Forget 9/11 Commission's proposals. DeLay has ideas of his own.

[LiviaOlivia]

DAILY EXPRESS
DeLay Tactic
by Spencer Ackerman

Post date: 09.16.04
It's a widely acknowledged fact that the nation's foremost terrorism expert is none other than Texas Representative Tom DeLay. Forget about a bipartisan commission that spent a year and a half combing through millions of pages of documents and interviewing 1,200 people to determine the truth about September 11 and the United States' continuing vulnerabilities to terrorism. And forget about the bipartisan support in the Senate to enact the recommendations issued by that authoritative--and did I mention bipartisan?--commission. The House GOP leadership has decided it has a better idea for national security reform. Calling the idea of enacting the 9/11 Commission's 41 recommendations "pretty laughable," noted counterterrorism ace Tom DeLay announced plans last week to draw up a different series of prospective reforms, explaining that "we have plenty of experts on our committees."

DeLay and his proxy, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, aren't saying exactly what they'll propose. That, apparently, will come next week. (In fact, when asked how many of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations would pass the chamber DeLay effectively rules, he replied, "Who knows?") But rest assured that whatever DeLay comes up with will meet the levels of seriousness he has long displayed on issues of national security. Like in May 2002, for example, when he said an independent 9/11 Commission would only "make Osama bin Laden's job easier." Or when he found a novel use for the Department of Homeland Security: tracking down Texas Democrats who were denying a quorum to his off-year redistricting scheme.

More likely, the House Majority Leader is just reprising an old role: giving the White House the political cover to obstruct the 9/11 Commission. Hastert was crucial to this strategy last February, when he refused to support extending the Commission's investigation by the 60 days it asked for, allowing the White House to pretend it supported the extension while fretting that it was powerless to stop the loose-cannon speaker. Of course, the outcry grew so great that Hastert had to back down, which is why some prominent Republicans are nervous about DeLay and Hastert's new machinations. As Government Reform Committee Chairman Thomas M. Davis III told The Washington Post, "If, God forbid, there was an intervening event while Congress was futzing around, the politics of that would be horrendous." Actually, what would really be horrendous about such an "event" would be the deaths of Americans. But when dealing with the House GOP on questions of terrorism, one concession to reality at a time is the most you can ask for.

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[wurzel]

1. As long as the American people are willing to support these fools

the rest of us have to put up with it.

[wolfgirl]

2. No we don't have "to put up with it"

what we have to do is fight it!!

[JSJ]

3. delay's expertise limited to bug spraying, lying, treason nt