I've been listening to the 9/11 Commission public hearing on C-Span 2 since 9am.

Pataki sounded as if he were giving a campaign speech. He spoke about 9/11 and this pre-emptive strike on Iraq as if they were connected. No surprise there. He has personal as well as political reasons for towing the Bush line.

Bloomberg made a very fevered pitch for money.

And now I'm hearing stories from the people who endured that nightmare. And I feel for them. But forgive me when I say I'm confused about this hearing's objective. I don't need to be convinced it was an awful day. I agree, let's do something to prevent it happening again. Using it as an excuse to unleash murderous revenge upon a people that did nothing to cause it is not helping matters. And today as the bombs are dropping on innocent people in Iraq it seems to me their pain and suffering, a tragedy that could have been and could still be prevented, should take priority if all we're going to do is display wounds.

I was really hoping someone would ask the 'unanswered questions'.

Update: This is really a reflection of the schisms we face. Some of the speakers are now asking those questions while others have given themselves over to this Iraq/al-Qaeda connection. The Bush administration must be very happy about this.