I almost wish I could wish her luck. Almost.
Quote of note:
"I understand the president trying to uphold the separation of powers privilege," said Charles Black, an adviser to Mr. Bush's reelection campaign. "But at the same time, everybody on the political side wanted her to testify."
The reason it is to be noted:
"It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis"
Bush's Credibility Now Rests on Her Shoulders
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
WASHINGTON — It has become a political cliché of Washington to say that Condoleezza Rice's upbringing at the hands of ambitious parents who pushed her to excel - as a concert pianist, a competitive ice skater and a young girl tutored in Spanish and French - created a woman who has lived on stage for most of her life.
It is not a cliché to say that on Thursday, when Ms. Rice publicly testifies to the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, she will have to turn in a show-stopping performance as the woman on whose shoulders the credibility of the Bush administration now rests.
Ms. Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, was last week's media-figure-on-the-hot-seat, her scowling face glaring out from the front pages of newspapers and the cover of Time. Her celebrity came not just from her boss's initial refusal to allow her to testify, but from the reality that emerged from the statements to the commission of other senior Bush officials: Ms. Rice is the gatekeeper between the president and the entire counterterrorism policy of his administration.
