This is a fascinating response to the news that Condi Rice was allegedly briefed urgently about the al Qaeda threat in July 2001 and did nothing about it:
"I did tell the president at one point that I thought maybe all of us should go, because we had fought two wars and we ... had the largest terrorist attack in American history," Rice disclosed Sunday night while en route to the Mideast.
"And when he asked me to be secretary of state, I said, 'I think maybe — maybe you need new people.' " She did not say what the president's immediate response was.
So we know that both Rice and Rumsfeld want us to know that they both offered to resign after respective screw-ups, but the president insisted they stay on. As the evidence mounts of complete disarray in the White House over Iraq and the war, what I think you're seeing is an attempt by some of the principals to say: "Hey, we knew we'd screwed up, but we offered to quit - and POTUS wouldn't let us." I.e. the not-so-subtle message: don't blame us; blame Bush. Don't worry. Many of us do.
(Photo: Ron Edmonds/AP.)