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January 31, 2008

NEW DISH ON THE COMMISH

Now come charges, supposedly laid out in the forthcoming book by respected Times journalist Philip Shenon, The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation, that during the 9/11 Commission’s machinations, its executive director, Philip Zelikow, kept up back-channel communications with Karl Rove. Please check out the alarming report at this link to Washington Decoded.

When it comes to the 9/11 Commission, as Sontag and others have posited about photographs: Nothing shocks us any more. In 2004, historian Ben DeMott had already laid out, in a scathing Harper’s piece, that the report was, on balance, a “whitewash.” And I point fingers in Watching the World Change, insisting that the commission proved toothless in the end by making recommendations that were half-measures and by refusing to bring charges against Bush administration officials who were derelict of duty: “[Where is] the culpability of Congress, which, through its bipartisan 9/11 Commission, ended up letting the executive branch off the hook despite systemic, catastrophic lapses”? (page 242)

My main worry, though, is that Shenon’s revelations, once they gain momentum (as they surely will in the coming days) will give the 9/11 Truthies/Truthers/Truthists all the more ammo, further taking everyone’s eyes off the main target (that bull's-eye being al Qaeda, as many tend to forget - not the Bush administration, despite its infinitely inexcusable ineptitude).

On the Primary Front….FAREWELL, SWEET RUDY!….We hardly knew ye….Your fall from grace was steep and swift, for which we thank the forces of karmic gravity.

Citizen Photojournalist? You might want to visit this alpha site: Flixwagon.com.

….And, for grins, please check out this week’s blog post, “Unsubscribe Me…Please!” by yours truly, at VanityFair.com.

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