I'm periodically trying to check on the Rice testimony, and from what I've seen it was just as expected - a bunch of political posturing.



Excerpt from the AP transcript:



BEN-VENISTE: Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6th PDB warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?



RICE: I believe the title was, Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.



Now, the ...



BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.



RICE: No, Mr. Ben-Veniste ...



BEN-VENISTE: I will get into the ...



RICE: I would like to finish my point here.



BEN-VENISTE: I didn't know there was a point.



RICE: Given that _ you asked me whether or not it warned of attacks.



BEN-VENISTE: I asked you what the title was.



RICE: You said, did it not warn of attacks. It did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information. And it did not, in fact, warn of any coming attacks inside the United States.



I love this drinking game from Stuart Benjamin of the Volokh Conspiracy. Excerpt:



Play bingo at home (or, if you want, make it into a drinking game: one drink for each iteration of one of these words).



Of her demeanor, Rice supporters will say she was: "poised," "confident," "authoritative," and/or "polished."

Of her demeanor, Rice detractors will say she was: "defensive," "visibly annoyed," and/or "brusque" ; bonus (if they feel strongly) "petulant" and/or "schoolmarmish"



On the quality of her arguments, Rice supporters will say: "persuasive," "convincing," "firm," and/or "powerful"; bonus (if they feel strongly) "overpowering"

On the quality of her arguments, Rice detractors will say: "unpersuasive," "weak," "vacillating," and/or "shaky,"; bonus (if they feel strongly) "incoherent"



Overall, Rice supporters will describe her performance as: "a home run," "putting doubts to rest," "answering all the questions," "showing Clarke to be a liar," and/or "letting us get on to the people's business"; bonus (if they are really partisan) "refuting the demagogues on the other side"

Overall, Rice detractors will describe her performance as: "raising more questions than it answers," "a missed opportunity to inform the American people," "vindicating Richard Clarke," and/or "raising troubling questions about this Administration"; bonus (if they are really partisan) "you're the demagogue" (followed by: "am not!"; "are too!"; "am not!"; etc.)



Meanwhile, I wonder whether it's coincidental that things abroad are heating up in Iraq and Afghanistan simultaneously? Seems rather too well coordinated.



**UPDATE**

Scrappleface has this news:



". . .Democrats in Congress appealed to the FCC to investigate the live coverage of Dr. Rice's testimony, charging that it may violate election laws. 'It was a free commercial emphasizing the competence and leadership of the Bush administration,' said one unnamed Democrat House member. 'We demand equal time.'"



Biting satire . . . ouch.