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Democrats Make 9/11 Commission a Partisan Sham
By Doug Patton
May 3, 2004

In the landlocked State of Nebraska, whenever the governor wants to bestow a tongue-in-cheek honor on someone, that person receives a commission as an "Admiral" in a mythical entity known as the "Nebraska Navy." Bob Kerrey granted a few "Admiralties" during his single term as Nebraska's governor. Today, after two terms in the U.S. Senate, Kerrey sits on a panel considering much more serious issues. It is a panel that Kerrey has helped make into a partisan sham.

So far, most polls indicate that voters continue to believe that President Bush is a vastly better choice for commander-in-chief than Sen. Flip-Flop from Massachusetts. Of course, with the shameless demagoguery of the Left spewing forth from the likes of Ted Kennedy and company, who knows how long that will last? But for now, only the most partisan Democrats seem to believe that Mr. Bush has truly failed in his prosecution of the war on terror.

Unfortunately, some of those partisans are sitting on the so-called "National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States"-or "9/11 Commission" for short-which has turned out to be exactly what it was destined to become: an election year sham.

Among them is the aforementioned Bob Kerrey, who served on the Senate Intelligence Committee during Bill Clinton's Monica years and now wants to blame every Republican in sight for 9/11. Kerrey loves his "maverick" image, but those of us who knew him when he was Nebraska's Governor and U.S. Senator understand that despite his truly heroic service in Vietnam, as a public figure he has been an ideological left-winger for a long time.

Then there is a truly professional partisan, legal pit bull Richard Ben-Veniste, who took a decidedly prosecutorial tone while constantly interrupting National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, but fell all over himself in his fawning praise of the book-hawking Richard Clarke.

Jamie Gorelick was a Deputy Attorney General in Janet Reno's Justice Department. Now, despite having been part of the problem for several years, she, like Kerrey, has relished the opportunity to interrogate those with an "R" behind their names.

Former Reps. Tim Roemer and Lee Hamilton have been less visible but no less partisan than their Democrat counterparts on the commission.

The Republican-Democrat balance on the 9/11 Commission is nice window dressing, but the GOP members-most notably former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, former Illinois Gov. James Thompson and former U.S. Sen. Slade Gordon, R-Wash-are some of the most notorious RINOs (Republican In Name Only) ever assembled on one panel. Because these men have no stomach for a partisan fight during the commission's proceedings, they have remained silent while their Democrat "colleagues" have savaged Republican witnesses.

And The New York Times questions why George Bush and Dick Cheney insisted on testifying together, at the White House, with no TV, radio or recording devices, for one hour only.

Which brings us to last week's historic meeting between the president, the vice president and the members of the commission. After relentless Democrat criticism of the one-hour time limit, Bush and Cheney agreed to meet with the commission for as long as the members had questions of them. By all accounts, they were forthcoming, direct and very thorough in their answers.

This, of course, was not useful for the partisans, so two of them simply walked out. In a blatant display of disrespect, Kerrey and Hamilton left the meeting early. They claimed they had previous engagements.

If you believe that, I have a battleship for sale out here in Nebraska that I would really like to show you. It used to belong to Bob Kerrey. No, really...

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Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a speechwriter and policy advisor for federal, state and local candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country, and on selected Internet web sites, including www.GOPUSA.com, where he serves as the Nebraska Editor. He also writes for Talon News Service (www.TalonNews.com). Readers can e-mail him at dpatton@neonramp.com.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.