public (dis)service

I know I'm at work, but I'm going to make an exception because more people need to see this article about Condoleezza Rice's credibility (or lack thereof). Even if it's just the 1 or 2 people who get lost and accidentally find themselves here every month or so. From the dates given for her quotes, it looks like much of it is from her (closed) testimony before the 9/11 commission. (Doesn't that mean she's still under oath?)

[UPDATE: Mon Mar 29, 2004, 05:40:26 PM EST]
Q: "Doesn't that mean she's still under oath?"
A: "Apparently not."

My friend SHR pointed me at a couple of links over IM this afternoon. Nothing seems to just go out and say it, but from this Reuters article:

"Rice is refusing to appear before the commission in public and under oath to answer allegations from a former White House counterterrorism official that the Bush administration neglected the threat from al Qaeda."

And from this transcript on Rice's 60-minutes interview:

" BRADLEY: On Thursday, the White House indicated its willingness to have you testify before the commission, as long as your testimony is in private, behind closed doors, and as long as you're not under oath. The Secretary of State, Defense, the Director of the CIA, have all testified in public, under oath, before the commission.

If you can talk to us and other news programs, why can't you talk to the commission in public and under oath? "

After explaining that she had "answered questions" from the commission in private, but was unable to testify officially in order to maintain the separation between the legislative and executive branches of the government, she goes on to address Bradley's point about other Presidential Advisors testifying in the past, saying:

"...the only National Security Advisors, sitting National Security Advisors that to our knowledge have testified did so in matters having to do with either criminal intent or criminal allegations, or impropriety -- not on matters of policy."

Fortunately for them, the administration has actually managed to learn from history that lying to the American people isn't actually considered a crime... unless, of course, you do it under oath.