State Department a mess under Rice.
By on Jan 11th, 2007 at 10:54 am
State Department a mess under Rice.
Robert Novak, in today’s Washington Post: “Republicans in Congress who do not want to be quoted tell me that the State Department under Condoleezza Rice is a mess. This comes at a time when the U.S. global position is precarious. While attention is focused on Iraq, American diplomacy is being tested worldwide — in Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Korea and Sudan. The judgment by thoughtful Republicans is that Rice has failed to manage that endeavor.”
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What do you expect?
January 11th, 2007 at 10:55 amGive her a Medal, pronto!!
January 11th, 2007 at 10:59 amthoughtful Republicans
Interesting way to state it in the article guys. I won’t add anything that probably won’t be added by others, but yeah, no surprise that Rice may not have been the finest choice.
January 11th, 2007 at 10:59 amI don’t know about you but I am shocked. Shocked that calling the State Department under Rice “a mess” is the worst word they could think of. I personally can think of many more, much worse adjectives.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:01 amI’m still waiting for someone to tell me why anyone should be impressed with Rice. What has she done? Not one damn thing, other than parrot the admin’s talking points.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:02 amwithout reading this through, i just have one first impression question:
January 11th, 2007 at 11:02 amwhat is the interest lately in anything novak has to say?
i thought he was a pariah… just wondering…
I have been saying all along the woman is incompetent.
The douche bag of liberty finally caught up and the State Department finally caught on.
She couldn’t even do her “dream” job of NFL commissioner!
January 11th, 2007 at 11:03 amRice got the job because she is sleeping with the President. She never had any qualifications nor did she try to learn anything from Powell and any other former Secretary of State. She follows Cheney’s orders and can’t do that right. Yes those boots were made for walking but that’s about it. The leaders of the world think she is a bitch which she is. Because Bush was the US dictator and had GOP rubber stamping everything people were afraid to speak up. The Middle East doesn’t need a US Secretary of State to visit and only play the piano. The world saw the note as Bush asked his girlfriend if he could go to the potty what’s that about. The elected officials that voted her in as Secretary of State because of friendship are now leading with their voters knowing they put in an incompetent person.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:03 amCondi’s another charlatan – totally unqualified for the job – or any job of importance for that matter. She’s a laughingstock internationally and really out of her league. But what’s new in Bush’s Orwellian dream of “conscious incompetence”?? It all makes sense when one realizes how he’s effectively paid off his supporters with jobs they are not qualified for – all sycophantic whores.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:06 amI understand that she has good taste in shoes.
That must count for something… right?
January 11th, 2007 at 11:07 amRice is just another political hack – plain and simple.
Who on earth, except the idiot Bush, would replace a seasoned veteran like Powell with a college professor.
For that matter, who on earth except an idiot Bush, would name Spellings (who holds only an undergraduater degree) to the post of Sec. of Education.
Who? Only an idiot, that’s who! Only George W. Bush.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:07 amThe problem with Rice is that she does not believe in diplomacy. And she has very little credibility. In the Middle East she is viewed as a stooge of the NeoCons.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:08 amIs it Bush’s Rice or Rice’s Bush? I’m confused here….but obviously Laura isn’t from the tabloid news these days….Guess Bush has been hanging out in Rice’s Bush these days and making a fool of Laura so it’s time for Rice to go? Bush’s Rice, that is – or is it?? Rice’s Bush…..Bush’s Bush….or Bush’s Rice….Or maybe it’s simply just: Bush’s Black Beans?
January 11th, 2007 at 11:08 amWell back to Stanford Condi no more late nite canoddling with your husb…I mean the preznit.
Of course everyone saw this coming when they appointed “ole death squad” as her deputy.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:14 amFace it, Rice was appointed because she is loyal. That is all Bush values, loyalty. Typical of a dictator he surrounds himself with yes-men and loyalists. It protects him from reality and diverse opinions.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:15 amSimply stated: It’s obvious that the “gig” is up for Condi. And that “gig” would be anything and everything from inability to communicate and hold stature with world leaders due to ignorance, insecurity, or lack of diplomacy to the other kind of “gig”…..which has Laura in a tizzy – the old fingers in another honey pot routine! Whatever it is, and neither of these are mutually exclusive and all probable, Condi’s on her way down the tubes.
Good riddance to another bad rubbish I say! I can hear those Bush lyrics right now….bup, bup, bup, another one bites the dust….bup, bup, bup….and another one down, another one down, another one bites the dust….trallalalalalala. It’s the new WH anthem!
January 11th, 2007 at 11:17 amHow can the post of Deputy Secretary of the State Department be unmanned for six months? I guess there are only so many cronies to go around these days. The herd is thinning out quickly.
Asfar as Novak is concerned there are a few idiotic comments and views in his article (as usual) but hte one that stands out to me is; The conservative Bolton ran afoul of a liberal Senate vendetta that blocked his confirmation for any post.
