DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will testify in public under oath before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as long as the panel seeks no further public testimony from White House officials, the administration said Tuesday.

Why is the Bush Administration making deals with the 9/11 commission? Didn’t Bush set up the 9/11 commission?

No, he didn’t. (The memory is the first to go — or is it eyesight that’s the first to go? Hmm, I can’t remember that either. But then, my eyesight is already gone.) I was all set to write about the Bush Administration’s flip-flop on this investigation, but I’m happy to report that Bush & Co. have been completely consistent in their efforts to block it.

“President Bush initially opposed the creation of such a panel.” (April 1, 2003) Then, after the 9/11 families insisted on its creation, “Leaders of [the] commission … complained .. that the Bush administration had been too slow to provide access to key documents and was intimidating witnesses by insisting that CIA and FBI ‘minders’ attend sensitive interviews.” (July 9, 2003) Bush & Co. continued the delays; “the chairman of the federal commission … said the White House was continuing to withhold several highly classified intelligence documents from the panel.” (Oct. 26, 2003) The commission made some headway but was again derailed by the Bush/Cheney obfuscation machine; “President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have placed strict limits on the private interviews they will grant to the [commission], saying they will meet only with the panel’s top two officials and that Bush will submit to only a single hour of questioning.” (Feb. 26, 2004)

And finally, Condoleezza Rice refused to testify before the commission. You have to appreciate her game face. She would make a formidable poker opponent. I think she could outstare a person with no eyelids.

So, anyway, it’s not as inscrutable as I thought when I wrote the title of this piece. It all makes perfect sense: if you don’t want the answers to be found, delay the investigation.