Be sure to read Mark Steyn's latest demonstration that he is one of the best conservative writers out there. On his merry way to shredding the idiocy of the Kerrion's hypocrisy, he raises an important point:
As for the home front, Kerry says: "As President, I will not evade or equivocate; I will immediately implement the recommendations of that [the 9/11] commission." Whoa, hold on there. There's a ton of recommendations, and some of us don't like the part about concentrating all US intelligence under one cabinet secretary who serves not at the President's pleasure but for a fixed term. That effectively institutionalises the groupthink resistance to alternative ideas that led to the 9/11 failures.
This notion of a Director of National Intelligence, whose term of service would be something like that of the Chairman of the Fed, is incredibly dangerous. The President, no matter what his party, must have, at the very least, veto power over any directives that might come down from a DNI if they are at cross-purposes with his own. For the first time in our history, the term czar would almost be an exact job description for such an office. A million times no!
But what's happening right now with the recommendations made by the Kean Commission? Bush has authorized his own Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, to head up a task force to see what can be done towards implementation. This is a good move, politically, because, somehow, the Report came out a lot more bipartisan than did the assholes who served on the Commission; Bush may as well make hay while the sun is shining.
But if Kerry is so gung-ho to get these recommendations implemented, why not start now? How about if the President gets everybody back to Washington for a month or two and have some good long debates about every one of them? Bush can give us updates in front of the cameras from the Rose Garden every few days and Kerry and Edwards can decide how to run a national campaign from the floor of the Senate. No? Too much competition with all the other hungry mouths? Hmmm. Maybe Lurch will have to do what Dole did in 1996 and either resign his seat or finally do his fucking job.
Let's have it, John. Let's implement it all!