QandO

I'd disagree. While the meeting was important and leaving distasteful, the really important thing is that somebody be there to ask the questions and hear the answers. Whether that is all the members, or most of them, the information is still there. And those who left, presumably, had time to ask the questions they wanted answered when they were there, and get the answers they missed later.

And besides, Lee Hamilton has been pretty credibly non-partisan, so far.

Still, it does look bad.

Posted by: Jon Henke at April 30, 2004 08:59 AM

They got what they wanted: Rice to testify, Bush & veep in closed-door sessions. Of course, it didn't come off the way 'they' wanted, since Rice flatly refuted Clarke's comments, and made the comission look bad just by being professional. But since any admission from the current administration that there was room for improvement in anything (see Iraq war memo) just leads to huge headlines in the print media, I'm not sure the comission could do its job even if it wanted.

Posted by: Nony Mouse at April 30, 2004 09:12 AM

Jon: They've whined and cried for months about the importance of the commission being given access to the President and VP. They've said it is probably the most important bit of testimony one can have. And then when they get the opportunity, they bug out early?

No, sorry. I can't IMAGINE any other committment more important.

The reason they left?

No cameras. No chance to grandstand (especially in Kerrey's case).

And of course we don't KNOW if they got a chance to explore completely the supposed important questions since they weren't there to exploit that testimony with followup questions.

Nope ... the level of seriousness is demonstrated in the fact that they thought some other committment was more important than questioning the President and VP on the cause of the worst domestic disaster in the history of the US.

Posted by: McQ at April 30, 2004 09:14 AM

Jon,

C'mon, man. It's the President. They're interviewing him about 9-11! They left for fundraisers and lobbying efforts, I believe ...

It looks more than bad, it looks ridculous.

Posted by: Bill from INDC Journal at April 30, 2004 09:28 AM

Jon, McQ, etc.

I'm a member of the White House Press Corps, and I can tell you that there was a HUGE phalanx of cameras and microphones waiting for the members of the commission upon the end of the meeting. Normally, visitors to the Oval Office -- whether they be diplomats or members of Congress -- come out the normal door and chat with reporters at the "stakeout" on the north-west driveway. In an unusual move, the 9-11 commissioners were whisked out a side door away from the cameras and microphones.

Everyone covering the event yesterday was surprised. I thought there was no way Ben-Veniste and Kerrey could avoid the temptation of a dozen cameras and microphones. Clearly, Kean and Hamilton have told the commission members that their flapping gums are hurting the entire enterprise. How one exits the Oval Office, by the way, is not under the control of the White House. People who step to the mics often say things that anger the White House, but they can do nothing about it.

And, for the record, Hamilton left because as the president of some group that was greeting Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, he was scheduled to introduce him at a luncheon yesterday. Perhaps, considering the circumstances, someone else could have done the honor. I imagine Martin would have understood. As for Kerrey, he had a lobbying appointment with Sen. Pete Domenici on Capitol Hill. Certainly, Domenici would have understood if Kerrey was a little late.

That's the real skinny. They did not ditch early because of cameras -- they were there waiting -- and it was not to go to any fundraisers.

Jim

Posted by: Jim at April 30, 2004 09:42 AM

No, It's not enough that someone was there to ask questions. Everyones mind functions differently. MAYBE the 2 idiots that left would've had something to add to the discussion, some point to bring up, some question to ask, some avenue to explore.

Now we'll never know.

If this is important, YOU BE THERE. AND YOU STAY THERE.

This comission is a joke. Kerrey has time to go on The Daily Show and make a dick out of himself, but no time to ask the President about 9/11 issues?

This nation deserves better.

Posted by: shark at April 30, 2004 09:47 AM

Jim:

Thanks very much for the insight. The camera's I was referring too were those to be found in the hearing room where these folks have been seen to posture and preach. No chance for them to do that in a private meeting.

Both of the "events" which took priority, as you point out, could have been delayed or done by another. The fact that those two placed those events above the 9/11 commission testimony of the President and VP says volumes, at least to me, about their seriousness.

Posted by: McQ at April 30, 2004 10:00 AM

Don't disagree, McQ. Indeed, I'm sure if the cameras were in the room and it was being shown live all over the world, Kerrey and Hamilton would have put off quadruple bypass surgery or their own daughters' wedding to be there the whole time. And then they would have found time for interviews all over the talk shows.

Funny thing is, some reporters were trying to get a rise out of Scott McClellan in this morning informal briefing about the two Dems leaving early. Scott, needless to say, didn't take the bait. "He wasn't upset at all. He understood that they had prior committments. Etc." The White House is taking the high road on this, and, frankly, it's politically smart.

Jim

Posted by: Jim at April 30, 2004 10:30 AM

Jim -

Sorry, lobbying and a diplomatic event. It really doesn't change my estimation that it was the President, though ... it seems crazy to leave, especially considering the magnitude of the interviewee and the subject matter ...

Thanks for the inside skinny!

Posted by: Bill from INDC Journal at April 30, 2004 10:54 AM