McCainblogger Mike Goldfarb’s reference yesterday to Richard Clarke as “the consummate 9/10 Democrat” causes me to ask: Does Goldfarb actually know who Richard Clarke is (other than some guy who once appeared on Bill Maher’s TV show)?

Clarke is one of the few government officials to have sounded the alarm on Al Qaeda before 9/11, so it seems odd to call him a “9/10 Democrat,” especially since Clarke is…a Republican. Given the fact that Clarke perceived the Al Qaeda threat clearly and early, I think it says a lot about Obama’s anti-terror policy that Clarke has chosen to play for his team. Here’s some emails that Clarke wrote before 9/11 which reflect his 9/10 mindset:

“Bin Ladin Public Profile May Presage Attack” (May 3)

“Terrorist Groups Said Co-operating on US Hostage Plot” (May 23)

“Bin Ladin’s Networks’ Plans Advancing” (May 26)

“Bin Ladin Attacks May Be Imminent” (June 23)

“Bin Ladin and Associates Making Near-Term Threats” (June 25)

“Bin Ladin Planning High-Profile Attacks” (June 30)

“Planning for Bin Ladin Attacks Continues, Despite Delays” (July 2)

In stark contrast, it says a lot about Team McCain’s anti-terror policy that they’re pinch hitting James Woolsey, one of the few government officials who, among various other eccentricities, believed that Saddam Hussein was behind the first World Trade Center attack.

I look forward to Team McCain’s next national security call, where Laurie Mylroie will explain that Saddam Hussein is planning a chemical weapons attack from beyond the grave.

Today, the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Rights held a hearing on abusive interrogation to look at the role of administration lawyers in crafting policies allowing the torture of detainees.

Former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith was scheduled to testify today about his role in vigorously pushing to eliminate the standards of the Geneva Conventions and making the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay a “Geneva-free zone.” However, at the opening of the hearing, subcommittee chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) declared that Feith “withdrew from the hearing.” Nadler explained:

Despite his prior commitment to testify, this morning, Mr. Feith informed this committee through his counsel that he would not appear today because he is not willing to appear alongside one of our other witnesses.

Watch it:

Sources on Capitol Hill told ThinkProgress that Feith was afraid to appear with Colin Powell’s former chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson, who was also testifying today. After leaving the State Department in protest over Bush’s policies, Wilkerson became an outspoken critic of Bush’s foreign policy and aggressively criticized Feith’s incompetence. From a speech to the New America Foundation in 2005:

Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, whom most of you probably know Tommy Franks said was the stupidest blankety-blank man in the world. He was. Let me testify to that. He was. Seldom in my life have I met a dumber man.

Nadler emphasized that Feith would “appear before this committee before too much time has elapsed,” adding, “We will reschedule a hearing at which Feith will appear so he can elucidate his testimony on this issue.”