More on the Pointless Commission

Eli at Left I comments on that intelligence investigation commission that Ridiculous Sleezer appointed to not look at the White House responsibility in the lies used to justify Operation Inigo Montoya.

As far as the commission, just a brief note. Orcinus discusses at length one of the co-chairs, rabid right-winger Laurence Silberman. The Washington Post tells us what we need to know about Chuck Robb, the other co-chair: "In 1991, Robb was among only 10 Democrats who voted for to give then-President George H.W. Bush authority to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait." And then we have the third big name, John McCain, a man who has been actively campaigning for the re-election George Bush within just the last few weeks. Not to mention that he has already prejudged the case, when he said just today:

"The president of the United States, I believe, did not manipulate any kind of information for political gain or otherwise."

Enough said about the "independent" commission.  Left I article


This description beggars the reality about Silberman. He's not merely a conservative. He's a jurist who has a proven track record of making decisions, and enforcing policy, based not on the law, reason or basic principles of fair play, but purely on how they will benefit or harm the Republican party. "Rabidly partisan" is an understated description. Of all the people likely to produce a fair and thorough investigation of the WMD matter, Silberman should be last on anyone's list. That he is now heading up this supposed probe tells us all we need to know in advance about its quality.  Orcinus post

The panel will be co-chaired by a Democrat and a Republican: Former Sen. and former Gov. Chuck Robb of Virginia, and former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Laurence Silberman, a conservative who served in the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Other members include:

• Lloyd Cutler, who served as White House counsel to Presidents Carter and Clinton;

• Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona;

• Former appellate court judge Pat Wald, a Democrat;

• Rick Levin, president of Yale University, Bush's alma mater; and

• Ret. Adm. Bill Studeman, a former deputy director of the CIA.

Earlier Friday, Bush met at the White House with Charles Duelfer, the new head of the Iraq Survey Group that is searching for weapons and evidence of weapons programs in that country.   CNN article

Why are we still spending money on this?

Go ahead and look up information about these panelists. I'm jaded enough that I figure it's a given the commission won't find any culpability in the White House, so I don't really care who they are. If they have integrity, if they want to find the truth, they'll be stymied and blocked in oh so many ways.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.