HEMMER: I am hearing from some families of the victims from 9/11, they're saying if it was such an urgent matter, if you truly believed the White House botched the war on terror beginning on September 12, why now on such a critical national, international issue do you write the book in March of 2004?If Hemmer had an ounce of knowledge, he'd KNOW that unless you're Stephen King, books take years to write, especially for a first-timer like Clarke. I know. My wife's a writer. We both have friends who are authors. YEARS.
CLARKE: I wrote the book as soon as I retired from government. It was finished last fall and it sat in the White House for months, because as a former White House official my book has to be reviewed by the White House for security purposes. This book could have come out a long time ago, months and months ago if the White House hadn't sat on it.
HEMMER: The White House is saying they only check the facts when it comes to the book itself and whether or not they are sacrificing national security.
CLARKE: They took months and months to do it. They're saying, why is the book coming out at the beginning of the election? I didn't want it to come out at the beginning of the election. I wanted it to come out last year. They're the reason, because they took so long to clear it.
Oh, and Bill - stop with the invoking of 9/11 families unless it's relevant, okay?
