Another flipflop, Condi to testify

[Palestinian Jew]

WASHINGTON - In a reversal, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) will testify in public under oath before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as long as the panel seeks no further public testimony from White House officials, the administration said Tuesday.


White House press secretary Scott McClellan, on Air Force One with President Bush (news - web sites), said the commission had unanimously agreed to the conditions.


The decision was conditioned on the Bush administration receiving assurances in writing from the commission that such a step does not set a precedent and that the commission does not request "additional public testimony from any White House official, including Dr. Rice," White House counsel Alberto Gonzales said in a letter to the panel.


Subject to the conditions, the president will agree "to the commission's request for Dr. Rice to testify publicly regarding matters within the commission's statutory mandate," Gonzales's letter stated.


"The president recognizes the truly unique and extraordinary circumstances underlying the commission's responsibility to prepare a detailed report on the facts," Gonzales added.


Congressional leaders, Gonzales noted, have already stated that this would not be a new precedent.


The decision to have Rice testify is made in the wake of the publication of former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke's book, in which he charges that the Bush administration was slow to act against the threat of al-Qaida.


Rice offered a rebuttal on Sunday to criticism by Clarke that President Clinton (news - web sites) "did something, and President Bush did nothing" before Sept. 11 and that both "deserve a failing grade."


Rice responded: "I don't know what a sense of urgency — any greater than the one that we had — would have caused us to do differently."


Clarke testified before the commission last week.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20040330/ap_on_re_us/sept_11_commission_35

 

[jimnyc]

Flip flop - that's funny! Too bad we are talking about Rice, not Kerry!

 

[_dmp_]

I think the liberals may be sorry...be careful what you ask for.

 

[Comrade]

I recall the last time any member of the presidential cabinet was forced to testify under oath it was Bill Clinton. Back then we had DNA evidence to serve as a rebuttal.

Nowadays it’s just Condi’s word vs. the prosecution. All of it boils down to how fervently the “Bush regime” was held accountable to similar neglegence committed under Clinton. It’s a festive political lynching, over bull-shit.

 

[Comrade]

Repeat post deleted.

 

[spillmind]

Flip flop - that's funny!

yeah! i guess EVERYONE does it! i'll make to keep my scorecard handy when it comes time. you guys better have something better than different stances depending on the time/situation!

 

[jimnyc]

Originally posted by spillmind
yeah! i guess EVERYONE does it! i'll make to keep my scorecard handy when it comes time. you guys better have something better than different stances depending on the time/situation!

Too bad it wasn't a flip flop though. She never said she didn't want to testify, but that she couldn't testify. They received written assurances from the commission that this wasn't precedent setting. With that assurance, the white house is comfortable with letting her testify.

Nice try, but you still failed.

 

[spillmind]

HAHAHAHAH how did i KNOW you were going to say this wasn't a flip flop??!!! instead of admitting the WHITE HOUSE flip flopped, you maintain the perfect record by saying it was only her standing alone!!! that was great! sorry, jim, but the admin did an ABOUT FACE on this one.... get over it.

 

[DKSuddeth]

I believe the following headline says it all about this shit.

Condoleezza Rice buckles to pressure: Agrees to provide meaningless, unhelpful testimony before irrelevant committee of congressional idiots

 

[sitarro]

I just heard Rush call this a possible ropadope by the Administration , that was the first thing I thought when I heard the news . The White House is doing an incredible job of playing these clowns , they truely think that they have won something . It is amazing that they would actually come after the President where he is strongest . These white boys are going to try to attack one of the sharpest people to ever serve in politics that also happens to be a frail looking black woman , this is going to be fun . This could turn a huge amount of the black community around , Condi is just a bit impressive when questioned by idiots and she WILL kick ass . . . she's pissed .
President Bush sits back as these "progressive intellectual wannabes" accuse him of being an idiot and lets it work in his favor , I wouldn't play poker with this guy , he has serious game. This could easily be the biggest mistake they could ever make . I can't wait.

 

[Comrade]

Originally posted by spillmind
HAHAHAHAH how did i KNOW you were going to say this wasn't a flip flop??!!! instead of admitting the WHITE HOUSE flip flopped, you maintain the perfect record by saying it was only her standing alone!!! that was great! sorry, jim, but the admin did an ABOUT FACE on this one.... get over it.

