Go Hillary! Get that commission formed!

Sen. Hillary Clinton wants a Katrina Commission to look into everything that went wrong. Her bid to form such a commission has been defeated, and that’s too bad. I wanted it, and I hope Sen. Clinton continues to push for it, for several reasons.

Aside from not wanting to have to listen to this woman bray, down the road, as she is campaigning for the White House that she – and she alone – was “trying to get to the bottom of the systemic failures which created such catastrophic conditions which were exacerbated by an uncaring and racist Republican administration blahblahblah…” I want to see the commission formed because I want to see laid out the stark differences between how the state and local governments of Alabama and Mississippi performed as opposed to how the same officials performed in Louisiana. I want the contrasts made plain, for all to see.

I want Mayor Nagin to testify as to why hospitals and nursing homes were not evacuated, why the citizenry were not evacuated even after Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center and the American President both called him and prevailed on him to order a mandatory evac well before Katrina struck.

I want to see Governor Blanco testify as to why she did not allow FEMA and Federal help to come into her state, even as they were on the ground in Mississippi and Alabama – helping black folk as well as white – at the invitations and behests of the Governors of those respective states.

I want the head of the State HSD office to explain – under oath – how it was that the Red Cross and the Salvation Army were not permitted into NO, where thousands were trapped in the Superdome and the Convention Center, and elsewhere, to disperse the food, water and supplies there were standing by, ready to hand out. I’d like to hear the testimony of those relief workers.

I think the senate Republicans were wrong to kill this commission – I want to see it!

I want to see a The Katrina Commission formed, some “bi-partisan” commission of has-beens, preening narcissists, thugs and “conveniently-placed-but-conflicted-Clintonites” just like the 9/11 Commission.

I am willing to endure the predictable circus the thing will become, lobbing softballs at Democrats while they seethe and address Republicans through gritted teeth and the Republicans on the commission sit around making nice.

I am willing to endure the waste of taxpayer monies while the commissioners make grandiose opening statements, ask loaded questions, prevent those testifying from actually answering the questions and then ultimately produce a milquetoasty, moderate, nothing-much of a “final” report of findings that ultimately absolves nearly everyone (take a guess who will get blamed) and does all it can to make the inept state and local governments of Louisiana look just as well-tuned and effective as their counterparts in Mississippi and Alabama.

I want the answer to this question, which no one has really managed to answer yet: Where, exactly, did FEMA drop the ball, when research is confirming that they reacted quicker in New Orleans than they did during Hurricanes Hugo and Floyd and Andrew?

I want this commission – I say bring it on! It’s not like our government doesn’t waste enormous amounts of money everyday – might as well waste it on this, as well…because sooner or later the commission – after many press conferences, many talk-a-thons on CNN and MSNBC and so on – will do precisely what the 9/11 Commission did: spin, and spin, and spin…and then meekly walk out, understanding that to do anything real will require exposure of those mistakes and poor leaders they would rather protect.

The Republicans blew it by voting this thing down. They’ve given Hillary a shiny gold spinning star to put on her presidential resume, and they’ve made it look like they have something to hide. They’ve actually done probably precisely what Sen. Clinton had hoped they would do.

The GOP can be SO dumb and spineless, sometimes.

UPDATE: Same with this Plame Inquiry. Investigate! Call a commission! Only an idiot is going to believe that journalists were protecting KARL ROVE as their source during the contentious 2004 elections, when the story broke. Judith Miller is NOT in jail for protecting Karl Rove, I think we can safely say that – he’s the one the left and Joe Wilson wanted “frog marched out of the WH in handcuffs,” so let’s get to the bottom of this thing once and for all. Let’s find out who “leaked” Plame’s not-undercover name and be done with this absurd non-story.