Memo Gate

President Bush today appointed a bipartisan panel to examine the sources, use and interpretation of intelligence relating to Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The President's action addresses a months long effort by partisan Democrats to diminish the liberation of Iraq by calling into question the motives and actions of administration officials that drove that liberation.

There is a compelling argument for the examination of intelligence methods and practices, and a panel may well be the proper tool for the task. John McCain, who is a member of the panel, has made such a case. The Democrats, however, have not made the argument in compelling terms. Instead, they have argued for the creation of a panel from an obvious partisan perspective, emphasizing their belief that the President and his administration purposely lied to the American people in order to get the United States into a war with Iraq.

It is characteristic of Democrat politicians to use panels and commissions selectively and for partisan purposes. Curiously, the Democrats are not calling for a panel to inquire into their collusion with liberal special interest groups to prevent confirmation of a number the President's judicial nominations. This collusion, as documented by Byron York on National Review Online among others, included delaying confirmation proceedings for certain nominees to prevent the nominees from being seated in time to hear certain cases. One example involved Senator Kennedy (sometimes referred to as the 'conscience of the Democrats'" and the University of Michigan affirmative action case. The Democrats have requested an inquiry into the matter, not to examine their own improprieties, but to determine how memos revealing their improprieties came into the hands of Republican staffers.