Skeptic Project

Honestly I can't quite get my head around this Zelikow stuff. Either there is evidence that his bias improperly influenced the commission or there isn't. If there isn't, which is what it sounds like, then why would we waste time and taxpayers' money investigating it?

Similar to your (Diane's) call for an investigation into the items that the Commission found no evidence of. You can't investigate nothing. Logistically, how do you do that?

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying it might have been systemically impossible (or at least difficult) for them to notice, given the nature of Zelikow's role.

This is just truther style faux-logic.

You have no evidence for these claims but instead of dropping the issue you find some reason why the lack of evidence somehow becomes evidence in of itself rather than suggesting that the claim is incorrect.

Again you seem to be conflating conflict of interest with actual wrongdoing, to which an "innocent until proven guilty" standard should be applied. There are many situations in which a conflict of interest is improper even if one cannot prove actual wrongdoing.

Furthermore, the 9/11 Commission itself did acknowledge that Zelikow had a conflict of interest pertaining to the Bush transition team. This was handled by having Zelikow recuse himself from all matters pertaining to the Bush transition team.

The question is whether that was sufficient, or whether Zelikow's conflicts of interest ran a lot deeper than just the Bush transition team. It seems to me that they ran a lot deeper.

It seems "to you"?

So the Commissioners can honestly not notice there is a problem, but YOU can?

As I say, either they had to be incompetent or they were being deliberately deceptive by not complaining about it. Explain how there can possibly be another option given the arguments you are making.

P.S.:

Ed wrote:

So the Commissioners can honestly not notice there is a problem, but YOU can?

Politicians in general often fail to notice problems until confronted by relevant lobbyists.

The Commission apparently didn't just decide, on its own, to have Zelikow recuse himself from matters involving the transition team. What happened was that the "Jersey Girls" lobbied to have Zelikow resign due to a whole bunch of what they perceived as conflicts of interest on his part. Zelikow recusing himself just on matters involving the transition team appears to have been a compromise.

(Earlier, Henry Kissinger had been selected as executive director. He did resign in response to pressure from the "Jersey Girls.")

ANNNNNNNNNNNND, he's back! :D

Wrong again, Matt. I am not advocating LIHOP.

Will you ever stop jumping to conclusions about me?

By the way, do you still think I'm a militant atheist?

Matt wrote:

"Will you ever stop jumping to conclusions about me?"

Why? Are you a beautiful and unique snowflake?

The point is, your conclusions about me are wrong. For example, my views about 9/11 are clearly stated in other threads.

What does me being "a beautiful and unique snowflake" have to do with it? Do you feel entitled to jump to erroneous conclusions about other people in general? If so, that seems to me like a strange attitude, for a skeptic.

"By the way, do you still think I'm a militant atheist?"

Only on the Internet.

I'm not a militant atheist on the Internet, either. I'm not even an atheist, as you would know by now if you had bothered to look at my replies the last two times you griped about me being a militant atheist.

If you don't "give a shit" about what I say, then why don't you just ignore me, like you said earlier you would do?

"then why don't you just ignore me, like you said earlier you would do?"

I never said that. I proposed that we ignore each other. You weren't interested. So fuck you.

"Chill out Matt."

Nah.

Fuck LIHOP Truthers that shield themselves with valid social causes.

I offered an agreement in good faith to this person. She wasn't interested, so she can eat shit.

Matt, what's wrong with being an obnoxious militant atheist? It's good fun, you should try it sometime.