FU, Pumpkinhead

This is my favorite exchange from Richard Clarke's appearance on Meet the Rove:

MR. RUSSERT: Now, when you resigned, you sent a very polite letter to the president: "It's been an enormous privilege to serve you these past 24 months. I will always remember the courage, determination, calm leadership you demonstrated on September 11. I thank you again for the opportunity to serve you. You have provided me"--was that just being polite?

MR. CLARKE: Yeah.

MR. RUSSERT: Or are you now just being disloyal?

MR. CLARKE: No. Well, my mother taught me to be polite. ...

....

MR. CLARKE: Condi Rice. And I said, "Well, can I brief him on cybersecurity?" "Oh, yes, you can brief him on that." Now, you read my letter to him. Let's read his letter back to me. Maybe you'd like to read it, if you can read this.

MR. RUSSERT: Go ahead, please.

I didn't see it, and I don't think Clarke was questioning Russert's literacy. Rather, it sounds like a dig at Russert for his little trick of reading pro-Bush talking points with feigned objectivity. "Oh, yeah? Well read this, Pumpkinhead." Russert couldn't bring himself to read Bush's words praising Clarke. It's like Clarke handed Russert his own balls while asking him, "pardon me, Tim, but did you leave these at the Crawford ranch?"