Broadcasters dutifully dwelled on National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice’s appearance before the September 11 commission for three hours yesterday, then scrambled to deconstruct the proceedings and pluck out partisan bits or rude moments in the aftermath.
Most honed in on testy behavior from two commission members — “tense moments,” said CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
Former Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste and former Sen. Bob Kerrey, Nebraska Democrat, gleaned some notoriety as their strident attacks on Miss Rice were replayed throughout the afternoon on CNN and elsewhere.
Mr. Kerrey, in fact, swore at Miss Rice at one point during his 10 minutes in the spotlight, punctuating his inquiry several times with the phrase “swatting flies.”
Miss Rice emerged with polite reviews from grudging anchormen who could craft few criticisms about the unflappable White House stalwart.
“She is steady, she is composed,” intoned Dan Rather on CBS.
“Is there any brand new news here?” asked Peter Jennings over on ABC.
“Not really,” replied correspondent Terry Moran. “But she presented a vigorous case, and a reasonable response.”
It was a little too reasonable for some. PBS commentator Mark Shields was irked by Miss Rice’s use of proper operative terms.
“My eyes glazed over. If she used one more ’systemic’ or ’tactical’ I think I would have passed out,” Mr. Shields said.
Was it compelling viewing? Well, maybe.
“It was SportsCenter for the C-SPAN crowd but almost underwhelming for most people outside the Beltway, given the advance hype,” said Matthew Felling of the Center for Media and Public Affairs.
Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal Online’s James Taranto felt a partisan vehicle was in gear.
The Democrats, he wrote, “have been trying their hardest to turn the September 11 Commission into a forum to pillory the Bush administration for not acting in advance to prevent the attacks on America. At the same time, many have been blasting Bush for acting ’pre-emptively’ in Iraq.”
Meanwhile, the timing of the hearing proved convenient to CBS, ABC and NBC, which whisked away at precisely 11:58 a.m. for affiliates to air regular noon newscasts, leaving the news channels to either parrot back Miss Rice’s testimony or spin their analytical wheels.
The channels presented dueling video clips of Miss Rice and former White House counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke, followed by opposing lawmakers for a little dramatic effect.
Miss Rice’s testimony was “not about finger-pointing. It’s about solutions,” Sen. Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican, told CNN.
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, West Virginia Democrat, had a different take on Miss Rice.
“She glossed over a great deal. And she did not disagree with anything Clarke said,” he countered.
The network topped off the exchange with a political ad from California-based liberal activist group MoveOn.org, which features video footage from Mr. Clarke’s commission testimony and the motto “George Bush: A Failure of Leadership.”
• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com or 202/636-3085.
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