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Condoleezza Rice: I Won't Tell Hillary What To Do As Sec Of State
Some more commentary on Secretary of State Hillary that will make the Obama transition team happy, this time from Hillary's predecessor in the gig:
"She won't -- and you won't -- hear from me again," Rice said on the day President-elect Barack Obama named Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the next secretary of state. "I will certainly not make the effort to comment on everything that is done."
Rice also hailed Hillary as someone with "enormous energy and intellect and skill" and cited her love of America. She also apparently briefed Hillary yesterday on the Mumbai situation, though that may be the last time Hillary will be hearing from her.
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ROFLMAO!
No, really Condi? All your expertise, your in depth knowledge of our problems and the issues we face, down the drain?
BWAAAAHAHAhahahahahaha!!!!
I'm sure you're saying that cause you know you won't be asked, Condi. Cause you won't be.
December 1, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
So where's the key to the White House weight room again?
December 1, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, she'll be asked. Because of who she is, an African American woman who preceded Clinton, she'll have no shortage of people asking her opinion. They haven't cared about her level of competence to this point, so why should that stop them once she's gone. Hell, Fox News alone would give her an hour long show, just to weigh in on "How Obama and Clinton are doing".
I actually give her credit for this. I think she's one of the players in the Bush administration that seems to be going out of her way to make the transition between them and Obama's team smooth and as seamless as possible.
I'm going to take her at her word, and just let history have the final say on her legacy.
December 1, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I meant by the incoming administration. The media I'm sure will welcome Condi anytime. But I doubt that Hillary is going to be calling her every day for advice.
December 1, 2008 5:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's too boring for fox news, I mean to be a commentator.
December 1, 2008 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought she wanted to be NFL Commissioner.
December 1, 2008 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's that ESPN interview, for those of you wondering:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blackhistory2007/news/story?id=2780487
December 1, 2008 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
That explains a lot, especially her reliance on denial. It's a coping mechanism learned by many girls -- especially first-borns -- who've disappointed their fathers by not being boys.
December 1, 2008 8:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, I don't think Fox news will pay any tribute to Condi. If anything, they may run a "special report" on how we should all blame Condi and Powell for not helping Bush to accomplish greater success and it involves them being black.
Condi seems like an epitome of sanity compared to Dick and Rummy, but it's not saying much.
December 1, 2008 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe it's the time of day: later afternoon when I want to just curl up underneath my desk and take a nap, but why would Rice say anything about this, anyway?
I'm not deeply immersed in the history of Secretaries of State, so here's my question: when has any former Secretary of State commented on the current Secretary of State?
Basically, Rice is saying she's not going to do what is never done. Wow. Color me impressed.
If I were cynical, I'd say this is a way to appear gracious by announcing it beforehand.
December 1, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Kissinger has talked quite often about what the current Secretary of State ought to be doing. Others, not so much. And that's not exactly a role model to aspire to.
December 1, 2008 5:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks. I forgot about him. Repressed it, more likely. The ban on commenting has probably expired in his case.
December 1, 2008 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eagleburger suffers a bit from run-at-the-mouth, too.
December 1, 2008 8:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
To be give advise or criticize, one first needs to have accomplished something. I can't seem to think of any accomplishments Condi can take credit for that would allow her the grace to say anything either good or bad. Her tour as SoS was totally lackluster.
December 1, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lackluster? Heck, Condi is the one who was specifically briefed prior to 9/11 as to the possibility of terrorists using airliners for attacks. She did nothing. Then she had the audacity to claim after the attacks "Who would have thought the terrorists would use airplanes?"
Condi is one of the most reprehensible members of Shrub's inner circle. Right up there with Cheney. She has the blood of 3000+ Americans on her hands for failing to do anything to prevent it. Yet Republicans adore her.
And on another level, per her biography Rice admitted that she was the beneficiary of affirmative action programs at Stanford. She rose from teaching fellow to provost, the university's second-in-command with no visible qualifications for that administrative job.
December 1, 2008 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's a failure and she knows it...
December 1, 2008 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Word.
December 1, 2008 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
the first person to name one accomplishment of condi rice during her tenure at state gets a free steak dinner.
December 1, 2008 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I win!
From Fred Kaplan, at Slate:
Link: The many accomplishments of Secretary Rice
You didn't say the source had to be credible.
December 1, 2008 5:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is worth considering that perhaps things could have been a little worse without her. Though would probably need access to information we'll never have.
December 1, 2008 9:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does getting confirmed by the Senate count?
December 1, 2008 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Condoleezza Rice: I Won't Tell Hillary What To Do As Sec Of State
Atlast, Condi uses better judgement.
December 1, 2008 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
May be she can renew dating options with the soon to be out of job Canadian foriegn minister?
