Andy Card is a big fat liar. Driving home tonight, I got to hear Card on NewsHour discussing his boss's "new" plan for a cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security. The word new is in quotes, because, of course, this idea has been around for a long time, and survived despite the efforts of the Bush White House to kill it. Until now, that is.

But now Bush needs to seem like he's the one in charge; he needs to appear proactive. The last few weeks have been dominated by news of pre-9/11 intelligence failures, and we now have congressional hearings about FBI and CIA mistakes. Add to that the fact that homeland security advisor Tom Ridge has absolutely nothing to show for his months of work except a color-coded threat warning system, and you have the makings of a political disaster for the White House.

But back to Card. Lie #1: Bush's new plan is consistent with his position since September 11. Absolutely false. Bush and his administration's spokespersons have consistently trashed this idea, saying it wouldn't improve coordination or security. Bush has been hostile to this idea because 1) initially, it was the plan of Democratic Sen. Lieberman, who was finally gaining bipartisan support for it in Congress; and 2) a cabinet department mandates congressional oversight, and the Bush Administation hates accountability and publicity.

Lie #2: The President's plan wasn't rushed, but has been in the works for a while now. Absolutely false. The timing of his annoucement is no coincidence, and reflects more on the administration's strategies of damage control than of homeland security.

In the end, it is the cynicism of the Administration that makes me the angriest. This plan is all about political advantage going into the mid-term elections, since the administration was being tarnished by accusations that it was basically incompetent when dealing with the terrorist threat.