Rice: Much Of Bush’s Foreign Policy Agenda Deserves An ‘A+’
Rice: Much Of Bush’s Foreign Policy Agenda Deserves An ‘A+’
This morning on CBS, Sunday Morning’s Rita Braver interviewed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In a portion of the interview that does not appear to have aired, Braver noted the results of the recent Pew Global Attitudes survey which found that “the U.S. image abroad is suffering almost everywhere.” Braver prompted Rice saying, “It has to be more than just a perception problem.” Rice dismissed the poll’s results, claiming that the Bush administration has “left a lot of good foundations”:
Q: Looking at the big picture of what’s the whole foreign policy of this Administration – you come out of the academic tradition so I think it’s fair to ask, what kind of grade do you give yourself and this Administration on foreign policy?
RICE: Oh, I don’t know. It depends on the subject. I’m sure that there are some that deserve an A-plus and some that deserve a lot less. … We’ve left a lot of good foundations.
Q: You know, you say that, but the Pew Global Attitudes Project released a new report very recently. On the very first page it says, “The U.S. image abroad is suffering almost everywhere.” … It has to be more than just a perception problem.
RICE: No. Rita, first of all, it depends on where you’re talking about. In two of the most populous countries, China and India, the United States is not just well regarded for its policies, but well regarded.
When pressed further, Rice responded by saying, “It’s not a popularity contest.”
While the U.S. is indeed well-regarded in India, Rice’s claim that the U.S. is “well regarded” in China is puzzling. The Pew Survey that Braver noted found that in China, the U.S. is viewed favorably by just 41 percent of the country. Similarly, just 30 percent of China has confidence in the Bush administration. A BBC poll from April of this year found similar results for many other nations around the world.
Overall, the Bush administration’s foreign policy agenda has seen few successes. U.S. influence abroad is predicted to decline over the next 20 years. The U.S. military is weaker now than it was five years ago, while the State Department is suffering from staffing shortages and low morale. The recent violence in Israel dramatically highlights the fact that Bush largely ignored the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
No matter how many times Rice repeats herself, the fact that the world does not look kindly on the Bush administration’s foreign policy record will not change.
Also during the interview, Rice would soon “start to thank this president for what he’s done.”
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70 Responses to “Rice: Much Of Bush’s Foreign Policy Agenda Deserves An ‘A+’”
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What's lower than an F? An F minus? That's what the Bush administration's foreign policy deserves.
The Bush administration has ruined America domestically and in the eyes of the world. And what's worse is they didn't do it because they were incompetent -- they did it because they're corrupt and greedy and malicious.
The Bush administration can't end fast enough, including Rice's inept handling of the State Department.
December 28th, 2008 at 1:48 pmDoes anyone in the Bush admin live in reality? Or do they believe what they believe and that just all right by them?
Reminds me of my friend's mother, her favorite saying is "the bible says, I believe it, and that settles it......" Please don't ask her which version of the bible she reads as the answer is the "the only true one".....insert head in sand here----->
December 28th, 2008 at 1:52 pmThis Regime has three pillars, malfeasance, maladroitness and mendaciousness. Expecting a mea culpa from any of these perps is wishful thinking, and reading or viewing their interviews is a waste of time
December 28th, 2008 at 1:58 pmRice is a WAR CRIMINAL! Whatvere she sayis anything, it carries no value, weight or truth. HAGUE 2009!
December 28th, 2008 at 2:02 pm# 2 -- Bush once made a similar comment about the Ten Commandments.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:06 pmNo. Rita, first of all, it depends on where you’re talking about.
~Rice
Translation: I cherry-pick the facts I believe in, so my reality may be closer to my delusions.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pmWhy do you keep giving this lying b|tch a podium? There hasn't been anything but lies coming from her mouth for as long as I can remember. Can't we just ignore her and Karl Rove until such time as they are involved in war-crimes trials?
December 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pmI hate to rush through my life but 01/20/2009 can't get here soon enough. I am so tired of listening to the BS put out by the Bush Administration.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:13 pmAll the busies have been in a bubble of their own making for the last seven years. If they burst it now and faced reality, they would go stark raving mad.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:29 pmA+++ WOULD INVADE AGAIN
December 28th, 2008 at 2:33 pmA+?
A + trocity
A + bomination
A + busive
A + ngry
A + sshole
A + trophy
A + crimonious
A + cerbic
A + pathetic
...or just plain 'pathetic.'
