Backing Away From A Fight. So Bill Frist says Richard Clarke "has told two entirely different stories under oath" and possibly "lied under oath to the United States Congress," but when he's called on it, he retreats, "telling reporters that he personally had no knowledge that there were any discrepancies between Clarke's two appearances."

C-SPAN is rebroadcasting Clarke's testimony at 10:00am tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Several news reports have taken clips wildly out of context, so if you have any interest in this story, please watch the whole thing. ... Also: a well-sourced list of 34 lies being told regarding Clarke's testimony. ... Condoleezza Rice will be interviewed this Sunday on 60 Minutes. What can she tell Ed Bradley that she can't say in front of the Commission? ... Remember: Democrats lie, Republicans misspeak.

I've said all along that I do not care who is implicated in allowing 9/11 to happen -- Democrats, Republicans, Ralph Nader, whoever -- we deserve to know the truth. Plain and simple. ... The terrorist attacks were allowed to happen. At this point, looking at the totality of the evidence, that cannot be denied. As Josh Marshall: "What this is about isn't Condi Rice or Richard Clarke or even George W. Bush. It's about what happened -- finding out what happened. One side wants to find out; the other doesn't. This whole story turns on that simple fact."

Support The Troops, Part 1,693: "Soldiers headed for Iraq are still buying their own body armor -- and in many cases, their families are buying it for them ... Last October, it was reported that nearly one-quarter of American troops serving in Iraq did not have ceramic plated body armor, which can stop bullets fired from assault rifles and shrapnel."