And DougR WILL believe Rice and will not believe Clarke, no matter what Rice says. Let's face it, there will precious little "evidence" that any of us will be privy to, anyway; it will all be "he said, she said" by the time this is over, so can you blame any of us, including DougR, for going with our political instincts?

There is only a small number of people out there whose minds can be changed by ANY testimony before the commission. This is why it WAS important for Bush and Co. to put her out there. By letting Clarke testify without a rebuttal, the administration risked losing those people in the next election. By letting Rice get the last word (for surely she will trump the previously obscure Clarke in the media), they insure the Lion's share of those voters. At least that's the theory.