Truth Commission: It's All About Obama

Some interesting behind the scenes details of the whole tortuous Truth Commission, which apparently Panetta supported early on. Also, Cheney has responded to Panetta saying he hopes he was misquoted and that Obama continues the policies that have kept America safe.

Why a Truth Commission? So Obama wouldn't be distracted from creating his not so brave new world with questions on torture. They could hand it all off to the commission.

And why not have the commission? Because Obama decided it wouldn't be good for him if he looked as though he were going after Cheney and Bush. Not that that's the real agenda of the Democrats in Congress, or anything.

Cheney: "I hope my old friend Leon was misquoted. The important thing is whether the Obama administration will continue the policies that have kept us safe for the last eight years."

It's all about politics and him in Obama-land.

It turns out, however, that Panetta initially supported the creation of a truth commission. “I’m not big on commissions,” Panetta told me. “On the other hand, I could see that it might make some sense, frankly, to appoint a high-level commission, with somebody like Sandra Day O’Connor, Lee Hamilton—people like that.” The appeal was that Obama could delegate to others the legal problems stemming from Bush Administration actions, allowing him to focus on his ambitious political agenda. “In the discussion phase”—early in the spring, before Obama decided the issue—“I was for it,” Panetta said. “Because every time a question came up, you could basically say, ‘The commission, hopefully, is looking at this.’ ” But by late April Obama had vetoed the idea, fearing that it would look vindictive and, possibly, inflame his predecessor. “It was the President who basically said, ‘If I do this, it will look like I’m trying to go after Cheney and Bush,’ ” Panetta said. “He just didn’t think it made sense. And then everybody kind of backed away from it.”

Comments

[MarkJ]

In ObamaWorld, everything is a "distraction."

[lala]

Truth Commission is newspeak for the Ministry of Truth.

[eaglewingz08]

Yes, because Obama has never gone after Bush and Cheney. He is just so forgiving and above politics. Why it's almost as if Obama were a "God".

[Bob]

"The important thing is whether the Obama administration will continue the policies that have kept us safe for the last eight years."

Does "keeping us safe" include the 4,000+ lives of American soldiers that were lost to an invasion and occupation in Iraq that was done under false pretenses? Did he start counting his "for the last eight years" the day AFTER 9/11 when the Bushies decided to start taking the threat of terrorism seriously? Cheney has neither decency nor shame.