December 28th, 2008 at 2:34 pmBut it's not like Bush's SoS is biased on the subject or anything...
December 28th, 2008 at 2:37 pmRice: Much Of Bush’s Foreign Policy Agenda Deserves An ‘A+’»
- - Uh huh. And Ralphie in A Christmas Story got an A+++++ on his essay on "What I want For Christmas."
Condi, shouldn't your butt be flying to Damascus about right now?
December 28th, 2008 at 2:37 pmlol Girlfriday Rice is full of it. Pass the popcorn please...
December 28th, 2008 at 2:50 pmI don't undestand why people are surprised that Bush, Cheney, Rice, and the rest of the Gang 'O Pirates aren't going to admit in public that they've done a horrible job. Their statements could be used against them in future War Crimes trials.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:59 pmAn 'A' for what?
by being the biggest Arse wipe around?
December 28th, 2008 at 3:05 pmYeah right! A lot of good foundations on LIES AND DECEIT. Who are you Condoleezza to make judgement, you are part of Bush's failed team.
The American people, the hard working middle class, the ones that are much WORSE OFF after 8 years of lies and failure after failure, they're the ones who make the judgement!
This team of losers has audacity to declare success after 8 years of hell. How dare you!
December 28th, 2008 at 3:13 pmRice: "We’ve left a lot of good foundations."
So did hurricane Katrina...
December 28th, 2008 at 3:13 pmDelusional?
December 28th, 2008 at 3:16 pmAre all these end of term interviews by Bushies an attempt by the media to be the one wherein the truth is told, where a lie is exposed, where an admission of guilt is made?
Why else are these psychopathic liars interviewed - their words mean nothing - if an interview doesn't elicit the truth, then why even air the segment? It serves no purpose except it gives the liars an opportunity to rewrite history.
This type of history re-write probably plays well in that ever-shrinking region of Appalachia that will be all the GOP have left in coming election cycles. Recall that Rice was brought in to the Bush Administration for her intellect, but her embrace of questionable scholarship is pathological.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:19 pmI am continually bemused by the fact that woman with such supposedly impeccable credentials can act like such a twit. But as I am exposed to Dana Perino, I am beginning think that being delusional and being a compulsive liar are the main qualities a woman needs to possess in order to be in the Bush administration. In a separate interview Sunday morning, Laura Bush also said that she disagreed with those who find fault. She said that "history will tell". Well, it sure will.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:29 pmyou're final grade awaits you in the Hague Georgie porgy.....why do you go and get it?
December 28th, 2008 at 3:41 pmBush Administration epic fail: A+
December 28th, 2008 at 3:43 pmAnyone thinking about taking a course under Condi at Stanford should know that you'll receive an A+ for f ucking up and an F- for getting it right.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:55 pmAh, yes, "a lot of good foundations" built by KBR on the shifting sands of the Mideast. Sounds solid to me.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:01 pmWhat was Stanford thinking when they appointed this disastrous warmonger as chief academic officer? What the hell is that doing on her résumé? I'm quite surprised they haven't dropped several notches during/since her tenure, if her time in government is of any indication.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:02 pmOh yes, we see the foundations of the Bush Administration policies at work in Gaza today.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:05 pmAnd why would a nation need "good foundations" in its foreign policy in its 225th year?
Why, because whatever came before had been utterly destroyed recently.
Damn that Bill Clinton!!
December 28th, 2008 at 4:10 pmI know there has been grade inflation, but there is no way that idiot can get at A+ in anything, except being an idiot. A+, try F -------
December 28th, 2008 at 4:18 pmPakistan and India on the brink of nuclear war...now that's a foundation.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:18 pmOr mabey she got hold of the bad mushrooms before the interview...that might explian it
December 28th, 2008 at 4:22 pmTwin quagmires to match the twin towers destroyed on their watch.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:22 pmIs it possible that there is a prion or viral disease invading the brains of the Bush team that causes their "Baghdad Bob Whitewash" syndrome? There is simply no other explanation for formerly intelligent, rational people to turn, one by one, into smiley faced compulsive liars.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:25 pmWhen I travel abroad I avoid Americans, if I can't avoid them I don't talk to them. I can't believe that they dare travel so disgusting is the stench that emanates from their elected government.
