Rice Spin: If you want to do more than just praise Dr. Rice's testimony without admitting its (and her) deficiencies, there are various other ways to spin it. You can say that there was no chance to prevent 9/11, so this is all illegitimate 20/20 hindsight and misguided. This allows you to cover up or ignore any mistakes, missteps, or cover-ups. You can snipe at Bob Kerrey, including his mea culpa about supporting the Iraq War given what it wrought. This allows you to cover up the good points he made as well as the fact several other members of the commission challenged Rice in a much better fashion. Or, you can suggest that others criticized Rice too much, this allows you to ignore the basic truths by (to steal a turn of phrase) swatting at flies.

A bit more on Kerrey's comment about Iraq, which was not a question, and he specifically said that she need not comment on it. He also prefaced his general remarks by saying that he is not damning his targets per se for he too probably would have made mistakes, but he just wanted to examine said mistakes. He also stopped clapping that grew from his Iraq comments. Anyhow, Dr. Rice later on brought up a speech Kerrey made earlier that suggested dealing with Saddam -- a cheap shot that drew applause, applause she did not quiet. Was this, to quote one person, "not appropriate" as well?

[One person also raised an important question. Dr. Rice said that most of the chatter implied there would be an attack overseas. Well, what did they do about those threats? After all, it still is a rather big problem, as past overseas attacks on us showed. Another had an excellent essay arguing she is not really a national security advisor; she is a lackey of others who actually advise the President about national security. Stories relating to just what information were out there suggests this very well might be true. Note the criticism by "Thomas" and the replies, more likely to come given the holiday, as a counterpoint. One I just don't think holds up. Finally, a great (if modest) heads up by BTC News today noting that the infamous title of the 8/6/01 memo was in the news (and forgotten) some time ago. She also comments on the Daily Kos comment debate that I mentioned on 4/5.]

The Rice Testimony has brought out the sad example of "biased Bush supporters who should know better given their general views" again. The worse kind are those who use sarcasm and biased tactics to promote their views, making it hard for the other side to respect them as reasonable critics. I discuss Instapundit doing this here.

Other Tidbits: Ewww. A good article over at Slate regarding the hysteria of the Supreme Court having a "decent respect to the Opinions of Mankind" (to quote the Declaration of Independence) by reference to wisdom from foreign courts and nations. They do the same with our practice without threatening their own sovereignty ... the hubris and fear that compels some to attack when we do it is troubling.

Pet Peeve Alert: The NY Mets started the season in Atlanta, losing two out of three (nice opener, two hellish games) in usual fashion -- something was missing, this time mainly relief pitching and a few lucky breaks. You get over 20 runs, you win more than one of three, okay? This was followed by a blown lead tonight. They had a shot to go ahead again in the ninth, but the Expos made a great play at the plate. Listen up home team announcers. METS FANS ARE PRIMARILY WATCHING.

This appears as obvious as the fact the team is damned over the last few years, but apparently not. Each time announcers, as if they are neutral national announcers, excitedly call a heartbreaking play (again, for the home town fans) without realizing the value of injecting just a tad of "oh too bad" in it, I am shall we say f-ing pissed. I'm not a neutral fan, respecting the talents of each side, okay? If a potential go ahead run is cut off in the ninth, I am aggravated. I don't need the announcer to further my aggravation. They won in the 11th, but believe me, such things go the other way for this team much of the time as well.