Well where else can you get away with confronting the sole financial sponsor of such a site and remain a member posting to such! America, that's where.

You views are valued Spillmind, but don't be so flippant. We all desire some meat to attack but again all I see it the bone.

 

[_dmp_]

Originally posted by spillmind
HAHAHAHAH how did i KNOW you were going to say this wasn't a flip flop??!!! instead of admitting the WHITE HOUSE flip flopped, you maintain the perfect record by saying it was only her standing alone!!! that was great! sorry, jim, but the admin did an ABOUT FACE on this one.... get over it.

"I feel I am prevented from Testifying...."

"okay, after assurances by people who are my BOSSES, I guess I 'can' Testify"

whoa...stop the PRESSES!!!

That's EXACTLY The same thing as:

Kerry did vote for the Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the war in Iraq, even though he constantly trashes the Patriot Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the war in Iraq. He voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, which limited marriage to a man and a woman, but he now says marriage should be limited to a man and a woman.

• Welfare Reform - In 1988, Sen. Kerry voted against a proposal to require at least one parent in any two-parent welfare family to work a mere 16 hours a week, declaring the work requirement "troublesome to me."
  - During his 1996 re-election campaign, when his Republican challenger, Gov. William Weld, was calling him soft on welfare, Kerry voted for the much stricter welfare reform law that Clinton signed into law
• Mandatory Minimums - In 1993 and 1994, the senator from liberal Massachusetts voted against mandatory minimum sentences for gang activity, gun crimes, drug trafficking, and drug sales to minors, explaining in an impassioned speech that long sentences for some dealers who sell to minors would be "enormous injustices" and that some convicted drug offenders were "so barely culpable it is sad." He also said congressionally imposed mandatory minimums made no sense and would just create turf battles between federal and local prosecutors.
  - Today, presidential candidate Kerry strongly supports mandatory minimum sentences for federal crimes, including the sale of drugs to minors.
• Affirmative Action - Action In 1992, Kerry created a huge stir among liberals and civil rights groups with a major policy address arguing that affirmative action has "kept America thinking in racial terms" and helped promote a "culture of dependency."
  - Today, Kerry's campaign Web site vows to "Preserve Affirmative Action," noting that he "consistently opposed efforts in the Senate to undermine or eliminate affirmative action programs, and supports programs that seeks to enhance diversity." It doesn't mention any downside.
• Death Penalty - During one of his debates with Weld in 1996, Kerry ridiculed the idea of capital punishment for terrorists as a "terrorist protection policy," predicting that it would just discourage other nations from extraditing captured terrorists to the United States.
  - Kerry still opposes capital punishment, but he now makes an exception for terrorists.
• Education Reform - In a 1998 policy speech the Boston Globe described as "a dramatic break from Democratic dogma," Kerry challenged teachers unions by proposing to gut their tenure and seniority systems, giving principals far more power to hire and fire unqualified or unmotivated teachers.
  - Today, Kerry once again espouses pure Democratic dogma on education. His Web site pledges to "stop blaming and start supporting public school educators," vowing to give them "better training and better pay, with more career opportunities, more empowerment and more mentors." It doesn't mention seniority or tenure.
• Double Taxation - In December 2002, Kerry broke with Democratic dogma yet again in a Cleveland speech, calling for the abolition of the unfair "double taxation" of stock dividends in order to promote more investment and more accurate valuations of companies.
  - Five weeks later, after President Bush proposed a second round of tax cuts that included an end to this double taxation, Kerry changed his tune. He voted against the dividend tax cuts that were ultimately enacted by Congress and now hopes to roll them back as president, along with Bush's other tax cuts for upper-income Americans.
• Gas Taxation- In 1994, when the Concord Coalition gave Kerry a failing rating for his deficit reduction votes, he complained that he should have gotten credit for supporting a 50-cent increase in the gas tax.
  - Today he no longer supports any increase in the gas tax.
• Social Security -During the 1996 campaign, when I was a Globe reporter, Kerry told me the Social Security system should be overhauled. He said Congress should consider raising the retirement age and means-testing benefits and called it "wacky" that payroll taxes did not apply to income over $62,700. "I know it's all going to be unpopular," he said. "But this program has serious problems, and we have a generational responsibility to fix them."
  - Kerry no longer wants to mess with Social Security. "John Kerry will never balance the budget on the backs of America's seniors," his Web site promises.
• Trade - Kerry has been a consistent supporter of free trade deals, and as late as December, when reporters asked if there was any issue on which he was prepared to disagree with Democratic interest groups, Kerry replied: "Trade." Slate editor Jacob Weisberg came away impressed by the depth of Kerry's commitment to the issue: "Unlike Edwards, he supports international trade agreements without qualification."
  - But that was three months ago! In recent weeks, when Kerry has talked trade, he has talked nothing but qualification, calling for "fair trade" rather than "free trade," claiming to agree completely with the protectionist Edwards on trade issues, and vowing to "put teeth" into environmental and labor restrictions in agreements like NAFTA.
• Support - Kerry claims support from Foriegn leaders.
  - Today Kerry says seeking such support isn't right.

 

[Comrade]

FYI, I'd like to inject the significance of demanding that Rice testify under oath to this subject.

This would be the first time congress has demanded that any public figure testify under oath since Clinton himself, proven by DNA evidence to "have sexual relation with that woman".

Okay, given this testimony (of course recorded) will come to light, so Y'All happy with her testimony, or is this just another set of statements from which further inditements will fester?


I'm sick of this particular BS. Doesn't anyone want to answer the truly important issues brought up in the "Pre-empt" thread raised by Zhukov? What's wrong with you libs?

 

[korkoi]

i believe she should go ahead and testify if she has nothing to hide. This will calm all those aggessive people who just want to see her do so.

 

[jimnyc]

Originally posted by spillmind
HAHAHAHAH how did i KNOW you were going to say this wasn't a flip flop??!!! instead of admitting the WHITE HOUSE flip flopped, you maintain the perfect record by saying it was only her standing alone!!! that was great! sorry, jim, but the admin did an ABOUT FACE on this one.... get over it.

Spill, you're all wet, as usual. First off, the discussion was about Rice. Now you come back and claim it was the "admin". As usual, you'll slowly try to change things to better suit your ridiculous arguments.

You guys are so pathetic that you'll do anything to try and make Kerry look like less of an ass than he already does. The flip flop title belongs to him and can never be taken away.

 

[korkoi]

why does Kerry deserve the flip flop title? As for the issue about rice i think she is just trying to make her administration look good thats all. It is all about protecting each others behind.

 

[sitarro]

Great post Darin , very informative .

 

[spillmind]

i don't think there should be anything to hide. i'll admit she wanted to testify from day one. but bush has been against that since day one, now the admin says it's ok, because there was pressure from within the party, and they didn't want to look like they were hiding anything.

i'm not accusing them of hiding anything, but i am curious as to more details into the arguably biggest intel failure in our country's history. i'm certainly not blaming anyone. i'd just like to know what both sides have to say, along with many americans. i'm glad they agreed to let her testify. and i'm sure she can hold her own.

 

[jimnyc]

Originally posted by spillmind
i'm not accusing them of hiding anything, but i am curious as to more details into the arguably biggest intel failure in our country's history. i'm certainly not blaming anyone. i'd just like to know what both sides have to say, along with many americans. i'm glad they agreed to let her testify. and i'm sure she can hold her own.

Much. much better! I can agree with all of this and want answers as much as anybody.

 

[_dmp_]

Originally posted by spillmind
i don't think there should be anything to hide. i'll admit she wanted to testify from day one. but bush has been against that since day one, now the admin says it's ok, because there was pressure from within the party, and they didn't want to look like they were hiding anything.

i'm not accusing them of hiding anything, but i am curious as to more details into the arguably biggest intel failure in our country's history. i'm certainly not blaming anyone. i'd just like to know what both sides have to say, along with many americans. i'm glad they agreed to let her testify. and i'm sure she can hold her own.

wow...talk about 'flip-flops'...are you JOHN KERRY posting here???