A common refrain, here and elsewhere, is that Clarke is a Republican insider, not a Democrat operative with an ax to grind.

However, Clarke's political donations have all been to Democrats:

    his only listed political contributions during the two most recent election cycles have gone to former colleagues running as Democrats for Congress.

    In 2002, Clarke contributed $2,000 to Steven Andreasen, who headed arms control policy in the Clinton administration's National Security Council and was running for Congress in Minnesota. Andreasen was defeated by Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht.

    This year, Clarke has given $1,000 to Jamie Metzl, another Clinton-era NSC staffer. Metzl is running for the House seat from Missouri left vacant by the retirement of Democratic Rep. Karen McCarthy and so far has raised far more money than any other candidate.


And, in fact, prior to the hearings, Clarke was quite chummy with the Democrat members of the commission:

    Prior to his testimony Wednesday before the independent 9/11 commission, Richard Clarke conferred privately with one of its Democratic members, according to commission sources.

    These sources say Clarke huddled with Tim Roemer, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana. Roemer's subsequent questioning of Clarke contained a few barbs but consisted largely of open-ended questions giving the witness a chance to criticize President Bush. Roemer confirmed he had met ''a couple of times'' with Clarke


The above, combined with Clarke's flip-flops on the Bush Adminstration's handling of the war against terror (praising it prior to his book deal, attacking it thereafter), paint a picture not of a dedicate whistle-blower, but a partisan, out to sell--and tailor--his story to the highest bidder.