Rice: Guilty As Charged
Wow! Check out this heated exchange between California Senator Barbara Boxer and Condi Rice, during today's testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (John Kerry laid into her, too):
SENATOR BARBARA BOXER I personally believe - this is my personal view - that your loyalty to the mission you were given, to sell this war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth. ... You don't seem to be willing to, (A), admit a mistake, or give any indication of what you're going to do to forcefully involve others. As a matter of fact, you've said more misstatements; that the territory of the terrorists has been shrinking when your own administration says it's now expanded to 60 countries. So I am deeply troubled.
MS. RICE ...Senator, I have to say that I have never, ever lost respect for the truth in the service of anything. It is not my nature. It is not my character. And I would hope that we can have this conversation and discuss what happened before and what went on before and what I said, without impugning my credibility or my integrity. ...
SENATOR BOXER Well, you should read what we voted on when we voted to support the war, which I did not, but most of my colleagues did. It was W.M.D. - period. That was the reason and the causation for that, you know, particular vote. But, again, I just feel you quote President Bush when it suits you but you contradicted him when he said, "Yes, Saddam could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year." You go on television nine months later and said, "Nobody ever said it was" --
MS. RICE Senator, that was just a question of pointing out to people that there was an uncertainty. No one was saying that he would have to have a weapon within a year for it to be worth it to go to war.
SENATOR BOXER Well, if you can't admit to this mistake, I hope that you'll --
MS. RICE Senator, we can have this discussion in any way that you would like. But I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integrity. Thank you very much. ...
SENATOR BARBARA BOXER I personally believe - this is my personal view - that your loyalty to the mission you were given, to sell this war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth. ... You don't seem to be willing to, (A), admit a mistake, or give any indication of what you're going to do to forcefully involve others. As a matter of fact, you've said more misstatements; that the territory of the terrorists has been shrinking when your own administration says it's now expanded to 60 countries. So I am deeply troubled.
MS. RICE ...Senator, I have to say that I have never, ever lost respect for the truth in the service of anything. It is not my nature. It is not my character. And I would hope that we can have this conversation and discuss what happened before and what went on before and what I said, without impugning my credibility or my integrity. ...
SENATOR BOXER Well, you should read what we voted on when we voted to support the war, which I did not, but most of my colleagues did. It was W.M.D. - period. That was the reason and the causation for that, you know, particular vote. But, again, I just feel you quote President Bush when it suits you but you contradicted him when he said, "Yes, Saddam could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year." You go on television nine months later and said, "Nobody ever said it was" --
MS. RICE Senator, that was just a question of pointing out to people that there was an uncertainty. No one was saying that he would have to have a weapon within a year for it to be worth it to go to war.
SENATOR BOXER Well, if you can't admit to this mistake, I hope that you'll --
MS. RICE Senator, we can have this discussion in any way that you would like. But I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integrity. Thank you very much. ...
posted by Mark Sorkin at 10:43 PM
1 Comments:
Senator Kerry:
Dr. Rice will be confirmed, but it will have to be without my vote.
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Of course, the eminent civil rights advocate Senator George Allen (R-VA) has done an excellent job laying the groundwork for the conservative critique of Democrats acting on principle. Allen explained that Rice embodies the American Dream, overcoming segregation and discrimination to become the living symbol of goodness. And there go Democrats, voting against the American Dream...
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