June 5, 2002
“I don’t believe any longer that it’s a matter of connecting the dots,” Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told reporters. “I think they had a veritable blueprint and we want to know why they didn’t act on it.”Remember when remarks like this were prima facie evidence of insane Democratic partisanship? That was of course a long time ago. Perhaps as much as two or three weeks. [09:25 PM]
No, this is different. What was wildly
partisan was "What did Bush know and when
did he know it" still being aluded to by some
L.A. Times pieces implying that Bush could
have prevented 9/11 but didn't. This, I hope,
is and will remain a focused look for why
we didn't discover and prevent the 9/11
plans ahead of time, rather than an attempt
to score political points. When we discover,
as I expect that we will, that many years of
political oversite of the FBI and CIA had focused
them in direction and on tasks that are
not optimal in the post cold war world,
a world that both political parties have
not wanted to look at closely and carefully
enough. We'll probably discover that we
got the FBI and CIA that we asked for, at least
as the wants were expressed by the people
we elected. What is going to be needed,
if we are to get worthwhile results, is to
force both parties and the media to be
honest about what happened and not turn it
into one more big game of "gotcha"! Excusing
the democrats for their initial attempt at
"gotcha", doesn't help.
Just watch out that you're not linked to by the Cynthia McKinney fan club...
Appointed President Bush promised to bring bipartisanship to Washington. This is proof of his success.
And Nixon in his time had the slogan, "Bring us together." He did, he did!
Everything is an attempt to score political points. One hopes that this does not obscure the truth - but politics is politics, and that is not entirely bad as some people seem to think.
Hard-Hitting Moderator: Teresa Nielsen Hayden.
Comments on Straws, wind, etc.: