Thanks for reading, Karl!!

Last week, when the 9-11 Commission report came out, I offered some free advice to Karl Rove: “Karl, tell Bush to own this report. Make it clear to the American people that he gets it, and takes the issue seriously.” Mike Allen reports in today’s Washington Post that someone at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. got the message:

President Bush plans to begin making decisions about restructuring the nation’s intelligence machinery within days and may enact some changes by executive order or regulatory action without waiting for Congress, White House officials said Sunday. Aides suggested for the first time that despite the opposition of some in the administration, Bush is headed toward backing some variation of the Sept. 11 commission’s call for a national intelligence director who would report directly to the president. Some White House officials have questioned whether the intelligence director would be considered independent if the position were under White House control. Aides said Bush is considering mechanisms to make the job less political, such as a term that does not overlap the president’s…. The urgent pace, and the White House’s willingness to discuss it, reflects the realization by Bush’s aides that he is now vulnerable to charges that he could be doing more to protect the nation against terrorism, when claiming leadership on the issue was central to his reelection strategy, Republican advisers said. Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry released his plans for intelligence reform six days ahead of the commission report, and he plans to argue at the convention that he would be more effective than Bush at guarding the nation against terrorism…. The White House, which had initially responded by saying Bush would take the recommendations under advisement, is facing pressure from commission members of both parties, who are making the rounds of talk shows to say that swift work is needed and that another attack is probably coming. Republican leaders in Congress once had said they would not get to the matter until October, but said Friday that they will hold hearings in August, between the two political conventions. Bush’s aides said that the White House staff worked over the weekend to figure out what it could do on its own, and that it was looking for changes that would not cost money and thus require authorization from Congress. Specifically, the White House is looking at the commission’s call for the creation of incentives for agencies to share intelligence about transnational terrorism, with the report saying the ” ‘need to share’ must replace ‘need to know.’ ” The White House contends the president has already taken action to tighten access to ports, airports and borders, and to crack down on terrorists’ funding sources. But the commission report says more must be done, and Bush’s aides said announcements may be made in those areas. Bush’s aides said that the panel’s most ambitious recommendations, including creation of the counterterrorism center and national intelligence director, are likely to require approval from Congress. But with Republicans controlling both chambers, Bush’s endorsement could prod action before the Nov. 2 election. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice is to arrive at the ranch on Monday to work with Bush on his response to the report. Last week, Bush directed White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. to convene a task force of national security and homeland security officials to work on intelligence changes.

Thank you, Mr. Rove. [Er, you do realize that lots of other people proffered this advice, right?–ed. Yeah, but did any of them use as many exclamation pointsas I did in their message? No, I didn’t think so.]