After initially balking at the invitation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reversed course and agreed to speak to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Given his position, he might as well have stuck to his original plans.

Sen. Hillary Clinton asked Rumsfeld a series of aggressive questions, in particular noting his track record of "assurances that have, frankly, proven to be unfulfilled."

Rumsfeld, naturally, disagreed. "I don't think that's true. I have never painted a rosy picture," the Defense Secretary said with a straight face. "I have been very measured in my words, and you'd have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I have been excessively optimistic."

ThinkProgress found ample evidence to the contrary (no word from TP about whether their efforts represented a "dickens of a time"). AmericaBlog has more.

--Guest Post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report