The Republicans as a whole do not want an independent investigation. That is becoming clear. Why? If they want to clear Bush, that's how you would do it. They should embrace it if they think he did well. If they want to pin down things done wrong by state and local officials, that is also how you would do it.

So why do they oppose an independent investigation? The only conclusion I can find is that they already suspect the Administration is at fault.

Why is it ok for the GOP to use 9/11 and the war in Iraq as a political tool, but it isn't okay for anyone opposing the administration to suggest *independent* investigation? The bias is obvious. Am I ripping on the GOP for this. You bet! The cowards deserve it and I'll call them up on it. It remains political as long as they make it so. Want to pull much of the politics out of it? Stop the blatant GOP backpatting and have an independent investigation.

No matter what anyone says, the Federal response was insufficient. There are systemic problems, and there are individual ones. It needs thorough investigation and fixing. Otherwise, we'll watch this same sort of thing happen again.