Sources tell TIME that Rice plans a 20-minute opening statement to make the case for the Bush team.

--Time

Well, there it is.

I know everyone on the left is eagerly awaiting Condi's testimony, certain it will expose her and her bosses as the liars and scoundrels they are, but I'm dreading it. Republicans bring a significant advantage to situations like this -- they believe they're the only bastion against evil, they define evil in ways that play extremely well in the American heartland, and they're extremely good at crafting messages (much, much better than they are at stuff like, y'know, governing).

Think Ollie North, whose rhetoric effectively ended any serious attempt to hold Reaganites accountable for Iran-contra. Think Colin Powell at the UN, whose presentation effectively neutralized global opposition to the upcoming war.

Rice's speech has the potential to bury anything in the subsequent questioning. Somewhere in those twenty minutes will be a couple of expertly constructed sound bites, and the lead on the evening news will be one of them -- not an answer to a tough question.

And the message will be: We were on the side of good. Question us, criticize us, second-guess us, deprive us of a second term, and you're on the side of evil. It will be righteously indignant. And, for a couple of news cycles at least, it will be called a bravura performance -- and a huge Bush victory.