Running at the combine: This whole testimony rigamorole reminds me of the NFL's scout combine where it has become en vogue for the top college players to not work out at the event in Indianapolis, but instead only submit to confidential one-on-one interviews with teams while technically attending the combine. The thought is that it's better to only work out for the teams in the friendly confines of your own school, with its own springy track-like turf, after having received all the appropriate massages, stretching, and inject...I mean, vitamins. The risk is too great that once out in the open, under the unforgiving lights, before a crowd of semi-hostile scouts and their stop-watches, that the player will freeze up ever so slightly and add .2 to .3 to his 40 time (or subtract 3 or 4 repetitions on the bench). Hence the "private work-out".

Condi has begrudgingly agreed to say something publicly, which is viewed as such a concession, despite that fact that I've personally seen her on no less than 4 different t.v. shows over the past week saying how dumb Clarke is and how wonderful Bush is. Funny, for all the kudos she gets (albeit fewer of late), she's really a bad interview. She's incredibly wooden, has little apparent sense of humor, and she adds nearly nothing of subtance to the "conversation". Yes, I know this is a skill any high-level appointee needs, but at this point, does Congress expect to really get anything new out of her?

My advice to Condi: keep hydrated.