Update (6:30 p.m.): Condoleezza Rice is the new Secretary of State. Does she really want to do this? Congratulations, Ms. Rice!
You may be interested in All Condi All The Time and Open Letter To A Liberal Columnist.
Update II (11/16): Waking up to an Instalanche is a good thing.
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George Bush is cleaning house. With four years left to make an impact, he needs to seize upon every remaining minute. I hope he implements true and consistent conservative policies and appoints true conservatives. Those who will be packing (not to say they aren’t “true conservatives” — except for Powell, maybe):
— Attorney General John Ashcroft
— Secretary of State Colin Powell
— Secretary of Education Rod Paige
— Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
— Secretary of Commerce Don Evans
— Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman
After we get the new people set, let’s get on with things. I’ll rerun my list of priorities:
— Privatizing social security
— Putting pro-life judges on the bench
— Banning homosexual “marriage”
— Banning race preferences in public (government) hiring and college admissions
— Tightening the southern border and enforcing immigration law
— Balancing the budget
— Lowering taxes even more and cutting spending on wasteful programs
— Protecting the free speech rights of all Americans, including Americans who profess Christ
— Getting more aggressive in Iraq, finishing this war and bringing our troops home
This is the kind of good, positive reporting we need:
Suddenly, the West Wing is buzzing with a new sense of possibility. Reports on the assault in Fallujah (story, Page 16) have been cautiously positive. The president’s first call to Harry Reid, the new Senate Democratic leader, raised hopes that he might get more cooperation from his congressional adversaries. And the death of Yasser Arafat may provide a “new opportunity” for Middle East peace, Bush said late last week in a joint appearance with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.The president is moving briskly to seize the moment. He is consolidating power at the White House, channeling ever more influence to Vice President Dick Cheney, his closest confidant, and counselor Karl Rove, architect of his November 2 victory. Senior White House officials tell U.S. News that Bush plans to replace at least half his cabinet over the next few months. His aim is to remove officials who have become lightning rods for controversy or who seem to have lost their desire to serve in Washington.
Good for you, Mr. Bush. Carpe diem!
Sources and links: Wizbang, Captain Ed, Power Line, INDC Journall live-blogging at Backcountry Conservative
Why is it such a big deal that Powell’s resigning? Next!
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That’s what Bush says. I don’t know. He’s trying to be politically correct, I imagine. A strict contructionist should/could/would overturn Roe v. Wade. I believe this is the first time you’ve commented on my site, Bill. Welcome!
‘Banning race preferences in public (government) hiring and college admissions’
Didn’t the armed forces write amici briefs in favor of the affirmative action at Michigan?
Isn’t this LaShawn’s wish list?
For my wish list, I’d like Beau, LaShawn, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingram and the lovely ladies of Fox news to be seated with me at the inaug. ball in January.
But, if wishes were fishes…
Great visual, SCSI!!
TV (Harry)
I’m there Wuzzy. I am THERE!!! Dude, we are going to be surrounded by some lovely ladies………smart-n-pretty & pretty-n-smart. Gotta love our conservative ladies.
But can we send out invites to Angela McGlowan & Monica Crowley? Oh, and I’m rollin with Ambra in her silver BMW M3……if she’ll lay off the gas pedal. First black lady NASCAR driver.
And let’s get Harry Callahan offa security detail so he can come kick it with us. I got the buffet stuff set up for afterwards.
Good lookin out, dawg.
I like your list of priorities,but I wonder if the prez will able to get anything done with the dems. The mid-term elections are right around the corner and tend to believe that the dems will stone wall until then,with the hopes of making some gains in congress.
La Shawn, trackback seems to be broken on your blog. I’m getting a “permission denied” error from HaloScan. Anyway, I’ll leave a link to the DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS article I was going to trackback.
Grace & Peace,
Steve Bragg
DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS: Worldviews Behind The News
Hi Steve – There are some incompatibility issues between HaloScan and WordPress.
Whoever replaces Powell needs to crack the whip on State Bureaucrats who think that they alone dictate foreign policy. Run ‘em out on insoubordination charges. Same with CIA crats that tried to sabotage Bush.
