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Political Issues High in Sept. 11 Panel (9-11 Commission feeling the heat for naked partisanship?)
The Associated Press via Fox news ^ | 4/6/04

Posted on 04/06/2004 11:47:18 PM PDT by MNJohnnie

Edited on 04/07/2004 7:28:52 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]

WASHINGTON — Condoleezza Rice isn't the only one with a lot riding on her appearance Thursday before the Sept. 11 commission.

If panel members appear politically motivated in their questioning of the national security adviser, it could raise questions about their credibility — and the findings in their final report this summer.

Thomas H. Kean, the panel's Republican chairman, says he and Democratic vice chairman Lee Hamilton are mindful of the political overtones in a presidential election year.

They issued an edict to fellow commissioners after last week's politically charged testimony from former government counterterror chief Richard Clarke. The message: Leave politics out of it.

"In a very difficult atmosphere, in a town that is the most polarized I've ever seen, the commission is trying to do a job for the American people that is to the best of our ability nonpolitical," Kean said in an interview. "That is enormously hard to do, but I think we can get it done and people should leave us alone."

Nolan McCarty, a Princeton University professor of politics and public affairs, said Rice's testimony will offer a stern test for the panel.

"Partisanship is almost inevitable," he said. "There's going to be pressure from all quarters to reach specific conclusions either in exonerating the current administration or blasting the previous administration or the reverse. This may be the low point."

Kean, a former New Jersey governor, expressed frustration with people in Washington who he said are intent on politicizing the commission's work. While panel members are political appointees who have diverse points of view and different constituencies, they are fair-minded and get along well, he said.

The 10-member panel, made up of five Republicans and five Democrats, was criticized by some relatives of Sept. 11 victims after two GOP commissioners sharply questioned the motivations of Clarke, who testified that President Bush hadn't considered the al-Qaida threat an urgent priority.

The commissioners, Fred Fielding, who served as President Reagan's legal counsel, and former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson, received calls from the White House during Clarke's testimony. Kean said that in those calls the two were acting as go-betweens in hopes of getting Rice to testify that day.

But some relatives wondered whether the White House fed them information for their questioning of Clarke. They worry that more partisanship might be in store during the Rice hearing.

"I think the fix is in," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother had been the pilot of American Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon. "There will be partisan elements of that panel who will be looking for a way to embarrass or discredit the Bush administration," she said.

This isn't the first time the commission has had to fend off questions about the political leanings of members. Other questions involve:

— Commission executive director Philip Zelikow's ties to the Bush administration. Zelikow served on the Bush transition team for taking office and is friends with Rice, who co-wrote with him a 1995 book on German history. Zelikow has recused himself from the panel's proceedings dealing with Rice and the Bush transition.

— Commissioner Jamie Gorelick's ties to the Clinton administration. Gorelick served as deputy attorney general under Janet Reno. She, like Zelikow, has answered questions from commission staff about periods when she served. She has recused herself from those parts of the probe.

— Commissioner Bob Kerrey's motives. The former Democratic senator from Nebraska's impassioned questioning about pre-Sept. 11 military options to Bush and Clinton Cabinet members during the last hearing prompted some to speculate he was positioning himself to be a vice presidential choice for Democrat John Kerry. Kerrey has laughed off the suggestion.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said the panel has an enormously difficult task when it issues its report in July. A politically divided report would undermine public confidence in its objectivity, while the findings in a unanimous one could be watered-down, he said.

"The stakes are so high in a presidential year," he said. "The commission's goal from the beginning is to have a unanimous report. If that is true, it nearly guarantees that it blames both the Clinton and Bush administrations. The report essentially writes itself, and they haven't uncovered anything earth-shattering."

