re: "political weapons"
Just out of curiosity, where were all the objections to the others who offered to testify privately? Does it bother you that Bill Clinton and Al Gore, who, to put it mildly, were in charge for the eight years prior to the year the most recent al Qaeda attack on America took place, are not testifying in public? Why, or why not? This question is addressed to everyone upset about Rice's method of testifying.
My answer, of course, is that the Democrats have nothing to gain by it, and possibly something to lose.