They seem hell bent on bringing the horrors of the 20th century, and that was the most horrible century in history, right through to the 21st, no pauses.
Do ordinary Americans have any idea what their government does in thier name to the poor os this planet?
December 28th, 2008 at 4:33 pmLet's see if we can find an unbiased source. How about Condi Rice she's bound to be without an interest in the legacy of all this mess. No wait how about me F no A's for georgie boy
December 28th, 2008 at 4:35 pmThis deluded war criminal will be dealt with in due time. Remember, Condi: After 1/20/09, you are fair game. Good luck in your career...LOL!
December 28th, 2008 at 4:58 pmIf Bush deserves an A+ for his foreign policy then we would have President-elect John McCain. Since Obama got 8.5 million more votes than McCain I would say that is proof that his foreign policy is considerably less than an A+, more like an F. But Condi Rice has consistently shown a detachment from reality, starting with her do-nothing approach to the NIE report that said "bin Laden determined to attack inside the US", even citing hijackings as a possible source for the attack. That followed warning by FBI agents in both Minneapolis and Phoenix about pilot training when the "student" weren't interesting in learning takeoff and landing procedures. Rice stands second only to Dick Cheney for worst Bush administration official. Yes, I know that leaves out "heckava job" Brownie and Alberto Gonzales.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:58 pmOne way to deal with overwhelming failure is to brazen it out. I guess that's the strategy.
On the nature of Bubbles:
December 28th, 2008 at 4:58 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Ocbt6l5NE
They still think the American people are as stupid as they are crooked. Go to hell, Condi, you are an accomplice to crimes...war crimes.
December 28th, 2008 at 5:00 pmHow delusional can this snaggle-toothed idiot get? The race to re-write Bush's disasterous history is almost as repulsive as the original experience.
December 28th, 2008 at 5:13 pmThe GOP propaganda machine has been running at full steam with one liar, at least, on every show. That's why it's important that these criminals are prosecuted so they don't have time to rewrite history. Once the truth is known about Bushco it's time to go back and set the facts straight and let the people know all the evil Ronald Reagan and his VP set in motion.
December 28th, 2008 at 5:18 pmThe world needs to see Bush, Cheyney, Rice and co on trial at The Hague. People who conduct illegal wars are the worse criminals on the planet. They should be punished as an example to other would be "liberal" facists and in the name of justice for the many innocents who have paid with their lives for the crimes of the Ricains.
December 28th, 2008 at 5:29 pmIt's quite amazing, isn't it? All this catapulting the propaganda, rewriting history and the endless lies of what these criminals have done to us and the world. It's as if they are pretending the people who have survived this nightmare don't exist. I got news for you Condi, we will never forget and we will seek justice. You can count on it! I give the whole lot of them a big red F for everything.
December 28th, 2008 at 5:31 pmMcWars Says:
Anyone thinking about taking a course under Condi at Stanford should know that you’ll receive an A+ for f ucking up and an F- for getting it right.
And lessons dealing with the Geneva Conventions will probably be packed, with people sitting in on her course.
December 28th, 2008 at 5:32 pmYou know, this appallingly incompetent slag, Condaleeza (that's "Chickenlegs" in Italian) Rice, is actually going to return to academia (well, the Hoover Institute, sorta academia) and ever after be accorded the 'dignity' accorded to 'successful' statespersons, like Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright. Perhaps in that company, she won't stand out very far.
December 28th, 2008 at 6:11 pm'It's not a popularity contest' .... isn't that rich.
Spoken by the helmet-haired harridan herself, little Condi, winner of the Miss Congeniality title in the latest beauty contest from hell.
btw, I just love the red dress, dearie. It goes so well with your black eyes and even blacker soul. Satan must be very impressed.
December 28th, 2008 at 6:15 pmRice's dishonest & ludicrous statements lately leave me in a perpetuall state of nausea. Each time she lies about the Bush failures, she treats us all like idiots.
December 28th, 2008 at 6:20 pmdyatel42 Says:
When I travel abroad I avoid Americans, if I can’t avoid them I don’t talk to them. I can’t believe that they dare travel so disgusting is the stench that emanates from their elected government.
They seem hell bent on bringing the horrors of the 20th century, and that was the most horrible century in history, right through to the 21st, no pauses.
Do ordinary Americans have any idea what their government does in thier name to the poor os this planet?
