Rice Refuses To Testify Before Congress

On Wednesday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 21-10 to subpoena Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. They want her to testify about the false claim of the White House that Saddam had WMD's and was trying to buy uranium from Niger to build more bombs.

Both claims have turned out to be false, but it looks now like the Bush administration knew they weren't true and lied to Americans to build a justification for the invasion of Iraq. However, it seems like "Condie" will duck her opportunity to step up and tell Americans the truth.

Rice said on thursday that she would be happy to write the committee a letter, but would NOT be willing to testify under oath. She obviously knows that she could not repeat the same lies under oath without getting herself into serious trouble.

How can she duck the Committee's subpoena? It seems the White House has just discovered this country has a Constitution. Rice is now claiming that it would be a violation of the Constitution for her to testify!

Rice claims that since she was Bush's National Security Advisor at the time, and not confirmed by the Senate, she can't be compelled to testify under the doctrine of "executive privilege". She said, "This all took place in my role as national security advisor. There is a constitutional principle. There is a separation of powers and advisors to the president under that constitutional principle are not generally required to go and testify in Congress."

What a load of crap! Bush has signed hundreds of statements he tacked onto new laws saying his administration doesn't have to obey them, even though he is constitutionally required to do so. He was perfectly willing to throw the Constitution out the window so he could spy on American citizens. He seems unable to locate that Constitution (or the 14th amendment to it) when women, minorities and gays demand equal rights.

But when he and his cohorts are caught in their lies and asked to testify under oath, all of a sudden they want to use the very Constitution they have spent years trying to destroy.

This has nothing to do with "executive privilege". The simple fact is they have been caught in their own lies, and don't want to testify under oath, where they would be subject to the penalties of perjury if they kept repeating them. Rice and her White House cohorts are taking the coward's way out.

Bush and his cabal just cannot tell Americans the truth. It is not in their nature to do so.