A day for Rice - So today is the day, and I'm not talking about the Mud Hens home opener, although it has more importance. I'm talking about national security advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice speaking to the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes also known as the 9/11 commission. Grand phoobah Thomas H. Kean presiding. Dr. Rice has already testified to the commission in private, so what's the point? Grandstanding by the commission members. Face time. The major networks will air Dr. Rice's testimony. The commission is trying to appear to be doing something. I also think it's a futile attempt to publicly assault Dr. Rice's credibility. Some politicians are afraid of Dr. Rice for what she might do politically in the future. You know damn well there are curmudgeons in Washington D.C. who despise women having high profile government positions.
And since Dr. Rice is a black woman in a Republican administration, that has to eat at the insides of some people. Like, how can that be? Dr. Rice is not a token. Dr. Rice is brilliant, articulate, dedicated, strong, independent, and full of spunk. A role model. And when she's done testifying, the only thing left of the commission will be bones, and you'll notice no spines.
I predict two things. First, for those who see all 2 1/2 hours of Dr. Rice's testimony, which will be about 1% of the population, it will be obvious that she's intelligent and right for the job. But the media will have to compress that 2-plus hours of testimony into a few seconds for their news programs. I predict the media will take a few of Dr. Rice's sound bytes out of context to portray her in a negative way.
On my short list of people who I would like to meet someday, Dr. Rice would be at or near the top. Lance Armstrong would be the other. I say, we need more people like Dr. Rice in the world.
posted by jr to politics at 8:53 A.M. EST
(1 Comment)
Comments ...
"In widely anticipated testimony, Rice offered no apology for the failure to prevent the attacks - as Clarke did two weeks ago. Instead, she said, "as an officer of government on duty that day, I will never forget the sorrow and the anger I felt." "
"In nearly three hours in the witness chair, Rice stoutly defended Bush when Democrats on the commission raised questions about the administration's attentiveness to terrorism, and implicitly and explicitly rebutted a series of charges made two weeks ago by former terrorism aide Richard Clarke."
"Rice said the president came into office determined to develop a "more robust" policy to combat al-Qaida. "He made clear to me that he did not want to respond to al-Qaida one attack at a time. He told me he was 'tired of swatting flies'." "
Rice's opening statement.
Transcript of the testimony.
posted by jr at 11:26 A.M. EST on Thu Apr 08, 2004 #
Syndicate ToledoTalk
