Henry, we hardly knew ye
Henry Kissinger just announced that he's resigning from the 9/11 investigation commission President Bush appointed him to lead.

It was becoming obvious that, in order to comply with the law and to allay the concerns of the 9/11 victims' families, Kissinger was going to have to reveal a list of his consulting clients. That, it seems, was far too onerous a price to pay. Or maybe one of the names on the list -- the Saudi government? who knows? -- would have been problematic under the circumstances.

Well, the man has made his priorities clear.

He's not the only one: George Mitchell, the former senator whom the Democrats named as their top man on the commission, resigned earlier this week, saying service on this commission would take too much time away from his law practice.

These men are displaying a surprising lack of dedication to helping the nation find explanations for 9/11. Surely each of them could have made the choice they made before accepting appointment to the commission.

Unless there's something else going on here. Maybe they know something we don't. If this commission does its job right, it will have to reach conclusionss that the government doesn't want to hear. What Kissinger and Mitchell both seem to be saying is that truth-telling is not worth the trouble. [Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment]