Former Senator Bob Kerrey has words of warning for his fellow members of the "9-11" Commission:
Today's appearance of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will test the commission's resilience to the partisan pressures which threaten to collapse the goodwill needed to achieve consensus. Among the most dangerous forces is the tendency in politics to become personal and question motives instead of confronting the substance of the argument made by any individual. If we yield to this tendency, all hope for an honest and constructive report is lost. We will most certainly fail.This debate becomes all the more important since the work of this commission--to examine an attack against the U.S. that occurred nearly three years ago--has been overshadowed by the events taking place in Iraq. The war there is not over. Twelve marines were killed in Ramadi Tuesday night in what has become a dramatic escalation of violence against coalition forces. I believe this escalation is taking place precisely because the country is about to be handed over to the Iraqi people to run themselves.
More importantly, I believe this commission must try to provide a foundation for bipartisan agreement on what should be done in Iraq and the broader war against radical Islamists who use terror as a tactic to destroy our will.
Whether you disagree with me or with Mr. Clarke, the only way for the 9/11 Commission to succeed is to confront every fact and every argument on its merits. If we do, the world will be safer. If we don't, we will have exercised our freedoms poorly.
It'll be a surprise if the Democrats on the Commission can resist the temptation for partisan grandstanding, but maybe the shadow of armed conflict in Iraq will shame them into at least a semblance of thoughtfulness. Expect Condi to be complete, articulate, and unflappable.
The New York Post published an admiring portrait of Rice on Wednesday.
Condi Rice is a true Renaissance woman: a classical pianist, a fanatical football fan, and so fluent in Russian that she's read "War and Peace" in the language in which Tolstoy wrote it.Twice.
But in many ways, the most powerful woman in the world - the most powerful black woman ever - remains a mystery to many in Washington. She keeps her private life under wraps and lives by herself, although she isn't afraid to be seen out on the town.
She has a model's slim figure with a taste for deep jewel tones that show off her flawless skin. Always perfectly groomed, she rarely wears prints. She likes simple classical gold jewelry.
And even in her high-profile job she has faced the embarrassment of having a sales clerk in a fancy store show her costume jewelry instead of the real thing and mutter something like "black trash" when she asked to see the real gold.
"And so I said, 'Let's get one thing clear. If you could afford anything in here you wouldn't be behind this counter. So I strongly suggest you do your job,' " Rice recounted to Essence magazine.
"It's something that has probably happened to every black person at some point in time. You're not treated as if you are actually a customer. My view is, you just don't let that sort of thing go at all."
She's up by 5 a.m. every day, friends say, exercising on her treadmill at the Watergate apartments (yes, that Watergate) in front of the TV, where she likes to watch local news instead of cable news.
"Local news is how I know what people are really thinking," a friend quotes her as saying.
She cooks her own breakfast and is quickly off to the White House, where she's the first woman ever to serve as national security adviser.
John Hinderaker at the Power Line will be live-blogging Rice's testimony today.
Posted by Alan at April 8, 2004 06:20 AM