Tom Shales' take.

Post #150,608 by Another Scott 4/9/04 1:24:10 AM Reply	Tom Shales' take. [link\|http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62757-2004Apr8.html\|Washington Post] movie critic, etc.: As usual, Rice was a model of dignity and composure, even when some commissioners got testy. Rice is the subtly snippy sort. She can, and did, issue such retorts as "May I address the question, sir?" and "I would like to answer" and "If you just give me a moment" without sounding surly or raising her voice. She probably could have done the whole thing with a teacup and saucer balanced on her head. She's that cool. Smarty-pants Tony Snow, conservative commentator on the Fox News Channel, called the Rice appearance merely "a distraction" a few minutes before it began and predicted "a very prim and tame hearing for the most part." Wrong! Rice clashed with Democrats Richard Ben-Veniste and Bob Kerrey. It's a tossup who was more hostile. "Please don't filibuster me," Kerrey admonished Rice as she rattled on. "It's not fair. I have been polite, I've been courteous." Rice defused Kerrey at one point by praising "a brilliant speech" he had made in response to the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in 2000. The thrust of the speech, Rice said, was that the U.S. should "go after Saddam Hussein," which is of course what the Bush administration did in the wake of the 9/11 atrocities. Kerrey didn't help his own cause by repeatedly addressing Rice as "Dr. Clarke," confusing her with counterterrorism expert Richard Clarke, who in TV appearances and a best-selling book has charged the Bush administration with failing to heed warning signs leading up to the 9/11 attacks. In response, the Bush camp has been trying to squash Clarke like a bug. It wouldn't be unthinkable to call the Bush administration the most vindictive since that of Richard M. Nixon. Rice, however, puts the nicest possible face on that vindictiveness and is easily one of the administration's most effective communicators. She's also among the least likely to come off as fanatical, cranky, intemperate, or possessed by the delusion that she and God are on a first-name basis. Tom can turn an entertaining phrase now and again. Cheers, Scott.
Post #150,622 by inthane-chan 4/9/04 7:55:13 AM 4/9/04 4:08:31 PM Reply	Interesting tidbit. Courtesy Brad DeLong's website: BEN-VENISTE. Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the Aug. 6 P.D.B. warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that P.D.B. RICE. I believe the title was Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States. Now, the P.D.B. - BEN-VENISTE. Thank you. RICE. No, Mr. Ben-Veniste - BEN-VENISTE. I will get into the - RICE. I would like to finish my point here. BEN-VENISTE. I didn't know there was a point. RICE. Given that - you asked me whether or not it warned of attacks. BEN-VENISTE. I asked you what the title was. RICE. You said did it not warn of attacks. It did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information. And it did not, in fact, warn of any coming attacks inside the United States. Only inside the Bush administration could it be claimed that a document entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack" is not a warning that Bin Laden is determined to attack. Later on in the discussion, somebody asks what the 1993 WTC bombing, or the Millenium plot were, if they were not attacks inside of the U.S. Nobody wins in a butter eating contest Edited by inthane-chan April 9, 2004, 04:08:31 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #150,670 by jb4 4/9/04 4:06:34 PM 4/9/04 4:06:45 PM Reply	ADMIN: please fix the above post! so that it is not 10 miles wide and requires extensive scrolling on any monitor to read (and so that it does not also dick up all the other posts that appear with it). Thank you, Scott (and Thane...shame on you! You know better than that!) jb4 shrub\ufffdbish (Am., from shrub* + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf.* BULLSHIT Edited by jb4 April 9, 2004, 04:06:45 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #150,671 by inthane-chan 4/9/04 4:08:55 PM Reply	Sorry! Fixed!
Post #150,673 by jb4 4/9/04 4:16:45 PM Reply	Thanks! jb4 shrub\ufffdbish (Am., from shrub* + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf.* BULLSHIT

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