5.17.2006

Bush Needs a Civilian Review Board

Oh, I don't think it goes far enough, of course, and Bush would appoint his nieces and nephews to it, but I like this idea posted at TPM Cafe:

Trust in the Bush Administration has fallen to such a low point that in order to restore at least some of it, we need a national civilian review board. The board will be composed of eminent Americans, of both parties, similar if not the same people who served so well on the 9/11 Commission. The board, equipped with security clearance, will determine whether our intelligence services are being used in line with the Constitution and our international obligations. The board will issue a series of reports about the ways that the government is using the vast arsenal of special powers it amassed since 9/11 without disclosing details about sources and methods. The board thus will act much like local civilian review boards that have formed in some 60% of our nation’s largest cities where the public lost trust in police departments after widespread corruption and abuse was revealed.