If the commission succeeds in looking nonpartisan during Rice's 2 1/2 hours of testimony, they will have little time to bask in the accomplishment. Next week there's a two-day public hearing that will include testimony from Reno, CIA Director George Tenet, FBI Director Robert Mueller, former FBI Director Louis Freeh and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 911; 911commission; attorneygeneral; bobkerrey; bush; ciadirector; condoleezzarice; debraburlingame; fbidirector; fredfielding; georgetenet; jamiegorelick; jimthompson; johnashcroft; kerry; leehamilton; louisfreeh; nolanmccarty; philipzelikow; richardclarke; robertmueller; terrrorism; thomashkean
So perhaps the 9-11 Comission is feeling the heat for it's Soviet show trial behavior during the Clarke smear job?
1 posted on 04/06/2004 11:47:20 PM PDT by MNJohnnie
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2 posted on 04/06/2004 11:48:26 PM PDT by Support Free Republic (I'd rather be sleeping. Let's get this over with so I can go back to sleep!)
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To: MNJohnnie
Ah, the issue what Bush knew instead of what B.J. Clinton and Clarke DID to aid Al Qaeda
3 posted on 04/07/2004 12:07:17 AM PDT by DTA (feja e shqiptarit eshte terorizm)
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To: DTA
The only way in the world for this to have any value at all would have been AFTER the elections. All we have now is political posturing. Condi is walking into a perjury trap.
4 posted on 04/07/2004 12:13:29 AM PDT by Texasforever (God Bless And Keep Our Troops)
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To: MNJohnnie
Well .. I was more than happy to supply part of the heat.
5 posted on 04/07/2004 12:19:51 AM PDT by CyberAnt (The 2004 Election is for the SOUL of AMERICA)
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To: MNJohnnie
"If<-? panel members appear politically motivated in their questioning of the national security adviser, it could<-? raise questions about their credibility"

"They issued an edict to fellow commissioners after last week's ->politically charged testimony<- from former government counterterror chief Richard Clarke"

They just can't get themselves to admit it can they? With the WOT ongoing, this was the worse time to do this. And with the memos that surfaced from the senate intel committee showing that this was just an election year Dog and Pony show, is it any wonder it would be a political witch hunt?
6 posted on 04/07/2004 2:53:42 AM PDT by Broadside Joe
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To: MNJohnnie
Thomas H. Kean (search), the panel's Republican chairman, says he and Democratic vice chairman Lee Hamilton (search) are mindful of the political overtones in a presidential election year.

No, they aren't, or they wouldn't have held the hearings in the critical phase of an election cycle. No matter which side of the political aisle you're on, you have to acknowledge that no good can come out of a committee that sits at a time like this. Feh! How did we let this happen?

7 posted on 04/07/2004 3:14:27 AM PDT by prion
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To: MNJohnnie
"the commission is trying to do a job for the American people that is to the best of our ability nonpolitical," Kean said in an interview. "That is enormously hard to do, but I think we can get it done and people should leave us alone."

ALONE? Then can they explain to me and all Americans just WHY have they been giving interviews on television?

WHY have they leaked Sec. Rice's statement?

WHY have made little statements (albeit, much like a whore showing her knee on the streetcorner) to the media?

I know this is a partisan committee. Don't insult my intelligence by pretending you are not.
8 posted on 04/07/2004 4:12:00 AM PDT by OpusatFR (Brain freeze. Mind farts. No tagline today......)
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To: MNJohnnie
But! But! But!, I thought the commission was a non-partison thing. How could this happen?
9 posted on 04/07/2004 6:35:18 AM PDT by Piquaboy
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To: MNJohnnie
If they are not feeling the heat, they should. The commission is intirely inapproate during an election year and by their continuing to beat a dead horse, they are hurting our country and our security. This public witch hunt should stop NOW. Please freep the members, especially Kerry, he is grandstanding for the DNC and Clinton administration on whose watch the terrorists got the upper hand.

(members)

Freep mail them: (e-mail)

10 posted on 04/07/2004 6:55:38 AM PDT by yoe (Political Correctness OUT! Profiling IN! Know your enemy!)
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To: MNJohnnie
info@9-11Commission.gov"

Gentlemen,

What you are doing is tantamount to a Witch-hunt; 9/11 happened - it was an aggressive Act of War against the United States of America - that should be enough for any intelligent commissioner. This inquisition must stop as you are aiding and abetting our enemies, you are doing just what they want - To Divide the Country. This 9/11 commission is little more than a political exercise.

Please stop it. Mrs. Rice has already testified before your august body and satisfied your questions. Now, due to Political Correctness and pressure from those who want America to fail in Iraq, you have capitulated to those pressures and that Sirs, is wrong. Mrs. Rice is our Top Security Advisor and you people want her to bare her knowledge to the world? You have been duped.

Sincerely,

11 posted on 04/07/2004 7:10:04 AM PDT by yoe (Political Correctness OUT! Profiling IN! Know your enemy!)
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To: MNJohnnie
The RINO's on the panel don't care about the stinking politicing going on.
12 posted on 04/07/2004 7:25:25 AM PDT by freedom1st
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To: MNJohnnie
I guess when enough political BS is thrown, people start to notice that the commission is a two-party whitewash that will come up with anything but the truth. If they really wanted credibility, they would have selected someone outside the political establishment to do the investigation.
13 posted on 04/07/2004 9:45:42 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Voting Bush for lack of reasonable alternatives)
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