Condi’s Moment

national review online ^ | March 31, 2004 | Mark Goldblatt

[ride the whirlwind]

The archetypal liberal is the guy who, every morning, drops a dollar in the lap of the homeless man camped out in front of his apartment building and who, every evening, blames conservatives for the fact that there's a homeless man camped out in front of his apartment building. In other words, liberals don't think things through; they opt for gestures, knee-jerk reactions that feel good, without the slightest consideration of long-term consequences.

Such was the case in their demand that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice testify, under oath and in public, before the 9/11 Commission. Now their demand has been met. Testify she will, even though there's no compelling reason for her to do so; indeed, she's already testified — albeit not under oath — for four hours in private session before the commission. There's not a shred of evidence she lied.

Even in the wake of former counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke's damaging charges that the Bush administration was asleep at the wheel before September 11, 2001, the White House was reluctant to let Rice testify publicly under oath because of the dual principles of executive privilege and separation of powers; if Rice's testimony creates a precedent for presidential advisers being summoned to appear before legislative committees, then future advisers might become less likely to provide presidents with frank and forthright counsel.

The liberals insisting Rice testify thought nothing of such principles. They knew only that Bush was against it, so they were for it. Whatever it takes, as long as they were sticking it to the president.

Now the liberals will get their wish: Dr. Rice will tell her side of the story, under oath, in public. And with the suspense that's already gathering around her appearance, it will be a hit. The rest of the nation will soon discover what careful observers of the Bush's inner circle already know: Rice is the most poised, articulate, and convincing speaker in the entire administration. She will mop up the floor with Clarke.

Want a "for example"? In his tell-all book, Clarke asserts that the first time he mentioned al Qaeda to Rice, in January 2001, "her facial expression gave me the impression that she had never heard the term before." Except in October 2000, Rice gave a radio interview in which she discussed al Qaeda. So much for facial expressions.

Not only will Rice make short work of Clarke, she will emerge from the hearing with conservatives flinging themselves at her feet, begging her to run for president in 2008. (There's already a website devoted to her potential candidacy even though she's said, on multiple occasions, she has no interest in the office.) And it would serve liberals right if she did decide to run, for Rice would be their worst nightmare. She would win the women's vote outright, peel away half the black vote, and set back the Democratic party for a generation.

But that's not the kind of thing liberals concern themselves with. Right now, they got her to testify. They stuck it to Bush.

It sure must feel good.

[zip]

ping

[zip]

ping

[CyberAnt]

"they stuck it to Bush"

Yeah, it's called rope-a-dope! They fell for it hook, line and sinker.

And .. in case nobody noticed, amid all the Condi hysteria, UP POPS HILLARY WITH AN AMAZING STATEMENT THAT THERE COULD BE AN OCTOBER SURPRISE in the campaign. Guess Hillary got tired of seeing Condi's face all over the TV every day.

This is Hillary's worst nightmare. The dems think they have stuck it to Bush .. but I agree with the author that Condi is going to level them to an ink spot. I'm praying the President will allow Condi to be extra candid and not hold anything back.

And .. some democrat guy on Fox just agreed this could backfire BIG TIME on the democrats.

[GraniteStateConservative]

No, I didn't say that. I was just correcting the paraphrasing in the article. I think it's better to quote accurately.

[ride the whirlwind]

This is Hillary's worst nightmare.
Hillary---nightmares---winning combination.

[zip]

Actually, I think she mentioned bin Laden, rather than al Qaeda.

That is exactly the same thing my socialist, commie pinko brother told me. Where did YOU hear it?

[zip]

Some idiot called in to Sean Hannity yesterday, touting the same line.

"Condi said 'Bin Ladin', not 'Al Qaeda', therefor, she didn't know about Al Qaeda, and Clarke was right."

Talking points/seminar callers - all the same. At least I know where they are getting their "idea".

[zip]

The GOOD and the BAD/UGLY. There is a great movie title in there somewhere.

[MrB]

At least I know where they are getting their "idea".

Funny, "idea" - singular.

[Syncro]

While clicking through the news channels last nite, I saw 4 talking heads discussing Condi's planned appearance before the 911 thingie.

One of them said, "Rice's IQ is higher than the combination of all four of us"

LOL how true, none of them could say anything...

[CyberAnt]

Yep! I suspected she was planning on trying for a - 2 birds with 1 stone - approach.

The strategery of the President has been misunderestimated AGAIN!!

[GraniteStateConservative]

Your socialist, commie pinko brother heard the same clip I did on TV. I want to say it was a Fox News interview or something from 2000. It was only audio, though.

[ride the whirlwind]

Rice's IQ is higher than the combination of all four of us
Ha! That is priceless.

[zip]

Thanks. I reread my post and it sounded like I was attacking you and I would never do that. I've seen too many of your posts and know that you are a true conservative so just ignore my quick shots. (I really was asking where the item came from BTW)

[livius]

The Dems are going to be awful, unfair, treasonous, vicious, etc. But don't forget - Condoleeza Rice has already survived the worst this world has to offer: academia (when she was Provost of Stanford).

[GraniteStateConservative]

No prob. It's all good.

[gatorgriz]

I believe in the integrity and the competence of Condi Rice... Her professionalism and her honesty will far outshine the mealy mouthed whining of the wish-washy and disgruntled bureaucrat, Little Dicky Clarke...

When it’s all said and done; this is going to rise up and bite our liberal foes squarely on their collective asses...

The Dumbs have always underestimated W; they're doing it once again with Condi; they've just stepped into a trap of their own making. They're the very worst poker players on the planet, because they let their emotion, and their hate, dictate everything; and that's why they will lose, and lose big time on this issue.

[gogeo]

ROFL at your tag line...I used to live in the People's Republic of Missoula.

[hershey]

The RATs are already showing that TV clip of Condi saying that before 9/11 no one would have imagined terrorists would use four 747's (or whatever the size plane), to slam into the World Trade Center, etc. Their point is that she or the CIA had already been given a heads up about the possible use of planes as flying bombs. The RATs on the committee will throw that at her six ways to Texas, implying that she either was A. incompetent, or B. lying and covering up Bush incompetence. And CBS, et. al. will replay those smarmy questions at length, ad nauseum, and then not replay her answers. They want nothing less than to drive Condi from public life.

Rising gas prices and the Saudi's forcing Opec to cut production today despite Bush admin. behind the scenes pressure give Kerry another whack at Bush. You can bet the committee will have the Saudis and oil dependence on the list of talking points next week.

By the way, we should level Fallujah.

[oceanview]

Clarke has testified that this use of planes thing was a topic during the 1996 olympics. Yet nothing was done to advance airline safety from 96-2000, the flight schools weren't checked (who did Clarke think would be flying these suicide planes?). how "urgent" could it have been?

could anyone have "imagined" terrorists could plant bombs on trains and detonate them via cell phone? sure, its not too far fetched, we could "imagine" alot of things. is the Spanish government guilty of murder because they could not find some way to stop this?