December 28th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Yeah, no need to avoid me, cuz I'd be avoiding you and your assholierthanthou attitude.
December 28th, 2008 at 6:29 pmThat's what they said:
"The two most influential women in President George W. Bush's White House _ first lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice _ are strongly defending the president's legacy against critics who are calling his administration one of the worst in history.
"I know it's not, and so I don't really feel like I need to respond to people that view it that way," Mrs. Bush said in an interview that aired Sunday. "I think history will judge and we'll see later."
Rice took a similar view in a separate interview, saying that claims that the Bush administration has been one of the worst ever are "ridiculous."
"I think generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this president for what he's done. This generation will," Rice said. "Because I think the fact that we have really made foreign assistance not just an issue of giving humanitarian aid or giving money to poor people, but really insisting on good governance and fighting corruption," she said. "I think the fact that this president has laid the groundwork for a Palestinian state, being the first president, as a matter of policy, to say that there should be one, and now, I think, laying the foundation that's going to lead to that Palestinian state _ I can go on and on."
Can it get any worse? They should just shut up and go away. Jan 20 can not come soon enough
December 28th, 2008 at 7:07 pmjmw2006 - are you serious: She said Bush was the first prez to lay the groundwork for a Palestinian state ????????????????????
December 28th, 2008 at 7:49 pmThe arrogance of this WH has no equal. As if any of us have the luxury of being able to grade ourselves in our work, school, etc.
December 28th, 2008 at 7:50 pm“Rice: Much Of Bush’s Foreign Policy Agenda Deserves An ‘A+’”
What Policy? I've seen no coherent, if any Policy from these subhumans. They've only followed lizard brained instincts, no superior thought anywhere in two whole terms.
December 28th, 2008 at 8:11 pmDamn I hope my kid gets into Stanford, or wherever CONdi ends up, so he can getz him some of that Rice Krispie, grade-inflation A+ she's giving away for nothing.
December 28th, 2008 at 8:36 pmAaahh yet again exhibiting her keen intellect demonstrating her continuing capacity to be 180º out of sync with reality. We have had 20 years of her glaring incompetence (so bad that Stanford pushed her out of its teaching faculty and into the Hoover Institute {thanks of course to Chevron money who named an oil tanker after her} when her first Bush left office). She has been terminally wrong about everything: giving us policies that funded the resistance to the mighty (never gonna fall) Soviets in Afghanistan {leaving us the Taliban and al Qaeda); arguing that the Soviet Union would never collapse so we needed to increase our military presence in Europe and the Middle East; completely disregarding the ongoing threats of Islamic terrorists; initiating policies that gave us massive spying on US citizens (Negroponte, Poindexter, Bolton, and so many others). Yep, she's startling in her incompetence.
December 28th, 2008 at 9:41 pmStill stuck in stupid academia mode, aren't you Condi? I will be grateful if the world actually survives until January 20, 2009. Go away now.
December 28th, 2008 at 9:52 pmmerriam-webster.com/dictionary/delusion
Main Entry: delusion
1: the act of deluding : the state of being deluded
December 28th, 2008 at 10:58 pm2 a: something that is falsely or delusively believed or propagated b: a persistent false psychotic belief regarding the self or persons or objects outside the self that is maintained despite indisputable evidence to the contrary ; also : the abnormal state marked by such beliefs
Until Rice comes along I didn't know a prostitute could become a secretary of state.
December 28th, 2008 at 11:45 pmSo, the Bush administration demolished U.S. foreign policy and Condi surveys the rubble and proclaims, "We’ve left a lot of good foundations." Wow. Can't wait to read her book.
December 29th, 2008 at 12:09 amAn $85,000 box full of jewelry from the Saudis is all she can see right now. She'll say whatever, her vision is blurred. A+ yeah right!
December 29th, 2008 at 11:56 amHere we are on the edge of a full blown depression and the black moor goldfish Condolezza has the nerve to say this failed administration deserves an A+. Shame on you and the idiot, and the losers that supported him!
Well, she has to think that. She will go down in history as the National Security Advisor that allowed 9/11 to happen and she participated in the discussions about torture in the White House. In short, she's a war criminal.
Maybe a trial at the International Criminal Court would help her snap out of it...
December 29th, 2008 at 12:41 pmYeah, we'll thank him... let's get that over with right now.
Thanks for starting a war based on a lie.
