When I heard what Ambassador Rice had to say about Benghazi, what she said repeatedly on all those Sunday shows that day, I was startled but I withheld judgement, I figured she knew something I didn’t. Well, it seems she knew less than did an informed member of the general public.
We need a Secretary of State who doesn’t say stupid things in public, over and over again, just because someone tells her to. The Benghazi talking points didn’t smell right at the time, and she should have known better.
I have liked Susan Rice, but this is embarrassing, I hope the President picks someone else to succeed Secretary Clinton.
That said, if the President does choose Rice, the Senate should let him have his choice. Their job in confirming appointees is to veto really bad choices. Susan Rice is not a really bad choice, just a bad choice. (John McCain is making a fool of himself here.)
Rice should get on with her life, and once she is best known for something other than this episode, then she can again look for ways to move up.
After the 2008 primary campaign, Hillary Clinton was not smelling like a rose either. Known for being a wife, short-term senator from an adopted state, and a nasty campaigner, she was not a formidable politician, she might have even lost to John McCain had she been in that race. But she has paid her dues and is now known as a fine stateswoman: disciplined, seasoned, and hard working. And what does it get her? The 2016 nomination–if she wants it (and if nothing goes wrong). I don’t know what is next for Susan Rice, but now is not the time to find out, better to cool it.
-kb, the Kent who knows no one reads this stuff, but who still likes getting his ideas down, so he can later look back and see what a fool he was (or was not).
P.S. Why was it reasonable for a tarnished Hillary Clinton to get the Secretary of State job but isn’t for a tarnished Susan Rice? Because even losing the 2008 primary race, Clinton was still a big deal; being Secretary of State and taking orders from her recent opponent, was not a big promotion for her. For a 48-year-old UN Ambassador, however, running the State Department is big stuff and a different world. Just ask John Kerry, who, after being his party’s presidential candidate and serving nearly 30-years in the Senate, is probably stuck in Massachusetts, because the Democrats want to keep Scott Brown out of Washington.
© 2012 by Kent Borg
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