]

5. Clarke....An American hero!

[tjwash]

6. I think that exact moment...

...will be looked at in history in the same way that Edward R. Murrow slamming down Joe McCarthy in front of the whole world looked. A true turning point of attitudes.

[Catfight]

7. That silence spook a thousand words!

Clarke makes me want to buy and American flag again.

[mike1963]

8. Deafening and a bit electrifying too. I'll never forget those moments.

It was obvious the assholes (Lehman, Thompson & Gorton) were thunderstruck...and unable to utter a sound. Priceless.
;-)

[DemoTex]

23. Thanks for the CNN tip, K.

I was able to watch the hearings and work on the computer at the same time. My DirectTV doesn't get C-Span3.

[Trajan]

10. What did He say to cause that silence ? ..

I MISSED it ..... ARGHHHHHHHHHHH !

[pinto]

13. "In attacking Iraq, the President greatly undermined the war on terror."

One simple declarative sentence that stopped the room. And Clarke, bless him, let it sit right there.....it was mesmerising live event.

[Trajan]

16. I walked back in RIGHT THEN ...

I missed the gist of his comment, but I DEFINTELY caught the 'defeaning silence' afterward ...

It WAS electric .. that silence was HUGE ...

But I MISSED the content of his statement ....

[maggrwaggr]

18. it was more than that. It started with a "since you brought it up"

Lehman was trying to slam him on partisan bullshit.

Clarke said "well since you brought it up, let's talk about partisanship" and he went on to describe how the White House has been slamming him and accusing him of working for Kerry. He said, "under oath" that he would hereby declare that he would refuse any post offered to him in the Kerry administration provided there was one. Then he went on, saying nobody had asked him his opinion of the war in Iraq at the commission then finished with that line.

Then just let it sink in. The silence was deafening. It was astounding.

I just sat there and chortled and cheered. Nobody wanted to touch him after that.

It was GREAT.

There was a lot more in his speech there that I'm leaving out.

[Solomon]

12. It should be the soundbite for at least two weeks, but they ain't gonna

show it. I wished like hell I had taped it. I can only hope that Jon Stewart kills it tonight.

[chickflick]

14. [Clarke] Iraq Action 'Undermined Terror War'

Title: Iraq Action 'Undermined Terror War'

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9069965%255E1702,00.html

Published: Mar 24, 2004
Author: By Jim Mannion in Washington

A FORMER White House counter-terrorism chief has accused US President George W. Bush of undermining the war on terrorism by invading Iraq and not taking the al-Qaeda threat seriously enough before the September 11 attacks.

In stunning testimony to the official inquiry into the 2001 terror strikes, Richard Clarke, whose new book has angered the Bush administration, apologised to relatives of the September 11 victims saying that the US Government had failed them.

Clarke said Iraq was "the reason I am strident in criticism of the President of the United States."

"By invading Iraq, the President of the United States has greatly undermined the war on terrorism," he said, silencing the room.

Clarke, who quit his White House post last year and is now in the administration firing line over his book, reaffirmed accusations that Bush had underestimated the threat from Osama bin Laden's group.

*more*

[Bandit]

17. There are heros and then there are HEROS ~Clarke fits the latter

:thumbsup:

[Richardo]

15. What a moment....

... a real Joseph Welch/Joseph McCarthy moment. ("Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?")

MAN it was GREAT! :thumbsup:

[Gloria]

19. Now the question is ...during the campaign, who will pick up the

message. Kerry may want to stay above the fray and let Wes Clark do it....because Wes Clark already has said it and has the guts to keep saying it. (And he's defended Clarke, too)

[TacticalPeek]

20. The Hallelujah thread is into this too.

It has a piece of transcript of this Lehman/Clarke exchange.

How many seconds? I gots to know.

Momentous!

DUThread

[dweller]

21. 8...10 secs......?

felt like 20-30 tho, bigtime deafening....as others i thought i had lost my radio feed.

dp

[TacticalPeek]

22. I was lucky enough to see it on TV, and must check the tape later.

Plenty of breath being held.

I think Clarke's to be on Larry King tonight.

Quite a day.