Be the first on the block to blog Condi Rice’s testimony, thanks to Stuart Benjamin of the Volokh Conspiracy:
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.)
{ 7 comments }
John Isbell 04.08.04 at 2:28 am
He misses the possibility that detractors might just think she’s lying, which seems like a worthwhile option (he has the term for Clarke) and would not be a novel charge against her (planes into buildings, etc.).
In short, IMO his non-partisanship needs a tuneup. But props for trying.
Ralph Luker 04.08.04 at 3:08 am
No. No. This cannot be “a drinking game: one drink for each iteration of one of these words”. The fridge and liquor cabinet won’t hold out long enough. The liquor budget for the year will have been gutted. In fact, Atrios and Instapundit alone will barbarize my liquor supply.
Dave 04.08.04 at 4:48 am
Its “Doctor” Rice to you all, if you please.
dsquared 04.08.04 at 7:16 am
Finish your glass if you see the words “an African-American woman”.
choppy 04.08.04 at 5:21 pm
I wondered why she kept going on about tourists.
coglethorpe 04.08.04 at 7:43 pm
Oh! You forgot to mention conservatives mentioning how the liberals treat her like “a freed slave.”
I’ve read a bit of religious apologia and attack literature (long story). It amazes me how the tactics used on both sides in religious matters parallels politics.
While it makes for good entertainment, the fun is ruined when visualize an Iraqi who has an RPG aimed at a PFC’s head, while a pilot inspects a Hellcat before his next mission. Maybe that’s what the booze is for…
That's Dr. Another Damned Medievalist 04.08.04 at 7:48 pm
Sorry, but you missed “evasive”! I’ll probably be blogging about this myself later, but from what I heard on my way to campus this morning, I was impressed. Never before have I heard such excellent work. Condi has clearly worked out how not to lie under oath by never actually answering the questions — even the yes-or-no ones! Plus, by going back over the same seldom-relavent litany every time she gives a non-answer, she lets the clock eat away each commissioner’s allotted time.
My initial take before watching the recording this evening?
Repetition doesn’t make it fact
If a) the August 6 memo contained no actionable threat but was scary nevertheless; b)you knew years ago that there were Al Qaida cells in the country and AQ had been responsible for two attacks on US soil (including the Cole); and c) you knew that there was a serious lack of communication between the FBI and the CIA, then wouldn’t you make sure they were talking to each other? Wouldn’t you? Oh, right … legally they couldn’t share information. Silly me — I thought the CIA couldn’t operate in the US … I never realized that there was a legal impediment to passing along imformation that crossed borders.
What I really can’t stand: She seems to think we’re all stupid.
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