An interesting excerpt from Jonah Goldberg’s column today:

«Which brings me to the case for Bush’s re-election. When you strip out the biliousness from Clarke’s charges, one thing comes through loud and clear: The Bush team didn’t adjust to the dangers of al-Qaida quickly enough. They were clearly putting the right policies in place, but they had to learn on the job. They eventually accepted almost all of Clarke’s recommendations, including an all-out assault on Afghanistan after 9/11. In fact, it was Condoleezza Rice who insisted on keeping Clarke on board in the White House in order to maintain “continuity” between the administrations. Clarke repaid her by saying she’d “ignored” the threat of terrorism.

Well, if this administration, brimming with all of these alleged hawks and cowboys – Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Wolfowitz – still needed to get up to speed on the terrorist threat, do we really believe that John Kerry won’t need even more on-the-job-training? Even if Kerry were as hawkish on terror as Bush – or even Clarke – he would still need to bone up. Unfortunately, Kerry’s not only not up to speed, but he’s actually committed to the notion that this isn’t even a war on terrorism so much as a job for law enforcement. Do we really want him to learn the error of his ways on the job?»

I agree with this whole-heartedly.  Bet you’re surprised!