I've seen a lot of talk about whether or not Condi "won" with her testimony. This portrayal of the 9/11 Commission as the playing field for some kind of tournement between "us" and "them" disturbs me. Here's my two cents on the matter:
It's wrong to even look at this in the context of win/loss. This is about uncovering the truth versus spreading a lie, or at least a specific group's narrower version of the truth. We SHOULD NOT BE two groups at odds with one another, but should all be AMERICANS interested in uncovering why something went wrong and our fellow Americans died. Unfortunately, all too often, we are. Hence the inherent problem in an adversarial two-party system such as George Washington warned about.
It's fair to wonder who turned this into a competition in the first place, but arguing about it gets us nowhere. Each "side" will inevitably point its finger at the other. Cooler heads needs must prevail! We should recognize the problem of such competition and cease in stooping to that level, even if others continue to regard it as a competition and count the veiling of the greater truth in favor of a lesser truth/outright lie as a "victory" for "their side".
In the end, if the interests of a small group override the interests of the whole of the nation, then we've ALL "lost", even those people who make up that small group.