Prepare for a Sneering Whitewash

It's Not a 'Blame Game' - New York Times: "President Bush blithely announced at a photo-op cabinet meeting that he, personally, was going to 'find out what went right and what went wrong.' We can't imagine a worse idea. No administration could credibly investigate such an immense failure on its own watch. And we have learned through bitter experience - the Abu Ghraib nightmare is just one example - that when this administration begins an internal investigation, it means a whitewash in which no one important is held accountable and no real change occurs. Mr. Bush signaled yesterday that we are in for more of the same when he sneered and said, 'One of the things that people want us to do here is to play a blame game.' This is not a game. It is critical to know what 'things went wrong,' as Mr. Bush put it. But we also need to know which officials failed - not to humiliate them, but to replace them with competent people."

Of course he sneered. We've let him get away with this sort of behavior for almost five years. He has never been a good president. His leadership has been suspect for years. Only the most obvious work has been completed well, and that was usually completed by others under circumstances that allow people to work without the need for leadership. It remains to be seen if we will let another whitewash occur. Everyone seems pretty satisfied allowing a 9/11 whitewash even after the work of the 9/11 Commission.