Wasn’t Bolton’s confirmation hearings stalled and ran afoul when the Repubs held the majority? Rewriting history one stupid sentence at a time just puts one more nail in your journalistic coffin.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:17 amummm…
…let’s see…
…when Rice was NSC Advisor 9/11 happened…
…and in her testimony to the 9/11 Commission she said “No one could have imagined terrorists using planes as missiles to blow up buildings”…
…despite the PDB outlining that exact strategy (and bin Laden’s intentions)…
…Richard Clark (the man with his hair on fire) was forced to resign…
…Condi became Sec of State…
In Iraq under L. Paul Bremer…
…twenty-something college kids who are Bush loyalists were given the tasks of reconstituting Iraq’s stock market…
…and in the MOST egregious affront a 21-year-old college kid who bragged that his most important job up to that point had been “driving an ice cream truck”…
…was given the resposnsibility of revitalizing the Iraq Interior Dept…
…and Novak is writing that the f***King State dept. under Cundti is in disarray?
…Look at your WHITE (man’s) HOUSE!!!!
January 11th, 2007 at 11:21 amYeah Katy, he’s been quoted several times lately. Powell comments come to mind. I’m guessing he is placing his bet with the group of conservatives against the direction Bush has gone. They are out there and will be attempting to be an option when bush’s house of cards comes crashing down.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:29 amThe Secretary of Shoes didn’t have time to comment, as she had
January 11th, 2007 at 11:32 aman appointment at Macey’s. They’re on sale, you know!
She was rendered ineffective the moment she sold out.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:40 amNo metals, please. Papagallo’s will do.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:43 amIs she at least good in bed?
January 11th, 2007 at 11:44 amA prime example of the failure at State under Rice was the announcement yesterday that Gov. Bill RIchardson (D-NM) in 3 days was able to negotiate a 60 day cease-fire agreement in Darfur. Richardson would be a good person to put in charge of negotiations with North Korea as well.
How is it that someone not in the administration is able to succeed where Rice really didn’t even put in an effort?
To say that Rice is not an effective manager is to put it mildly. She is out of her league in the position of Secretary of State.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:46 amBig shock.
As National Security Adviser 9/11 happens.
As Secretary of State, we lose all allies and create a world of enemies.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:49 amI could never quite understand why an African American woman that grew up in a discriminatory environment and managed to do very well in academia would become a member of a party that doesn’t show much respect for woman or black people. Power is a strange bedfellow.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:54 amOf course she likes Fox News. They have her brand of Kool Aid she has been drinking for years.
January 11th, 2007 at 12:08 pmYikes nice comment but color doesn’t stop you from being stupid or sleeping your way to the top. Remember some people don’t see what and who they are when they look in the mirror. Connie was raised to think she was better then her own people. Her parents didn’t let her know she was African American. At a young age she lived what most blacks could only dream of in America. Her father was a Pastor to Daddy Bush. So they took care of Connie when her Dad died. This is the results. But like everything in life the drunken, druggie idiot son George got the hots for Connie. It grew to sleeping together as Laura was the appointed wife. Now Connie was given every job she’s had as a friend of the family. She took it a step further by sleeping with George to get the top jobs. As for College remember she used her race to get in and most likely pasted. Yes she knows other languages and the piano but that’s it. It’s been learning on the job all the way. Don’t look for Stanford to welcome her as the crimes come out that were committed by this Administration. Look George has a problem with his own library.
January 11th, 2007 at 12:11 pmIt was Rice and Cheney who first zeroed in on Bush as the neocon ticket to power. She isn’t a diplomat, none of them are. They are all arrogant warmongers with agendas that have nothing to do with the advancement of peace. Just take a look at what happened with Lebanon. While Israel was pounding Lebanon, she was saying things like “the time is not right for a cease fire”. It was only when everyone could plainly see that the conflict was solving nothing and Israel could not win that she found it in her heart to “propose” a cease fire to Israel, only after Israel destroyed southern Lebanon.
January 11th, 2007 at 12:19 pmThis is a diplomat? This, pardon my frankness, is a devil.
We must remove them all from office. NOW!! For the sake of the world , which cannot afford another day with them “in charge”.
January 11th, 2007 at 12:22 pmJackie, thanks for posting. I hadn’t known about her early relationship with the Bush’s. That does explain her blindness. Of course, it doesn’t excuse it.
January 11th, 2007 at 12:25 pmBy focusing so much attention on Iraq we are forgetting some of the most important issues which need to be focused on. The Millenium Goals, which were agreed on globally, need our attention. The cost to end world hunger and malnutrition is only $19 billion according to the Borgen Project. Rice should compare that number to what we’ve spent in Iraq (over 300 billion).
