Rice Hearings: I May Have Underestimated My Junior Senator

But I have resigned from the Diane Feinstein fan club. I watched my senior Senator introduce Dr. Rice this morning. Now I’m all for bipartisan support for good foreign policy and a strong national defense but Senator Feinstein’s gushing over Dr. Rice went beyond credibility. But then Senator Boxer made me proud I voted for her. How you ask? Check this out:

California Sen. Barbara Boxer questioned Rice aggressively before the panel broke for lunch, suggesting that Rice’s loyalty to Bush and her mission to defend the war in Iraq “overwhelmed your respect for the truth.” Rice bristled, saying that “I have to say that I have never, ever, lost respect for the truth in the service of anything,” She later told Boxer, “I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integrity.” Boxer pointed out what she said were inconsistencies in Rice’s statements about the imminent threat of nuclear weapons in Iraq. “This is a pattern here of what I see from you,” Boxer said. “It’s very troubling. … It’s hard for me to let go of this war because people are still dying.” She said Rice has not acknowledged those deaths, has not laid out an exit strategy for Iraq and has been unwilling to admit mistakes — including going to war over weapons of mass destruction found later not to exist.

Incidentally, Boxer did not impugn Dr. Rice’s credibility as Rice has none. More from Dr. Rice:

The time for diplomacy is now.

Thank goodness as we have had a complete lack of diplomacy during Bush’s first term.