The Buck Stops… anywhere but here

What ever happened to “The Buck Stops Here”?
Dubya, like his immediate predecessor whom he made a point of bad-mouthing, has a problem with telling the truth and taking responsibility. (Don’t confuse “plain speaking” with “truth telling.”)
CIA Director Tenet, who ironically enough is a left-over from the Clinton administration, has fulfilled his role in the little plan by taking responsibility for Bush’s citing of dubious intelligence in the State of the Union address. (I guess the President has no control over his most important speech to the nation.)
But here’s another wrinkle:

CIA Director George J. Tenet told the Senate intelligence committee yesterday that his staff did not bring to his attention a questionable statement about Iraq seeking uranium in Africa before President Bush delivered his State of the Union address.

But Tenet told the senators during a nearly five-hour session behind closed doors that he takes responsibility for the now-famous 16-word sentence in the speech because an agency official had approved it after negotiations with the White House, according to congressional and administration sources who attended the session.

“Members were stunned,” one Democratic senator in the meeting said, “because he said he basically wasn’t aware of the sentence until recently.”

How interesting… and perhaps Mr. Bush should note that Mr. Tenet, as the leader, takes responsibility for his staff’s mistakes. An important lesson, George. But then, Tenet doesn’t have to run for reelection in a year.

One more quickie – there are plenty of theorist pundits insisting that the blame falls on Dick Cheney for ensuring that the nuclear card was played. I say, take a look behind that curtain and you’ll find Karl Rove, once again. I think it’s far past time when the media should have unmasked this Svengali and wondered aloud why a political advisor has such incredible power within the administration; why a political advisor is present for high level meetings and policy decisions…