Chron: Jimmy Carter should investigate Bush's hurricane-response failings
Let's read today's thoughtful musings handed down from the comfy confines of the Chronicle's editorial board room:
President George W. Bush's immediate reaction to the swelling criticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and of his grossly unqualified appointees to manage the agency, was to declare he would personally lead an inquiry into his administration's handling of the crisis. The president should make every effort to educate himself about what went wrong, a list that would include his own failure to perform effectively as commander in chief. However, it doesn't take a doctorate in jurisprudence to realize that a president can't credibly investigate his own administration.
Who would have believed a report by President Richard Nixon on the Watergate break-in, or an examination of the Whitewater land deal by former President Bill Clinton?
A logical forum for delving into governmental shortcomings exposed by Katrina would seem to be a congressional committee such as the one Republican leaders plan to appoint. The problem is that partisanship on Capitol Hill has paralyzed the House Ethics Committee and is already poisoning the effort to examine the Katrina disaster.
[snip]
While not ideal, the most promising option is one suggested by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.: an independent commission along the lines of the Sept. 11 probe. It should be headed by national figures of unassailable independence and credibility, such as former President Jimmy Carter, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Their mission would be to examine the failings of the Katrina relief effort, in a setting open to the public, and to document the facts.
Oh my! Once I recovered from the hysterical fit of laughter that came over me when I read the bolded part, I found Orrin Judd's priceless observation on all these hurricane-response criticisms:
Can't wait to see Democrats in Congress hand the White House power to keep the military poised to sieze and control majority black and Democrat-controlled cities any time it rains hard enough....
This ought to be interesting.
UPDATE: Interestingly, on the page next to the editorial, the Chron runs Charles Krauthammer's column which puts the finger-pointing in the proper order.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: Jimmy Carter?! President Bush has notably ignored the meddlesome former president twice now by asking former President Clinton and his father to head high-profile relief efforts. Is the Chronicle editorial board so out of touch with reality that they think the Bush Administration is going to let Jimmy Carter meddle in anything that matters? Apparently so.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/09/05 09:02 AM | Print |
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