12.02.06
Condi: longing to get out?
I’ve written before about how Bush must feel: that desperate, flop-sweat feeling of being in well over your head with no easy out. But I think I’ve underestimated his narcissism (particularly evident here) and his stupidity. He really is special. I think he may actually relish his power and, with his frat-boy sadism, enjoy thumbing his nose at and punishing those who oppose him, with never a thought about the damage he’s done to the country and the lives he’s destroyed.
Condi Rice, for all that she’s a lightweight, is aware enough to realize that she doesn’t measure up to her responsibilities and that she’s been a failure. The thing I noticed in this post at ThinkProgress is this remark:
SECRETARY RICE: …As to whether the United States has made mistakes, of course, I’m sure, we have. You can’t be involved in something as big as the liberation of a country like Iraq and all that has happened since, and I’m sure there are things that we could have done differently; but frankly, we are looking ahead. And when I’m back at Stanford University, I can look back and write books about what we might have done differently.
That little bit about being back at Stanford, writing a book: that comes out of nowhere—except that it’s obviously on her mind, probably a lot. I suspect she is longing for the day when she can walk away from the mess she made and return to a less-stressed life and work on justifications and excuses.
LeisureGuy said,
2 December 2006 at 9:46 pm
A commenter suggested that Condi Rice is not in fact a lightweight. That may be true, but she certainly has not been able to meet the demands of the various jobs she’s held in the Bush Administration. It’s generally agreed that she never managed to be effective as National Security Advisor: she was not able to be a counterweight to Rumsfeld and Cheney and she more or less ignored the warnings she was given about Al Qaeda, from the outgoing Clinton Administration, from Richard Clarke, and most significantly from George Tenet. When the CIA was warning that Al Qaeda planned an attack in the US, she took no steps to uncover or meet that threat.
President Bush also named Condi Rice to manage postwar Iraq and the rebuilding of Afghanistan. Remember that?
How would you rate her performance in that area? Heavy-hitter? Lightweight? Not only is Iraq completely unstabilized (and much worse today than when Condi accepted responsibility for stabilizing the nation), Afghanistan is crumbling. And I have to say that I don’t know of any efforts or initiatives she’s made in either place.
As Secretary of State she has accomplished nothing of note. She seemed paralyzed when Israel moved into Lebanon to attack Hezbollah. She has not helped the US regain any of the stature and friendly feelings it once had.
So, although in absolute terms, she may not be a lightweight (I understand that she plays the piano exceptionally well, something that I for one envy), but in terms of meeting the demands of her jobs in the Administration, she is not doing much better than George Bush. Or so it seems to me.
I would be interested to read a reasoned case to the contrary. The best rebuttal would be a list of her significant accomplishments as National Security Advisor, as head of Iraq Stabilization and Afghanistan reconstruction, and as Secretary of State—accomplishments beyond simply holding the office.