Written by: Beck

Condoleezza Rice will testify before the 9/11 Commission, publicly and under oath! This is a good thing. The negative publicity from Clarke's attacks needed counteracting, and the cloud hanging over the White House's secrecy on this particular issue needed dispelling. The White House ingeniously agreed to allow full public sworn testimony from Rice only under the condition that:

the commission must agree in writing that Rice's appearance would not set a precedent for testimony by White House staff -- and that the commission "will not request additional public testimony from any White House official, including Dr. Rice."

This gives the public the circus they want, pulls the teeth of liberal criticism of Rice, and at the same time, protects against future circus performances of this nature.

NRO has a reproduction of the White House's letter demanding the commission's concessions.