December 1, 2008 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I always thought that Condi would rather go out with Gwen Ifill than with the Canadian PM.
;)
December 1, 2008 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
My love index for Gwen has dropped quite a bit for chickening out in the VP debate, if this happens it will crash down in flames.
But I get the gist.
December 1, 2008 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought it already happened. (Not to be a total bummer....but...)
December 1, 2008 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fatal attraction I guess, blankets even the intelligence of the intelligent.
December 1, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
...and I guess Condi is the foggy bottom.
Sorry, couldn't resist ;)
December 1, 2008 6:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nicely done!
December 1, 2008 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was my understanding.
December 1, 2008 6:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I gave her points for being a football fan, but then she lost them for being a Browns-to-Bengals fan.
December 1, 2008 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Condi's advice to Hillary?
1) Bin Laden Intent on Attacking America
2) America is paying you to read the WHOLE report
December 1, 2008 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
She is a total failure. I cannot wait for her to go away.
December 1, 2008 6:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bush liked being briefed by Tenet and Condi. Blunt truth, Condi showed nice legs at the briefings and sometimes wore boots with her skirts. (Nice Presidential duty if you can get it.) Unsure and knowing she was in way over her head, she was suitably deferential and non-threatening to the lazy Failed President. Now, the State Department will do *something* whether there’s a Secretary on the 7th floor or not. So she doesn’t get credit for everything, though she tried and failed miserably to get Mid-East peace progress. Winning occasionally against Cheney was not hard after Cheney’s staff started to get indicted and the FBI Director and many others nearly quit over his malevolent, unlawful hijinks. As to Bolton, PULLLEEAAZE. I still remember her beaming while she cooed that the envenomated, iconoclastic ideologue was being appointed because he was a “very good diplomat.”
Only way she’s *not* responsible for 9/11 is if she told Bush about Tenet’s July 2001 warnings and the dire reports in August 2001 and Bush answered her, “Condi, if we get hit, then we get hit. I prefer to do nothing on this one, but thanks much anyway.”
December 2, 2008 12:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Huffington Post is saying that David Gregory got the Meet the Press gig :barf:
December 1, 2008 6:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think I need to hurl.
I rarely watched it to begin with. Now I'll never watch it.
December 1, 2008 6:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
O sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit!
That's crazy - he's terrible.
December 1, 2008 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
It doesn't matter. Brokaw has managed to erode the reputation of MTP and Gregory is just inheriting the product he deserves.
I don't think MTP is any longer a virtue it once was- It's joined the garbage of other sunday talks.
I'd like to see CBS bring someone new at Face the Nation- CBS has redeemed itself to some extent this season and it's time to further the oppurtunity.
December 1, 2008 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!
December 1, 2008 7:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cosign. Gregory was one of the buffoons who was acting as a prop for the war in iraq. He is not a journalist, he is just a right-wing partisan hack. There goes MTP. What a shame. Russert wasn't that good, RIP, but at least he wasn't a partisan hack like gregory. I guess I can change my sunday recordings now. MTP is off the list. I'll add face the nation now.
December 1, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're right. It doesn't matter anymore. Brokaw broke it. God he's the worst. I can't believe he became a major. He has a speech impediment, to start with. Why is it so many talking heads have some kind of speech impediment? It's weird.
December 1, 2008 6:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
...and he made it more evident he's a egoistical moron when he propogated the myth he was on the VP long list.
What a joke?
December 1, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I personally thought they should have brought David Gergen from the outside- he's one of the very few who still commands respect.
December 1, 2008 6:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is a very good observation and suggestion. Gregory is getting horrible reviews over at Huffington Post.
December 1, 2008 6:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
On a similar note, CNN totally misuses Gergen. What a waste? Also I know Zakaria is taken, otherwise an excellent candidate. Richard Wolfe is another very capable canidate.
I don't think Maddow is bright enough (not yet anyways) and Kieth Olbermann doesn't have the temparament.
December 1, 2008 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
[rolls eyes]
What a pompous fool of a joke.
December 1, 2008 6:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
meaning Tom Brokaw and the short list -
December 1, 2008 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad.
Condi could give Hillary some real advice on the actors in bad faith she dealt with in trying to get the Israelis to keep their word. If Foriegn Minister Tzipi Livni is miraculously elected as Israel's next PM, she could also brief her on Livni as they were close.
Evidently, few are aware that Condi was at war with the WH neocons who took over from Bush in running our FP in the ME. Do the names Steven Hadley and Elliot Abrams ring any bells? They and their allies not only kneecapped Condi in dealing with the I/P conflict, they blocked her efforts to open up dialogue with Iran and to encourage Israeli (and our own) negotiations with Syria.
You know, those objectives that Obama shares?