January 11th, 2007 at 12:39 pmover her head
January 11th, 2007 at 12:49 pmKeep your eyes on the ball folks. This Administration has never been about doing anything to help “Americans.” It has from before they were ever elected been about weakening the USA so that the Third Reich could continue to build its world domination. The Third Reich being the idea of a World, not a state, Plutocracy. It is about money that can be moved electronically any where in the world so that any one/country that does not do as they’re told will find they’re economies collapsing. Those who march in lock step will prosper until they decide to act in any sort of independent way. Sudam Hussein has recieved that message and he is an example for anyone else who does not do exactly as the New Rulers of the World tell them to do. Why else do you think the largest tax cuts were given to the richest people and corporations in America on the very first day that Bush took office as President of the USA. This one move was in effect a transfer of all the wealth of America into the hands of a few international corporations and out of the pockets of Americans and America.
January 11th, 2007 at 12:51 pmShe hasn’t failed, she’s succeeded completely in doing to the State Dept. exactly what Cheney & Co. have always wanted to do to it.
January 11th, 2007 at 1:13 pmah yes…forgot about the position Condi held as National Security Advisor when 9/11 occurred….ah so, confucious says! Man reap what he sow! And when you sow your seed with a swine, little piglets abound.
January 11th, 2007 at 1:41 pmJust another Bush cabinet member doing a Heck of a job….blind to reality….can’t take criticism….never admit to mistakes…..etc….
Perfect corporate type, not a good secretary of state!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 11th, 2007 at 1:41 pmRice got the job because she is sleeping with the President. She never had any qualifications [...]
Comment by Jackie — January 11, 2007 @ 11:03 am
I think it is unfair to accuse any woman who reaches a high-profile job to have slept her way up. I say it in spite of the fact that I agree she was not qualified for the job in the first place.
Rice did not get the job for sleeping with Pres Bush. She, like other Bush cronies (Alberto Gonzalez, Harriet Miers, “Heckuvajob” Brown, etc) got it as a reward for being personally loyal to the president, nothing more.
She, again like the other Bush cronies, was able to keep her job because she was telling Pres Bush what he wanted to hear. That is the only qualification that counts to the Bush clan.
January 11th, 2007 at 1:59 pmSpudge_Boy,
We will have to agree to disagree. As much as I dislike this administration, its cronies, and everything they’ve done, I cannot make such an accusation with no basis: I think it makes it too easy to be flippant about it.
Although it would make up for some juicy gossip if someone had actual evidence…
January 11th, 2007 at 2:19 pmGuess Bush needs to shuffle her out of the scene because she’ll soon become a true detriment. She lied under oath during the 9/11 hearings which will be brought to the fore I’ve heard once again as whistleblowers have provided new evidence about the inconsistencies in the “official story” of 9/11 – stay tuned to Condi’s indictment for her lies. Also, her “selective amnesia” during the hearings will be scrutinized because saying “I don’t recall” something which one absolutely does recall is lying under oath. Selective amnesia isn’t going to work this time when it is her “obligation” to not only vividly recall events and timelines but it is culpable negligence on her part to be so ignorant of what transpired leading up to that day and how. She’s a loser, a liar, and probably a concubine who uses sex to gain status. Time to send her back to school to become educated in diplomacy, detante, and public relations! She’s totally inadequate and inept.
I hope she looks good in an orange jumpsuit when she is indicted for perjury during the 9/11 hearings! Even crossing your legs exposing Bush’s Rice isn’t going to make things get better for you!
January 11th, 2007 at 2:27 pmWe all know Rice is in way over her head. When the scum like Novak are criticizing her at State, it must be pretty apparent to those who should know. Even Republiscum don’t want to see the country continue to deteriorate.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:27 pmRice is where she is not because of her political skills. Other skills perhaps.
And I have found that, as with all tabloid stories, there is always a shred of truth in what they’ve garnered along the way….which usually comes to fruition more often than not! Whether she’s slept her way to status is irrelevant; what IS strikingly relavant and authentic is that she’s not qualified for her job, has bungled every aspect of it, was asleep at the wheel as National Security Advisor in the events leading up to 9/11 and needs to be punished commensurately for her complicity in enabling this country to descend to these depths. She needs to be Trumped – “You’re fired!”.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:29 pmEven Novak is speaking against her now – how bad is that? Pretty bad! The fact is that she’s in disfavor now as the Valerie Plame outing and the perjury of her testimony at the 9/11 hearings will be investigated. She will be either indicted for her lies and complicity or will suddenly vanish from the political radar. I think Bush believes that he’d better lose her now rather than have her take him down for 9/11. what do you think? Cutting losses? I’d bet money on it.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:32 pmShe’s tough as nails,being a sharecroppers daughter! That was one of her selling points, used to help elevate her as a Nat. Security Advisor to Bush. Plus held a “Doctorate of Russian History”, prior to the fall of Russia, in the late 80’s,early 90’s,which prepared her to be, what she is today, a sharecroppers daughter way out of her league!
January 11th, 2007 at 3:05 pmGotta give the president’s girlfriend a job so it looks like there’s a reason they’re together all the time, other than for sex. It’s always more important for this president’s personal needs to be met than the needs of this country or the world. Shame on all of these traitors to the United States. They need to be dealt, tried, convicted and impeached immediately.
January 11th, 2007 at 3:53 pm