I know the conventional wisdom insists that John Kerry is a flip-flopper while George W. Bush is stubborn and never changes his mind, but have you noticed how many times Bush has flip-flopped in dealing with the 9\/11 Commission?<\/p>\n
Off the top of my head, I can think of eight distinct instances in which Bush held one position, then decided to hold the opposite position.<\/p>\n
* Bush opposed creating the Commission in the first place; then he decided he was for it.<\/p>\n
* Bush insisted he would only give the Commission one hour of his time; then he said there would be no time limit.<\/p>\n
* The president insisted the Commission should not have its deadline extended; then he said the Commission needed more time to complete its work.<\/p>\n
* The White House refused to allow Condi Rice to testify; then Rice was encouraged to testify.<\/p>\n
* Bush said his discussion with the Commission would have to be limited to the panel’s chair and co-chair; then he said he would speak to the whole Commission.<\/p>\n
* The White House said Rice’s never-delivered speech from 9\/11 was “confidential” and could therefore not be released; then it was given to the Commission and the public.<\/p>\n
* The White House withheld thousands of Clinton-era counterterrorism documents insisting that they were duplicative or irrelevant; then it turned over 90% of them, some of which were relevant.<\/p>\n
* The White House said the PDB from August 6, 2001, could not be released; then they released it.<\/p>\n