We Need a Real Commission

Josh Marshall's site led me to this disappointing article from the Washington Post, in which it is stated that calls for a 9/11-style commission to investigate the failings of the Katrina response have been ignored. Instead, the investigation will be GOP-led.

We have already seen so much bitter partisan debate on what has happened and is happening, that I don't think non-Republican citizens of our nation will have confidence in the hearings. I suspect even some Republicans may have lost trust in our elected officials' ability to investigate themselves and their leaders. There are simply too many recent, pre-Katrina, instances of fact distortion and master spinning to trust a Republican-led process. I wouldn't want or trust a Democrat-led process, either. I want an independent and bipartisan one. How about a rational look, for a change?

The stakes are so very high. We must get our disaster response on track. We cannot afford to let this most critical of investigations even have a whiff of partisan cover-up about it.

The Families of September 11 organized to force the government to investigate the 9/11 attacks with an independent, bipartisan commission. Will the families of Katrina be able to do the same? Will the underprivileged people of Louisiana and Mississippi have the same clout as families of NYC financial district and Pentagon workers?

I want answers, not politics. We all deserve an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate this catastrophe, as well as our nation's systems for disaster preparedness and response. We can't afford to keep screwing up.