During his recent testimony before the September 11 commission George W. Bush apparently answered all the questions that were put to him. Except one, but then it apparently wasn't put to him by the Commission.
The question, why did he and Dick Cheney appear before the commission together? Bush was asked about it at his press conference, at a press gathering after the commission, and his spokesman was also asked about it, yet no one was quite able to answer.
All Bush was able to say was "If we had something to hide, we wouldn't have met with them in the first place." Previously at a press conference he said "because it's a good chance for both of us to answer questions that the 9/11 Commission is looking forward to asking us, and I'm looking forward to answering them."
Interesting possibly, but it doesn't answer why together. Oh, the comedians came up with suggested reasons (Bush is Cheney's puppet) and they wondered if Bush would show his independence by having Cheney drink a glass of water while Bush spoke.
But that's not to say Bush didn't take the meeting and the events of September 11 seriously. One commissioner, Jim Thompson, said "There was some laughter from time to time. The president is a bit of a tease."
In the end, the reason they testified together came out in a round about manner. In the press reports after the meeting it appears that Bush answered most of the questions and Cheney answered only a few. So if Bush didn't want Cheney, who was probably the leader behind the war, to testify, the way to accomplish that goal was to testify together. And with most of the commission wanting primarily to talk to Bush there would be little time or interest in talking to Cheney.
The panel met with former Gore for three hours in a private session. The also panel met with Clinton in private for three hours. So Gore and Clinton each testified for three hours a piece and didn't need to hold each other's hands, but then they weren't hiding anything.
