contrapositive

The Annotated List The members of the newly-established, President-sponsored Intelligence panel. From a Bushie perspective:

Laurence Silberman (R): Former Judge. One of our people. He'd take a bullet for us.

Chuck Robb (D): None too bright conservative Democrat (more or less discredited in R.J. Cutler's 1996 documentary A Perfect Candidate). Fact that he's a former governor and senator gives us some cover.

Sen. John McCain (R): Gives us street cred, and keeps McCain busy till after the election. He's less likely to make unhelpful comments to the press if he's buried under 20,000 pages of CIA memos.

Lloyd Cutler (D): Former counsel to Carter and Clinton. A hard core Democrat, sure. But the guy's like a zillion years-old. Probably won't even stay awake.

Pat Wald (D): Former Judge. Also no spring chicken. Her impressive resumé makes us look good. Less apparent, on first glance, is the fact she has no discernible expertise on Intelligence issues.

Rick Levin: President of Yale. Another one with no Intelligence background. He'll think twice before signing on to anything too nasty. Does he want the GWB presidential library in New Haven or not?

Bill Studeman: Former deputy director of the CIA. Token well-informed participant. Let's just hope his voice gets drowned out.