Bush to 9/11 Commission: Play Dead. The Whitewash continues. The "independent" 9/11 Commission yesterday rolled over like a puppy (again) and allowed the White House to rub its belly. The Commission backed off its threat to subpoena the President's CIA-prepared Daily Briefs, deciding that a 17-page summary, as prepared by the White House, would suffice. This tidbit came on the same day that Commission chairman Thomas Kean said there was no evidence suggesting Bush and/or senior White House aides fumbled intelligence warnings of the terrorist strikes. Kean: "There were no smoking guns, nothing that would make you sit up and say, 'Wow.'" ... Alright, if there are no smoking guns, then why can't the White House release all of the requested information? And I may be just a schlub looking at mainstream news, but I could list dozens and dozens and dozens of items that have made me sit up and say Wow! [Like this] Maybe I should send some of my printouts to Mr. Kean?

California Democrat Henry Waxman is calling on Attorney General John Ashcroft to reveal who cleared members of Osama bin Laden's family and other Saudi citizens to leave the country immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Rut-row: "Retired National Guard Lt. Col. Bill Burkett said Tuesday that in 1997, then-Gov. Bush's chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, told the National Guard chief to get the Bush file and make certain 'there's not anything there that will embarrass the governor.' Col. Burkett said that a few days later at Camp Mabry in Austin, he saw Mr. Bush's file and documents from it discarded in a trash can. He said he recognized the documents as retirement point summaries and pay forms." ... "Those who encountered Bush in Alabama remember him as an affable social drinker who acted younger than his 26 years. ... he also tended to show up late every day ... prop his cowboy boots on a desk and brag about how much he drank the night before. They also remember Bush's stories about how the New Haven, Connecticut police always let him go, after he told them his name, when they stopped him 'all the time' for driving drunk as a student at Yale in the late 1960s." ... [Excellent wrapup of media coverage]

Finally, some words from Colin Powell, from his autobiography "My American Journey": "I am angry that so many sons of the powerful and well placed and many professional athletes managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units. Of the many tragedies of Vietnam, this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to the ideal that all Americans are created equal and owe equal allegiance to our country."