Thanks for starting a war with no exit strategy.
Thanks for torture.
Thanks for abridging habeus corpus.
Thanks for flagrantly and repeatedly violating the Geneva Conventions.
Thanks for signing statements.
Thanks for warrantless wiretapping.
Thanks for turning over government agencies to industry lobbyists.
Thanks for gutting financial and industry regulations across the board.
Thanks for politicizing the justice system.
Thanks for outing Valerie Plame.
Thanks for restricting foreign aid with social-conservative requirements.
Thanks for taking the tax burden off of the rich and shifting it to the middle class.
Thanks for cutting and ignoring our infrastructure.
Thanks for trying to undermine the U.N.
Thanks for playing all our international allies like fools.
Thanks for the non-response to Katrina.
Thanks for ignoring Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Thanks for using your wars as an excuse to dump money to no-bid contractors.
Thanks for putting us behind the 8-ball with the giant deficit.
Thanks for "Unitary Executive Theory," a fancy term for Fascism.
Thanks for redacting scientific reports on climate change and endangered species.
...and so much more.
But most of all, thanks for never recognizing or apologizing for any of the above.
No one could have done a better job of putting "conservative theory" into a trial laboratory and demonstrating the miserable failures across the board than you have. Now we can say it's been tried and failed. Conservatism's apologists are left with no ammunition whatsoever for any argument they care to make.
Hopefully thanks to your efforts over the past two terms, we can look forward to a progressive century.
P.S: Condi, actually Democracy is a "popularity contest," by definition. Go tell Cheney.
December 29th, 2008 at 12:49 pmELBRUCE
you sound like me!
keep on parsing words condi " they dont hate us - 40% is a mandate!"
just keep saying to her "Your father must be so proud of you"
and laugh at them- that is what they are waiting for
georgie, karl, dick, condi, everyone laughed at them when they were children
laugh at them again- they deserve it
they are waiting to be caught
December 29th, 2008 at 1:44 pmgeorge W and and grade score above D- would be as good a mix as scum oil and water.
December 29th, 2008 at 1:54 pmAnd, as you know 'scum'oil rises, and the water below is left somewhat poluted.
RICE: "Oh, I don’t know. It depends on the subject. I’m sure that there are some that deserve an A-plus and some that deserve a lot less. … We’ve left a lot of good foundations."
That used to have good buildings upon them....
December 29th, 2008 at 2:16 pmI will give it a one big F-.
December 29th, 2008 at 2:34 pmAs for being the sec. of state,,,,,,,FFF-.
"That all I have to say about that." F. Gump.
Rice is an A-one jackass.She & Bush still seem to think that cause she or Bush says it ,it must be true.Maybe someone needs to let her know that she ,Bush & the whole Admin have NO CREDIBILITY.Their WORD is not BOND.Used to be a time when the USA Prez said something it carried weight Rice is still stuck in that time warp.Won't surprise me none to find out that Rice,Bush & Cheney are all mentally ill.What a bunch of sick scoundrels.
December 29th, 2008 at 4:10 pm*tsk*
You all honestly believe that all our foreign policy problems were created by and are kept rolling by George Bush.
The problem is us
It is us who return to the polls and reelect a Congress and Senate with no courage to band together and do what is truly good for us, not any President
December 29th, 2008 at 10:39 pmStephanie Hammack Says:
*tsk*
It is us who return to the polls and reelect a Congress and Senate with no courage to band together and do what is truly good for us, not any President
Right, look over here, Congress is bad, never mind the President, that doesn't matter at all!
I agree that much more needs to be done in Congress. We must eliminate the last of the Republican scum clinging to the walls there so that the country can move forward. Meanwhile, we must also keep Republicans out of the White House as well, since they've amply demonstrated how much damage they can do from there.
December 30th, 2008 at 2:05 amRice is right. People will soon thank President Bush for what he has done. In fact, I am already thanking him for kicking the American people in the behind hard enough to wake them up. More and more people are now seeing the utter bankruptcy of Republican ideas, notions, and policies. More and more people are (almost too late) becoming liberals. Thank you. Oh thank you, George Bush and your lock-step Republicans in the House, Senate, and Supreme Court, from the bottom of my heart.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:26 amI hear she's a good piano player. Wonder if she knows "Hit the Road, Jack?"
December 31st, 2008 at 4:49 pm