Albright's joke joins growing list of Bush theories
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By James G. Lakely
THE WASHINGTON
TIMES
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Conspiracy theories continued to sprout among Democrats
yesterday in the wake of the capture of Saddam Hussein. Some Democrats
expressed alarm that the party was drifting out of the "mainstream."
Madeleine Albright, the secretary of state in the
Clinton administration, in a conversation with Morton Kondracke, executive
editor of Roll Call and a Fox News Channel political analyst, suggested that
Osama bin Laden has been captured by U.S. forces and will soon be produced to
the public.
"Do you suppose," she asked, "that the
Bush administration has Osama bin Laden hidden away somewhere and will bring
him out before the election?"
Mrs. Albright said last night she was kidding.
"She was not smiling when she said this," Mr. Kondracke said.
The disclosure of Mrs. Albright's remark followed by a
day the charge by Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington that the Bush administration
could have captured Saddam "long ago if they wanted," but held off
until Mr. Bush could use it as a boost in his approval ratings.
"There's too much by happenstance for it to be
just a coincidental thing," he said.
Earlier, Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont,
the presumed leader of the Democratic presidential candidates, spoke of "a
theory," which he later said he didn't believe, that President Bush had
prior knowledge of the September 11 attacks and did not take steps to prevent
them.
Mrs. Albright tried late yesterday to dampen the
controversy over her remarks. "Last night, in the makeup room at Fox
News," she said, "I made a tongue-in-cheek comment to Mort Kondracke
concerning Osama bin Laden.
"To my amazement, Mr. Kondracke immediately went
on the air to repeat this comment, which was made to a person I thought was a
friend and smart enough to know the difference between a serious statement and
one that was not," she said.
"My only regret is that the powder puffs were on
Mort's face and not in his ears," she said.
Mr. Kondracke said yesterday there were others in the
room "and they didn't think it was a joke. But if Ms. Albright said she
was joking, then I take her at her word."
Joe Cerell, a Democratic campaign consultant who has
worked in every presidential campaign since 1956, said the comments —
even if in jest — do not help the party. "You'd better know what
you're talking about, you'd better have some evidence, or it's
counterproductive," Mr. Cerell said. "The more outrageous the
comments are, the greater the chance that it's going to turn into a
headline."
Henry Kissinger, who was secretary of state for
Presidents Nixon and Ford, called Mrs. Albright's comment "absolutely
ridiculous" and said it exposes a kind of "paranoia" that has
engulfed the Democratic Party.
"I am very fond of Madeleine, but there's
something about President Bush that blows the Democrats' minds," Mr.
Kissinger said on "Fox and Friends" yesterday. "They get so
rabid in their dislike that they say things which are absurd. If we could find
Osama bin Laden on the same day that we could find Saddam, we would do it. It's
just not possible that these captures are timed to embarrass the Democrats.
It's a sort of paranoia. I think she got carried away."
Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore's presidential campaign
in 2000, said the comments of Mrs. Albright and Mr. Dean and Mr. McDermott have
"no place in our dialogue on this very serious issue. I think most
Americans have some lingering doubts about what happened on September 11, but
until the commission and Congress completes its investigation, I think it best
if people hold these views to themselves. But because we don't yet have a
nominee, it's all out in the open."
One Democratic consultant, who spoke on the condition
of anonymity, said his e-mail box is "filled daily with conspiracy
theories" about supposed Bush administration plots.
"There's no way to get away from it. To say the
CIA knew where the world's No. 1 terrorist is right now and won't bring him
forward, that's immoral."
Mr. Dean, in a Dec. 1 interview on National Public
Radio, was asked about claims that Mr. Bush is suppressing information that he
was warned about September 11.
"The most interesting theory that I have heard so
far," Mr. Dean said, "is that he was warned ahead of time by the
Saudis."
Asked if he had reconsidered the remark six days later
on "Fox News Sunday," Mr. Dean said that "we don't know"
whether the theory is true or not.
Other Democrats have questioned the Bush administration's
motives in going to war in Iraq. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts said
in September that the war was "made up in Texas."
The Bush administration "announced it in January
to the Republican leadership that the war was going to take place and was going
to be good politically," Mr. Kennedy said. "The whole thing was a
fraud."
Rep. Robert T. Matsui, California Democrat and member
of the House Armed Services Committee, said the war was waged "to an
extent to take attention from the economy."
Scott Reed, a Republican consultant, predicted that
such comments will not be forgotten as the 2004 presidential election grows
near — especially if Mr. Dean is the Democratic nominee.
"Dean, McDermott and Albright sound like the
Democratic foreign-policy dream team," Mr. Reed said. "I also heard a
rumor that aliens were coming down to Earth to occupy the bodies of three
prominent Democrats, and it looks like it came true."
Charles
Mims
http://www.the-sandbox.org
