The critics are right about the flaws of the Baker Report, but  none of that really matters. The reason is that the Report's flapdoodle serves as cover for both Republicans and Democrats --- at least those who aren't yet kidnapped by Moveon.org. On the Left, it's a long-overdue wave of political sanity.

Just think of the incredible corner the Dems have painted themselves into since 9/11: Effectively they are out there loudly calling for treason in time of war. What if another 9/11 happened? The Dems were playing their game far too close to the edge. To listen to the screamers, the Democrats have all been kidnapped by the Hard Left and its opportunistic demagogues, like Jack Murtha and Dick Durbin. And while there are True Believers on the Left who really want to defeat the United States in the war on Islamofascism, it's a good bet that professionals like Bill and Hillary just want to triangulate again, like they did last summer. (Or at least last decade.) You can't triangulate if you're controlled by ideologues.

So the Dems needed some "bipartisan" cover to boogie to the center, and the Baker-Hamilton document is doing the job. On the surface, the report supports Bush's critics. But in its deeper guts it gives all the reasons why we can't walk away from Iraq. So the Dems can preen themselves all day that they were right all along, and meanwhile, right after the Midterm Elections all the old screamers were suddenly on television explaining why we couldn't leave Iraq precipitously. ("Precipitous" became the vocabulary item of the week.)

Let's remember the role of Wise Men in Washington. It is to make headlines, create illusory  consensus, and shift blame. After the first loud headlines, the Baker-Hamilton concoction is destined never to be read again. Real policy makers don't have the time to waste. Journalists never read anything anyway.

Baker and Hamilton didn't manage to write the US Constitution. It's more like this week's TIME Magazine, a shower of pretentious fluff that is destined to flutter away on the first new breeze.

Next!