… and justice for all.
This is bugging the hell out of me. Here’s a little news item that got too easily swept under the rug of New Hampshire primary mania. On Tuesday, the independent commission investigating Sept. 11 said it was going to request a two month extension, needed to fully complete its investigation. According to an article, “the Bush administration and congressional leaders suggested a delay was unlikely.†Every reference I’ve seen to this issue has either alluded or suggested (but never directly said) that the White House will not permit this extension because the deadline delay will release the results in July, smack dab in the middle of the election.
So, here’s my question. Can anyone cite a good reason why the White House would not give the investigation two months to complete it’s job? I’m looking for a legitimate reason that does not involve the almighty Presidential election. I have seen no actual quote or reference from the White House giving a reason, one way or the other.
Next question: if there is no viable reason (one that won’t muddy up Bush’s reelection campaign), does that constitute an obstruction of justice?
Note: yesterday, relatives of Sept. 11 victims requested that the investigation deadline be moved to January to “limit the influence of election-year politicsâ€.
nope. no good reason that i can think of.
but what’s your take on the request from Voices of Sept. 11?
fuck ’em, it’s current – just get the facts out?
(’cause surely a delay until Jan also helps Junior…)
I have no idea. I don’t know how much they’re really in the know of the scope of the investigation and its status. Personally, I’d rather hear from the investigators on what they need. If there was a threat of bureaucratic obstruction, then I’d say wait until January, but I’m not getting that impression. I think the Voices just want their voice to be as loud as possible. Whether that’s a respect for the dead issue, I can’t say, but I doubt that, too. The Voices have a right to their say (no pun intended), but right now, I don’t really care what that say is.
My gut reaction is, get the fucking truth out there. If the investigation needs 2 months, give them 2 months. If they asked for a year, well, they’re apparently not getting cooperation, and they need a year. But I think the investigators know better than anyone what they need.
Obviously, if the White House is stammering on the deadline, and would rather have the investigation incomplete than finished in two measly months, I think they’re afraid of something. And if they’re afraid of something, then it needs to come out before November – complete or otherwise, b/c if they get elected out of office, then the subsequent head hunt turns into a ghost story. It’s pretty bold when the press is speculating what the WH will decide without an actual quote or official decision made.
McCain and Lieberman are pushing for the extension; whether they’ll get it depends on how hard the White House stonewalls and if the damage from stonewalling (or stonewalling through their surrogates) is worse than getting the extension.
The New York Times summed it up better than I can:
“Republican strategists have worried that the report may be critical of the Bush administration — specifically, of failures by the White House to act on intelligence before Sept. 11 suggesting that a catastrophic terrorist attack might be imminent — and that it could damage the president’s re-election hopes if presented in the middle of the campaign.”
My guess is they’re afraid that it’s hard to paint yourself as the only guy who can protect the American people from all the badness in the world if you were asleep at the switch (or more interested in tax cuts than national security) before the worst terrorist attack in history.
splatt
something stinks in Denmark
That’s about what I figured. I just want to make sure I’m not jumping any guns. However, this raises two questions that are leaving me thoroughly confused. I certainly don’t expect anyone to have an answer, but they beg to be asked.
1 – why wouldn’t the WH push for an extension to January? It seems that a less than complete investigation that would not be extended by a partial party would expose more incriminating evidence than letting it go for another 7 months. Unless they were banking on Congress stepping in and doing it for them, so there motives don’t look absolutely and obviously stilted. Um, yeah.
2 – why would anyone in Congress, especially the Democrat’s Republican and the Republican’s Democrat, seek an extension into January? Seems like a helluva risky bait/bluff, just to see if the WH is going to stonewall it for the sake of giving the opposition “obvious” proof that the WH is impeding the investigation.
Re: something stinks in Denmark
Well…
1. Because they’re supremely arrogant motherfuckers who want everything their way.*
2. McCain & Lieberman are pushing for the two-month extension.
splatt
*but watch them retreat to this position if they look like they’re going to lose on the two-month thing.