How could Bush NOT make Condi his Secretary of State?

January 20, 2005 10:23 AM

The Condi Conflict: Finally, here is a compelling list of reasons why Bush was forced to give Condoleezza Rice the position of Secretary of State. This makes it absolutely clear: On the left... On the right...
posted by jb_thms (37 comments total)

The tanker is a must see. Not just any person can claim they have a tanker named after them. Sweet!
posted by jb_thms at 10:25 AM on January 20, 2005

paging s@l...
posted by felix betachat at 10:34 AM on January 20, 2005

Plus, he's her husb... er, boss.
posted by Aquaman at 10:36 AM on January 20, 2005

Reading the last link was particularly educational, I hadn't realized that our Iraqi campaign had been such a success ....


There is nothing that could have occured in Iraq that would have made them happy.
We could have rolled into the country, taken Baghdad in less than three weeks, sent the Baathist animals who were running the country into cave-hiding, sent a message to the rest of the Middle East that led Libya to disarm, exposed a multi-billion dollar scandal between the UN and Saddam, discovered over 300,000 mass graves, and returned democracy to Iraq and they still would have something to bitch about. Oh wait, we did do all of the above!! And they still bitch.


wow ... I'd hate to see what would qualify as a disaster in this guy's book.
posted by rks404 at 10:36 AM on January 20, 2005

Compelling? Hardly. Either on the left or on the right, the two articles are pointless diatribes and frankly, not worthy.

Matt?
posted by j.p. Hung at 10:40 AM on January 20, 2005

I posted the left to MoFi before looking closely at all the links and afterwards I decided it wasn't worth it. (posting remorse) Haven't checked out the 'right' one though.

The tanker's photoshopped (angle of tanker <> angle of text), which kind of sucks, as the image is all over the place. I heard they'd renamed it anyway.
posted by petebest at 10:50 AM on January 20, 2005

Ah, best of the web. Love it.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 10:55 AM on January 20, 2005

The tanker's photoshopped (angle of tanker <> angle of text), which kind of sucks, as the image is all over the place. I heard they'd renamed it anyway.

Looks more like it was MS paintbrushed....
posted by delmoi at 11:07 AM on January 20, 2005

It amazes me how much we bash front page posters. I know we're trying to keep a high level of standards, but yeesh.
posted by ORthey at 11:09 AM on January 20, 2005

Looks more like it was MS paintbrushed....

...by a blind Amish infant.
posted by theFlyingSquirrel at 11:11 AM on January 20, 2005

And we're calling attention to "On the right"'s idiotic, uninformed, repetative blathering why?

Aren't there already a whole collection of high-profile conservative pundits who tow the company line with a bit more flair and originality? I mean, if you're going to call Joe Biden a lunatic revisionist, couldn't you at least make up some good evidence to support the point?
posted by chasing at 11:16 AM on January 20, 2005

"Lunatic plagiarist" would have been easier to substantiate.
posted by trharlan at 11:21 AM on January 20, 2005

I think I read somewhere that Bush claimed Condi Rice did not support affirmative action, but then she came forward and publicly corrected her boss. She does support it.
posted by xammerboy at 11:22 AM on January 20, 2005

seriously. the politicalstrategy.org URL at least looks somewhat respectable. linking to txlonghornmike.blogspot.com doesn't. not to bash independent writers, but it's pretty weak. actually, both are very weak.

i'm sure many have already seen it, but i thought Juan Cole's piece was right on. Rice + GWB's promise to spread "the untamed fire of freedom" = seriously scared now.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:26 AM on January 20, 2005

even though he let her pass, rising DNC star, Barak Obama, did a helluva job with the hearings
posted by willns at 11:33 AM on January 20, 2005

She does support it.

Back when she was actually in a position to advance affirmative action, Rice had a different view:

When challenged on her failure to promote diversity in university hiring, Rice publicly repudiated her previous support for affirmative action when she had been a member of the faculty. “I’m the chief academic officer now,” Rice asserted to the press. “I say in principle that I don’t believe in and in fact will not apply affirmative action (in university appointments).”

So now she supports it? Or gives lip service to it?
posted by felix betachat at 11:42 AM on January 20, 2005

Condi has heard about people making fun of her and now she's angry!
posted by nofundy at 11:55 AM on January 20, 2005

bwahahaha, funny link, nofundy. My personal theory is that she's not so much pissed off, as that she hasn't pooped in a week. Condi Rice needs fiber.
posted by salad spork at 12:18 PM on January 20, 2005

The tanker thing is real, I was sure that it was an urban legend since the picture linked to above is so fake. Here some information on the ship itself, not the politics behind the naming and re-naming.
posted by octothorpe at 12:22 PM on January 20, 2005

Good grief is she ugly. In every sense of the word.
posted by bardic at 12:29 PM on January 20, 2005

Good grief is she incompetent and a detriment to the country that she is supposed to protect and serve. In every sense of the words.
posted by Arch Stanton at 12:55 PM on January 20, 2005

Salon has an interview with Barbara Boxer:

Rice told you not to "impugn" her "integrity" or her "credibility," but that was exactly what you meant to do, wasn't it? You had questions about whether she had spoken truthfully about Iraq before and after the war began.

