Republicans don't want an Independent Katrina investigation

[MODU]

Reading some of the amendments to the bill which the investigation is listed, I can see why some people voted against it.  A request for investigation should be a stand-alone request with no Congressmen on the committee.  The investigation should be headed up by professionals in the fields of catastrophe response, evacuation planning, transportation, etc . . . a truly independent panel. 

[MODU]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050914/ids_photos_ts/r2587077477.jpg#gooderhead

I thought it was a fake.

I'm not entirely sure that it is really Bush; that's very close for a reporter.

It's being reported that the photographer says it's Bush, but there is no way to tell from the picture.  What is needed is a comparrison between the handwriting in the photo and prior handwriting examples known to be from Bush.  However, it is pretty funny.  hahha

[MODU]

Just like the Democrats who would rather have congressmen on the comittee instead of experts in the field. I can think of two guys in John Breaux and Rudy Guiliani who would be perfect people to chair a bipartisan committee. Instead, the Democrats want people like Biden or Kennedy to sit on the commission and turn it into a circus.

What part of bi-partisan commission don't you understand? The Democrats might pick Breaux.

The only problem then is this does not become an independent investigation.  Just politicians reviewing an event.  For a real investigation, they should hire professionals in these fields to examine the whole response and see what went wrong and how it should be corrected.

[MODU]

The the picture supposively of Bush writing his need for a bathroom break is in question.  Here is another same of his writing, this time done while in session on a piece of paper (note it is also in script and matches the sample you provided):



Why would Bush need to change his writing style in the latest photo?

Note the "R" in Republican and Reign.  They match.

[MODU]

Also looking at the photo, there are two writing styles on the paper itself.  The top half is plain, with a mix words writting in caps and others not.  Below it, it looks like it is in script (or Bush script).  Maybe Bush (if this is Bush as Rick Wilking claims) is responding to someone elses not to him? 

[MODU]

Yup, if that is in fact Bush writing in the photo, then it's clear that he did not write the top half of the message.

[MODU]

Indeed, a complete and total waste of time, money, resources, staffing, energy, and many other things. I mean what do they really want to do here, investigate it to find out if it was really a hurricane?

The Democrats want to try to put on another show, that's all.

Under their proposal, yes.  Remember, they originally only wanted to investigate the federal response to the storm, and not the whole response on all levels.  It was only after Bush called for a full independent investigation into the whole response that the language changed.  But still, it's not an independent investigation when there are Congressmen on the panel.  The only way to have a truly indenpendent investigation, and one that will offer useful feedback on how to improve the response structure, is to have outside experts sit on the panel, review all the material, and then make their response.  Anything else, and it's just showboating and spinning.

[MODU]

Do you really believe that Bush would create an indepented commission that wasn't just filled with political hacks like Brown?

If had to, yes.  However, I highly doubt that Bush would be the person picking the experts.  That would be the task of the Congress.  Of course, that still leaves it wide open for the Congressmen to pick their own hacks on both sides of the aisle.  At least the politicians won't be involved with the actual investigation, so that part will at least be much more independent and productive.

[MODU]

You seem to have a lot of trust in Bush here. Remember, he's the guy who decided that a failed horse laywer would be a good head of FEMA.

Last time I checked, people were singing the praises of FEMA last year with the multiple responses to Florida following their hurricanes.  How quickly people forget.

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I'm not opposing a real independent investigation.  In fact, I'm calling for one.  The only way it will be independent is if there are no politicians involved but rather made up of professionals that actually understand this stuff, and can make realistic recommendations that will benefit everyone in the future, rather than politicians who pretend.  You can't get more independent than that.

[MODU]

But yet you oppose this commission? Are you afraid that it would overshadow Bush's commission? There's no reason that we couldn't have 2.

Two commissions take too much time away from the issues as well as wastes our money (as people have brought up the Clinton hearings earlier).  Do it once, do it right.  Have the professionals on the panel and keep the politics out of it.