Amos:

I see in your and Krugman's rhetoric laden writings that you then to equate rhetoric to fact and fact to lies.

"a nonexistent threat" Amos, do you believe that there is no terrorist threat in the US?

"right-wing noise machine" Does this device exist or is it a rhetorical straw man? I hear a lot of noise from you. Does it come from a left wing noise machine?

"assert without evidence that Saddam and Al Qaeda were allies" Show me this statement. I havn't seen it yet, only the assertion that he said so.

"Bush won the 2004 election because a quorum of voters still couldn't believe he would grossly mislead them on matters of national security." Up till now the drum beat has been he stole the election with evil Republican voting machines.

"At the end, there were false claims that Clinton staff members trashed the White House on their way out" ."Damage, theft, vandalism, and pranks occurred in the White House complex during the 2001 presidential transition," said a General Accounting Office (GAO) report, which was published here on Wednesday." http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200206/13/eng20020613_97755.shtml

"a parade of fake scandals: Whitewater, Troopergate, Travelgate, Filegate, Christmas-card-gate." Fake? How about Cattlegate, Nannygate, Helicoptergate, Gennifer Flowersgate, Vince Fostergate, I wonder where those Whitewater billing records came fromgate, Paula Jonesgate, Federal Building campaign phone callgate, Lincoln bedroomgate, White House coffeegate, Donations from convicted drug and weapons dealersgate, Buddhist Templegate, Web Hubbell hush moneygate, Lippogate, Chinese commiegate, Let's blame Kenneth Starrgate, Zippergate, Monicagate, Willeygate, Web Hubbell prison phone callgate, Selling Military Technology to the Chinese Commiesgate, Coverup for our Russian Comrades as Wellgate, Wag-the-Dog-gate, Jaunita Broaddrickgate, PBS-gate, Email-gate, Lootergate, Pardongate?

Loius Freeh:

"The problem was with Bill Clinton, the scandals and rumored scandals, the incubating ones and the dying ones never ended. Whatever moral compass the president was consulting was leading him in the wrong direction. His closets were full of skeletons just waiting to burst out."

Freeh says he was preoccupied for eight years with multiple investigations, including Whitewater, Jennifer Flowers and the Monica Lewinsky affair.

He found it deeply awkward and frustrating to be constantly investigating his boss and says it became 'theater of the absurd' when special prosecutor Ken Starr asked him to get a DNA sample from the president to compare with that notorious stain on Lewinsky's dress.

Freeh says the entire scenario of getting a blood sample from the president was like a bad movie.

"Well, we went over to the White House. We did it very carefully, very confidentially," remembers Freeh. The president was attending a scheduled dinner and pretended he had to go to the bathroom. Instead, Clinton went to a room where the FBI had people waiting to take his blood.

Freeh thought Clinton disgraced the presidency; Clinton felt Freeh was out to get him, and that Freeh was an insufferable Boy Scout.

As FBI director, Freeh operated strictly by the book and annoyed the president in his first week on the job when he returned his White House pass after learning the president was under investigation for Whitewater.

"The implications of a White House pass would mean I could go in and out of the building any time I wanted without really being recorded as a visitor," explains Freeh, adding "I wanted all my visits to be official. When I sent the pass back with a note, I had no idea it would antagonize the president. I found out years later that it did."

We were told that relations between the two men had deteriorated so badly, that former Chief of Staff John Podesta says Clinton always referred to the FBI director as 'Effing' Freeh.

"Well you know, I don't know how they referred to me and I really didn't care. My role and my obligation was to conduct criminal investigations. He, unfortunately for the country and unfortunately for him, happened to be the subject of that investigation," says Freeh.

Freeh says he stayed on longer as FBI director because he didn't want to give Clinton a chance to name his successor. "I was concerned about who he would put in there as FBI director because he had expressed antipathy for the FBI, for the director. I was going to stay there and make sure that he couldn't replace me."

Freeh had another reason for wanting to outlast Clinton. It was the 1996 Khobar Towers terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia, where 19 U.S. servicemen died and more than 370 were wounded.

President Clinton had sent the FBI to investigate and promised Americans that those responsible would pay. "The cowards who committed this murderous act must not go unpunished. Let me say it again: we will pursue this. America takes care of our own. Those who did it must not go unpunished," the president said.

But Freeh says the President failed to keep his promise.

The FBI wanted access to the suspects the Saudis had arrested but then-Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar said the only way to get access to prisoners would be if the president personally asked the crown prince for access.

Freeh says Clinton did not help him. He writes in his book:

"Bill Clinton raised the subject only to tell the crown prince that he understood the Saudi's reluctance to cooperate, and then he hit Abdullah up for a contribution to the Clinton Presidential Library."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/06/60minutes/main923095.shtml