Posted 4:37 PM by Robert

Complete And Utter Herr Doktorprofessor III: Carnival of the Bigotries

RealClear asks:

As the numbers continue to come in, I think the Dems are starting to realize what a kamikaze death wish it was to try and take on Bush on the issue of national security and the war on terror Big Lie simply isn't selling. Who's brilliant idea was it to try and convince America Bush is soft on terror anyway?

The RealClear "brilliant idea" link, of course, goes to none other than Herr Doktorprofessor Paul Von Krugman's New York Times column Weak On Terror from way back on March 16. Since that initial foray Herr Doktorprofessor has continued to be a loud, but increasingly incoherent, voice in the Clarke-led assault on Condi Rice's antiterrorism record. Most recently, Herr Doktorprofessor has spent two columns desperately trying to draw attention to a casual aside of Wolf Blitzer, and deliberately misconstruing that aside into "evidence" that Mr. Blitzer was a willing handmaiden in spreading a White House "smear" against Mr. Clarke's personal life. Herr Doktorprofessor efforts are all the more peculiar because almost nobody would have even noticed Mr. Blitzer's comment - and far fewer would have given it Herr Doktorprofessor's particular sinister spin - except for Herr Doktorprofessor determined efforts in his columns.

In other words, Herr Doktorprofessor is actual creator of the "smear" against Richard Clarke that Herr Doktorprofessor attributes to the White House, and also has been the actual prime disseminator of that "smear."

What, exactly, is the "smear" that Herr Doktorprofessor attributes to the White House and/or Mr. Blitzer but has actually invented and disseminated himself? Herr Doktorprofessor says it has something to do with there being something weird about Mr. Clarke's personal life. Coincidentally, the Times ran a profile of Mr. Clarke including this chestnut:

The son of a chocolate factory worker from Pennsylvania, Mr. Clarke, 53, earned degrees at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is single, and known for keeping long hours, and he was one of a handful of White House officials allowed to carry a gun for protection.

I agree with Tom Maguire that Krugman is desperate for someone to say it so he can criticize the White House for gay-bashing. I've been waiting for something like this "gay bashing" card to emerge - although I didn't anticipate Herr Doktorprofessor being a main player. Indeed, I compared Mr. Clarke to Jayson Blair back on March 24, I ended my post with the question: What card like that race card could Mr. Clarke still try to play? Now we can better guess.

My further suspicion is that the Dems and Mr. Clarke would not have tried this particular kamikaze run at a National Security Advisor who wasn't (A) black and (B) female, and that the assault has been - and is - a veritable and cynical Carnival of the Bigotries on the part of Herr Doktorprofessor, Richard Clarke and the President's critics:

First, pick at Condi - trying to exploit the unstated subtext that a National Security Advisor who's black and female can't be trusted on terrorism.

Then, if Bush is foolish enough to separate himself from her, argue that he wouldn't have abandoned her except that she's black and female.

Third, find a pretext for arguing that the White House has been "gay bashing" Clarke in its own subtext. Herr Doktorprofessor - he of the original "brilliant idea" - is happy to oblige. If one column isn't enough, then he'll just keep plugging.

The assault would require no real coordination beyond a few highly placed Democrats and their partisans, such as Messrs. Clarke and Krugman. It would be the ultimate cynical degeneration of Democratic identity politics. And I suspect they're there.

Of course, I can't prove that and I don't affirmatively believe it. But the above scenario is consistent with the course of events, and with Herr Doktorprofessor's two recent especially bizarre columns. So I do suspect that this has been the game for some of the players on the Democratic side from the git-go. Poor Wolf Blitzer, he just seems to have wandered into the cross fire as someone Herr Doktorprofessor views as expendible.

But if that is what they intended, the whole thing seems to be backfiring on all cylinders quite nicely, mostly because Condi is The Real Thing and the President knows what he's got and isn't about to let go.

Time may tell.