I was very honest about it. I told her, "I'm worried about your lack of candor" -- I wasn't denying that -- "and I'm giving you a chance to set the record straight." But she actually made the record murkier, especially on torture. She opened up a whole new front on the lack of credibility.
posted by muckster at 1:07 PM on January 20, 2005

Integrity is not her concern. Never has been.

Her concern is making sure she hews to the company line, to the bitter friggin' end.

That slavish loyalty is being rewarded with a high cabinet position. Integrity never enters into it.
posted by chicobangs at 1:32 PM on January 20, 2005

That "integrity" remark was laughable. She took that line right out of another speech given by, I think Rumsfeld, during some other inquiry session. Rumsfeld was asked a poignant, relevant question, and responded similarly, that he was "outraged" that such a question was even asked. No matter he didn't answer the question...of course.

If it's "integrity" you're worried about, there should be no problem answering the question. Those of us with integrity don't ever have to bring it up, we just have it.
posted by odinsdream at 2:01 PM on January 20, 2005

So now she supports it? Or gives lip service to it?

Does it matter?
posted by petebest at 2:04 PM on January 20, 2005

I loathe Condaleeza Rice and the whole Bush crew, but why is she always called 'Condi'? Why are women in positions of power referred to continually by their first names or diminutives? I don't hear Rumsfeld being called 'Donny', or Bush called 'Georgie', or Cheney commonly referred to as 'Dickie'. I do get tired of reading things that go along the lines of 'Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Condi'.

That said, please carry on with the Rice bashing.
posted by jokeefe at 2:48 PM on January 20, 2005

Why is it that pols (even one as good as Boxer) have so much difficulty using words like "liar"? Rice's comment about her integrity was pure satire. She has many qualities, but she integrity is not among them.
posted by psmealey at 3:03 PM on January 20, 2005

Why are women in positions of power referred to continually by their first names or diminutives?

Margaret Thatcher was Margaret mainly to her detractors, if I remember correctly.
posted by alumshubby at 3:07 PM on January 20, 2005

I don't hear Rumsfeld being called 'Donny', or Bush called 'Georgie', or Cheney commonly referred to as 'Dickie'.

I call him "Georgie Boy" all the time*, which is FAR more condescending than "Condi." And what about "Rummy"?

*that is, when i'm not calling him "ape-face," "fart-knocker," "dumb-as-shit" or "evil little man."
posted by salad spork at 3:41 PM on January 20, 2005

Your post answers itself rather nicely, jokeefe: Condoleeza Rice's first name is long and hard to spell. 'Condi' is easier and shorter. I don't think there's any implied misogyny.
posted by muckster at 3:55 PM on January 20, 2005

Condileeze strikes me as someone who is very scared and completely out of her depth. Everything about her body language screams out defensiveness, anger, and fear. It might be that she's a Peter Principle loser who has been taken way, way too far.

But I say all that based entirely on pictures and sound-bite video.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:37 PM on January 20, 2005

Margaret Thatcher was Margaret mainly to her detractors, if I remember correctly.

Except for all those people shouting "Maggie! Maggie! Maggie! Out! Out! Out!"
posted by Len at 6:11 PM on January 20, 2005

...but including bands like the English Beat ("Stand Down Margaret" was actually a chart hit in the UK IIRC).
posted by chicobangs at 7:34 PM on January 20, 2005

Your post answers itself rather nicely, jokeefe: Condoleeza Rice's first name is long and hard to spell.

Actually, it's only been spelled correctly once so far, by jb_thms: Condoleezza. Two z's.

Why are women in positions of power referred to continually by their first names or diminutives? I don't hear Rumsfeld being called 'Donny', or Bush called 'Georgie', or Cheney commonly referred to as 'Dickie'.

Dubya. Shrub. Chimpy McSmirkster. Duh. Smirking Chimp. Ol' Whistle Ass. [more] Not to mention Rummy. And what does one need, besides Dick?

Face it, people in power get derisive nicknames. I think male or female, if they got there, they can take it (or should be able to). Condi is mild compared to, oh, "Hitlery".
posted by dhartung at 9:02 PM on January 20, 2005

Chimpy McSmirkster.
Why does that cause me such mirth? Is it the Mc? i think so.
Where is languagehat when you need him?
posted by asok at 3:54 AM on January 21, 2005

A couple of my friends have taken to calling him Drinky McDumbass. I'm not sure how they developed that, but people seem to know who's being referenced when the name comes up.
posted by psmealey at 4:35 AM on January 21, 2005

Oy. Probably the wrong context and crowd in which to bring up this question, given the fertile minds of our Bush-hating Mefites. I bow to you all, and respectfully withdraw. Heh.

Chimpy McSmirkster. Heh.
posted by jokeefe at 9:49 AM on January 21, 2005