"9/11 Panel Seeks New Life With Private Donations: Its budget dwindling, the commission turns elsewhere," by Philip Shenon, New York Times, 30 July, p. A8.

I am really missing the logic on this one, unless it all starts being about giving panel members (one bad-ass collection of enormous egos, if you ask me) a permanent political platform. All any of these guys are needed for now is to testify on the Hill. Keeping the panel alive, through private donations no less, is entirely unnecessary. And thatís the main reason cited for this step: ìlogistical supportî for members to keep lobbying the Hill.

That is complete bullshit. Thereís no one on this panel who would suffer any hardship in this process. Theyíre all Washington insiders who can certainly catch the Metro to the Capitol, when required. To me, this is just these guys all jockeying for whatever jobs they think they can milk out of this situation, especially Hamilton and Kean who both seem keen on becoming the first intell czar.

Give me a break!

Hereís a no-brainer solution. The panel says it needs bucks, and their book is number one on Amazonís bestseller list. How about asking the publisher that isnít paying any author royalties to donate what would be that share to the panel for its operating expenses? Or does Norton feel like it deserves a windfall profit coming out of the pain and suffering endured by the 9/11 families and this country as a whole?