Instant White Rice to the State Department

Condoleezza Rice pledged Tuesday to work to mend ties with allies frayed by the war in Iraq. "The time for diplomacy is now," she told senators at her confirmation hearing to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state.
  ABC News article

Some might have thought the time for diplomacy was two years ago.

"We must remain united in insisting that Iran and North Korea abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions and choose instead the path of peace," she said.

Like us.

President Bush and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice have formed one of the closest bonds in White House history, a relationship that soon will enter a new phase as the Senate formally begins consideration today of her nomination as secretary of state.

[...]

The professional and personal relationship the two have developed since then is almost unprecedented for a president and his staffer, one forged out of their deep Christian faith, a shared love of sports and the transforming trauma of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

With the demanding responsibilities of secretary of state, Rice no longer will be a constant presence at Bush's side. But the two have become so close over the past five years that Rice is expected to continue wielding great influence with Bush -- something that could add to her clout with world leaders.

[...]

"To be with Condi is to fall in love with Condi -- the breadth of her knowledge is extremely wide. She is a student of football, pro and college, and she's a student of politics," [Chief of Staff Andrew] Card said. "She kind of turned the president's head with her intellect and her ability to talk about a lot of different subjects."

[...]

"When the president goes to Camp David, Condi goes to Camp David, and it isn't because the national security adviser has to go to Camp David. It's because he wants Condi to go to Camp David," Card said. At Bush's Texas ranch, Rice does not stay with other staff in a trailer on the property, but as a guest of Bush and his wife, Laura, in their home, Card said.

[...]

"Right now she gets to see the president a lot during the course of the day. She won't have that luxury when she's over at the State Department, when she's traveling," Card said. "I think she will miss that, and I know the president will miss that."
  San Jose Mercury News article

Such a sweet couple, he and she. Even her very name would seem to say as much.

Her name is a variation of the Italian musical term "con dolcezza," which is a direction to play "with sweetness."  ABC News article

Take a hint from the missing letter.

"I am especially indebted to those who fought and sacrificed in the civil rights movement so that I could be here today." -- Condi Rice, January 18, 2005

Her own family was not among those.

Although she lost a kindergarten classmate in 1963 when white supremacists bombed the Black Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Rice has maintained that she felt insulated from the upheaval around her.

So insulated that these days she is a part of the most powerful organization blocking civil rights and liberties and destroying the legal and institutional structures that have helped America's black population.

"At the same time I can remember my parents taking me to watch the [civil rights] marchers — they wanted us to know the history and to know what was happening."

Took her to watch the marches - bystanders of history, as though their lives were not intimately affected by the issues for which the marchers were laying their lives on the line. Well, they weren't. The Rices may have come from slaves, but they were one of the relatively few black families who had found their way beyond the obstacle course.

[W]hen Rice was an academic at Stanford, she was shopping for expensive jewellery with a friend when a white clerk made some hostile comments. 'Let's get one thing straight,' Rice reportedly told him. 'You're behind the counter because you have to work for six dollars an hour. I'm on this side asking to see the good jewellery because I make considerably more.'Guardian article

Unlike Powell, who publicly supports affirmative action, Rice's position on race has frequently come under criticism from prominent black activists. In January 2003, a report in The Washington Post credited Rice with helping to shape the administration's decision to challenge the affirmative action admissions policy at the University of Michigan.

But following an outcry in the black community, Rice released a statement that clarified her position. "I believe that while race-neutral means are preferable, it is appropriate to use race as one factor among others in achieving a diverse student body," she said.  ABC News article

If it's appropriate, then why challenge the policy?

Do what you will, and then say whatever it takes, just like all the honky politicians who come under pressure after they've committed some racist act.

A pressing issue of dinner-party etiquette is vexing Washington, according to a story now making the D.C. rounds: How should you react when your guest, in this case national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice, makes a poignant faux pas? [...] Rice was reportedly overheard saying, “As I was telling my husb—” and then stopping herself abruptly, before saying, “As I was telling President Bush.” Jaws dropped, but a guest says the slip by the unmarried politician, who spends weekends with the president and his wife, seemed more psychologically telling than incriminating. Nobody thinks Bush and Rice are actually an item. A National Security Council spokesman laughed and said, “No comment.” source

She is the paragon of discretion and quiet service to her President. 'There is little daylight between Rice and Bush. It is hard to think of anyone closer to him,' said Shaun Bowler, a political scientist at the Riverside Campus of the University of California. source

[... Rice is] known first and foremost for loyalty to the official view of reality, no matter the evidence to the contrary. -- Bill Moyers

"The secretary of state is America's face to the world and in Dr. Rice the world will see the strength, grace and decency of our country," [Bush] said during a brief ceremony at the White House.

