Yahoo! News - White House to Let Rice Testify in Public For anyone who doesn't pay close attention, such a headline appears several times during each administration. Or at least it SHOULD. The key point here is, that in a system that claims "separation of powers" the various branches of government cannot allow other branches to run roughshod over them. The bad news, is that due to public pressure, the White House almost always concedes these issues in the end, one way or another. That's one reason I've long said that the Congress is the most important branch. They MAKE most of the laws, and only when they make them sloppily (which is most of the time) can the Courts interpret them to mean something other than originally intended. There are also more blowhards per square inch in the vicinity of the US capitol than anyplace else on earth. That coupled with a 4th branch of government, the Press, which treats all political news with the same seriousness as a small town paper announcing that the circus has come to town. Which is, of course what this commission has become. High minded bipartisan, problem solving intentions are still being uttered, but the problem at hand is a difficult one: How to thwart terrorism without stepping on our rights too much. And after wrestling with it for a few months the weary participants naturally fall back to that which they do best, and most, bashing the other party. Hurray for out side.