Of course, Condoleeza Rice should testify under oath and in public before the historic 9/11 Commission. The public is nearly united in this sentiment. To avoid testimony while establshing an "All-Condi, All the Time" television strategy is obscene and unprincipled in the extreme. But what's really interesting to me, is the strategy involved.
I think the Administration has made a calculation that the Rice story will divert attention from the wide-ranging testimony before the Commission and its unavoidable conclusion - that the Clinton and Bush Administrations didn't do enough to address the gathering storm of al Qaeda. Rice is a brilliant academic famed for her Soviet studies, but I'm not sure she's politically savvy enough to see what's happening here under the guise of "protecting the principle of executive privilege."
And that is, Condi is being fed to the lions by her fellow Bushies - you know, that band of brothers that values loyalty above all else. She's taking the rap, ruining her reputation for a political gain by the President. Rice takes the heat, Rice takes the eventual fall. It's not principle, it's pure politics, just like the smear-job on Richard Clarke.
Breaking News CNN - White House will allow Condoleezza Rice to testify publicly under oath before 9/11 commission, a senior administration official tells CNN.