[...]

"When Rice speaks, she speaks for the president," the magazine reported in a gushing write-up. "With her silver-tongued diplomacy and steely nerve, Rice has played a key, behind-the-scenes role in helping to steer the United States through two wars, as well as the resulting controversies."

RICE: I believe, if you look back, Tony, we have never said that we thought that he had nuclear weapons. (July 13, 2003)source

"If we had had specific information as to the time and place of the attacks, we would have moved heaven and earth to prevent them." -- Condi Ricesource

Condoleezza Rice: "I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon, that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile."

Moyers: "But Condoleezza Rice was wrong. Had she looked, she could have found in the files of the intelligence community that the attack she deemed unimaginable had, in fact, been imagined repeatedly." source

[RICE]: "The threat reporting that we received in the Spring and Summer of 2001 was not specific as to...manner of attack."

FACT: ABC News reported, Bush Administration "officials acknowledged that U.S. intelligence officials informed President Bush weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks that bin Laden's terrorist network might try to hijack American planes." Dateline NBC reported that on August 6, 2001, the President personally "received a one-and-a-half page briefing advising him that Osama bin Laden was capable of a major strike against the US, and that the plot could include the hijacking of an American airplane." source

I find football so interesting strategically. It's the closest thing to war. What you are doing is taking and yielding territory and have certain strategies and tactics. source

When Rice appeared before the 9/11 commission, she was favored with the Condi Rules; no one would question for more than ten minutes, the commission decided, a departure from established procedures. And just as soon as the questions began, Rice began giving long-winded answers, apparently to take time off the clock. [...] If you ask what time it is, Ben-Veniste said, some people will tell you the time. And then again, some people—people like Rice—will explain how to build a new watch.

[...]

Rice had no intention of telling the public that Bush had been warned about possible hijacks, and she wasted time like a master, making Ben-Veniste ask his question over and over again. She spoke about subjects he hadn’t raised—and refused to respond to the question he’d asked.source

Like wrestling a greased pig.

Did you tell the president, at any time prior to August 6th, of the existence of Al Qaeda cells in the United States?

RICE: First, let me just make certain...

BEN-VENISTE: If you could just answer that question, because I only have a very limited...

RICE: I understand, Commissioner, but it's important...

BEN-VENISTE: Did you tell the president...

RICE: ... that I also address...

It's also important that, Commissioner, that I address the other issues that you have raised. So I will do it quickly, but if you'll just give me a moment.

BEN-VENISTE: Well, my only question to you is whether you...

RICE: I understand, Commissioner, but I will...

BEN-VENISTE: ... told the president.

RICE: If you'll just give me a moment, I will address fully the questions that you've asked.

First of all, yes, the August 6th PDB was in response to questions of the president -- and that since he asked that this be done. It was not a particular threat report. And there was historical information in there about various aspects of Al Qaeda's operations.

Dick Clarke had told me, I think in a memorandum -- I remember it as being only a line or two -- that there were Al Qaeda cells in the United States.

Now, the question is, what did we need to do about that?

And I also understood that that was what the FBI was doing, that the FBI was pursuing these Al Qaeda cells. I believe in the August 6th memorandum it says that there were 70 full field investigations under way of these cells. And so there was no recommendation that we do something about this; the FBI was pursuing it.

I really don't remember, Commissioner, whether I discussed this with the president.

BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.

RICE: I remember very well that the president was aware that there were issues inside the United States. He talked to people about this. But I don't remember the Al Qaeda cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about.

BEN-VENISTE: Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6th PDB warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?

RICE: I believe the title was, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States."

Now, the...

BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.

RICE: No, Mr. Ben-Veniste...

BEN-VENISTE: I will get into the...

RICE: I would like to finish my point here.

BEN-VENISTE: I didn't know there was a point. source

Washington insiders are waiting with bated breath for a book by former CIA director George Tenet, who resigned last year as the agency imploded over the scandal of pre-war intelligence on Iraq. Goodman said that an initial synopsis of the book indicated who would be firmly in its sights: 'Tenet's going to go after Condie Rice.' source

Rats in a cage.

Rice: "When people ask whether Iraq is a part of the war on terror, well, of course. Not only did Saddam support terrorists, not only was he a weapons of mass destruction threat and all of those things, but he was a tremendous barrier to change in the Middle East." source

Well, there's an honest admission - the goal of creating a different Middle East.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.