Posted 8:25 AM by Robert

More From Nuancy Boy On The September 11 Commission Report

John Kerry is talking again about the September 11 Commission Report, and he has Mickey Kaus "presuming:"

kf Celebrates Diversity: Referring to the 9/11 Commission, Kerry today announced,

"I would have immediately said to the commission, yes, we're going to implement those recommendations." [The link seems a little off, since it doesn't lead to an article with the quoted phrase in it, which this article does contain.]

Presumably this means he'd implement the commission's marquee recommendation--for a cabinet-level czar who consolidates the management of the government's various intelligence shops. (Kerry's endorsed the idea before.) But, as an alert kf reader emails:

 Doesn't [this] seem like a terrible idea ... 

What follows is a typically Kaussian hi-quality analysis of the issue, which the reader is encouraged to consider. The kausfiles analysis includes a note that Senator Levin seems to be seriously opposed to the idea of a cabinet-level czar who consolidates the management of the government's various intelligence shops. In that respect Senator Levin squarely represents the opinions of the the liberal wing of the Democratic Party - who are, of course, not the only opponents of this idea.

In my opinion kausfiles is "presuming" way too much on this topic. A hint of Senator Kerry's probable strategy can be seen in the opening line of the "corrected"-linked article:

Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry called Tuesday for extending the mandate of the bipartisan commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, saying it should keep working for an additional 18 months to help ensure that its recommendations are implemented.

Does one accelerate implementation of the Commission's recommendations by sending them back to the kitchen? Of course not. That's a way to allow Congress to stall when a tough issue comes up by passing the buck to the Commission for "clarification and further review." Senator Levin's opposition to the Commission's "marquee" proposal guarantees that such issues will come up even if the White House proposes exactly what the Commission proposed. John Kerry is just attempting the hoary "death or delay by committee" skam.

And that likely indicates the real Kerry position overall.