Then again, General Jim Jones worked for Rice so he will be able to brief Obama on the real deal while Hillary makes do with the usual kidglove advisors/deputies who excel in kissing Israeli and "friends" collective ass, instead of kicking it a la Condi.
December 1, 2008 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would dearly love to read the sources from which you drew your information about Condi.
Because my Condi is the woman who said to the 9-11 Commission that the title of the PDB she delivered to Bush and let him ignore was: Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside US.
And that may have been one of the few times she told the truth to the commission.
December 1, 2008 7:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
My main sources are by-and-large Israeli. They really resented her tough talk and the fact that she stamped her foot in frustration during one all-night session. She's viewed as too sympathetic to Palestinians because of her upbringing in the segregated South. Speculation is that she identifies with them. American neocons have been griping about her ever since she got to State.
Unless one is obsessed with this stuff, it tends to go unnoticed.
When it comes to US FP having anything to do, even peripherally, with Israeli interests, the lines between the parties are blurred by design.
Joe Biden has declared himself to be a Zionist. While that's unique, the vast majority of Dem politicians vote as if they are because it's simply easier to do so.
December 1, 2008 8:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh no lally, there you go again, ruining the "all Bush/GOP all evil all the time" narrative. Condi works for Bush, Condi is always evil, get it? To suggest otherwise suggests people should actually follow what's happening day to day in the foreign policy world. Why would anyone want to bother doing that, when there's good/evil politics to play? :-)
P.S. I am waiting to watch the cognitive dissonance when it finally sinks with some that James Jones is very friendly with John McCain--oh my, again the good/evil lines being breached.
December 1, 2008 8:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not about good and evil. It's about credible sources for the claims - and "mostly Israeli" doesn't get it.
So you're making shit up. Cause the fact is that all I've ever seen of Condi was rank incompetence and I'm having a hard time believing "mostly Israeli" sources are saying she was effective.
Nobody else has said so.
December 1, 2008 11:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
aa.
Those who aren't into our FP shouldn't be expected to know how that sausage is made and that Dem politicians like it that way.
General Jones worked on the security situation in WB for Condi and knows the truth of the situation. He was thwarted from presenting his "harsh" and critical report on his findings.
Jones makes the Israelis and their American "friends" nervous as well they should be.
Yes sir, General Jones, sir.
My favorite appointment thus far, by far. ;>}
December 1, 2008 11:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hell, W probably saw the word "strike" and figured it was some kind of union action.
December 1, 2008 8:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or baseball adage.
December 1, 2008 8:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's funny, yeah, you and I *do* seem to have the very same Condi in mind! Hmmmmm....
December 2, 2008 12:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
David Gregory is a tool. Has the guy ever had a thought that some publicist or PR flak didn't put in his head?
December 1, 2008 7:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Even though I can't stand him, my all time favorite comment on rice was by trump. He would "fire" her because she doesn't do any deals. All she does is get off the plane, wave, and get back on the plane and wave. No deals. He would have fired her years ago. Too funny.
Another one is by bush I, who said she was pathetic in the nsc. Pathetic. And junior makes her nsc advisor and then secretary of state? Unbelievable. May she rot in academia, because she totally let down her country by her incompitence.
December 1, 2008 8:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michael: I am thinking she will be back at Stanford. How awful for them.
December 1, 2008 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Amelie, I bet they don't want her back. Why would they? Maybe she'll hang out in texas with the king.
December 1, 2008 9:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I watched a Frontline documentary called Bush's War and what shocked me was that Colin Powell, Condi Rice and other high-level cabinet members did not have direct access to President Bush. I don't get that, it makes no sense. These aren't mailroom workers, these are people Bush personally picked. Why did these cabinet members need clearance or an appointment to see the President? Time and time again, Powell and others were not able to speak directly to the President. Huh?!
December 1, 2008 9:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bush liked being briefed by Tenet and Condi. Blunt truth, Condi showed nice legs and sometimes wore boots with her skirts. Unsure and knowing she was in way over her head, she was suitably deferential and non-threatening to the lazy Failed President. The State Department will do *something* whether there’s a Secretary on the 7th floor or not. So she doesn’t get credit for everything, though she tried and failed miserably to get Mid-East peace progress. Winning occasionally against Cheney was not hard after Cheney’s staff started to get indicted and the FBI Director and many others nearly quit over his malevolent, unlawful hijinks. As to Bolton, PULLLEEAAZE. I still remember her beaming as she cooed that the envenomated, iconoclastic ideologue was being appointed because he was a “very good diplomat.”
Only way she’s *not* responsible for 9/11 is if she told Bush about Tenet’s July 2001 warnings and the dire reports in August 2001 and Bush answered her, “Condi, if we get hit, then we get hit. I prefer to do nothing on this one, but thanks much anyway.”
December 2, 2008 12:18 AM | Reply | Permalink