All bureaucrats need to remember that while they are important for the sustainment of institutional knowledge and experience, they are also bound to serve POTUS whoever POTUS may be from one cycle to the next.
Yes, lets get those conservative judges on the bench, but as Reagan proved, deficits don’t matter.
Condi got the job! Yeah!
Great!
Now if only Mineta would leave.
Condi will make a great Secretary of State. Would be a whole lot better than Madaline Albright out representing the United States.
hip hip hurray!!
Yay Condi! My 15 year old was thrilled to hear it – he’s been a fan of hers ever since he watched her testimony before the 9/11 commission.
It really bothers me when people make jokes premised solely on someone’s race. Call me overly sensitive, but I think it is very de-humanizing. I wish more people could understand that. It is highly offensive and plain wrong.
‘but as Reagan proved, deficits don’t matter.’
Because someone else will clean it up in the future.
I couldn’t be more pleased with the President’s selection of Condi.
Last year my wife and I hosted a foreign exchange student fromn Moldova. She’s an exceptionally bright young woman who wants to serve her country. We had a discussion once about who she should model her life after. I told her that Secretary Rice would be the best possible.
She took me to heart. Who know, maybe one of these days this young woman may represent her country in the same capactity Condi will be serving in soon. And who knows, she may be meeting with the first woman President of the United States.
Huh?
Great choice, I couldn’t be more pleased and who better to run against the Hildebeast in 2008?
Hi La Shawn..
I just read your letter to a liberal columnist. Truth has a color of it’s own. It doesn’t belong to any race or group of people. I don’t want to constantly be stroking your ego..but your truths and the way you deliver them are almost unattackable. What a tremendous reply to a stale and wearisome assumption about black conservatives.
I love Condi. She’s beyond capable and it just irks the heck(not a word I generally use) out of me to hear our local urban talkshow hosts portray her as someone who is being used by white republicans. That is such an insult to someone who has achieved such incredible levels of excellence.
It is almost as if any kind of success outside the realm of the “hand me down misery” put forth by the still enslaved liberal black community is meaningless. Instead of applauding individualism they will only accept those who succeed by appealing and appeasing those who are still caught in the cultural web of victimization. You are some kind of woman..and so is Condi. She’s going to be great for our country. Hope you had a good day. Ray..
Thanks for the kind words, Ray. I could use them. I missed you these past few days. I hope all is well.
Truth be told, for the past year or so, I’d been secretly hoping that Cheney would bow out from a second term and that Condi would become Veep. Then when Cheney was admitted over the weekend, it was like ‘be still my beating heart’. Don’t get me wrong, I respect Cheney and wish no ill toward him whatsoever, but looking ahead to 2008, Condi needs to be positioned optimally.
While SecState is a power position, I can’t recall anyone sucessfully transiting to the presidency from there. Not that it can’t. However, generally speaking the Veep gets dibs on the nomination process.
Go Condi! This has been such wonderful November and it isn’t even Christmas yet. La Shawn, the photographs on your blog add a lot and are just beautiful.
Actus said, “Because someone else will clean it up in the future”
How do you figure? If your statement, as you seem to imply, is true that someone (our children) will get stuck with the bill, then tell me what happended to Reagan’s unprecedented deficits? Who got stuck with his bill? Hmmmh?
La Shawn,
I absolutely believe there should be a litmus test for any Supreme Court nominees. Why shouldn’t there be?
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Rice-Watts ‘08.
Oh, and I think our priorities should include Winning Iraq, a free and Democratic Palestine, and while we’re in the neighborhood, overthrowing the Mullahs in Iran and having elections there as well. I DO have a personal interest there though, as my ex-step-father is an Iranian citizen.
I DO want Pro-Life judges, but the gay marriage ban is not a priority with me, and in fact hope it doesn’t come to pass, as I think it is wrong, or should at least include some language endorsing civil unions.
I think Condi will kick ass and take names and hopefully purge the Arabists in the State Department, but someone needs to help her with her hair and makeup! Her eyebrows drive me nuts. She could look so much better.
Doin’ my happy dance!
Clean up State! Clean out State! Light up Foggy bottom!
Ahh, life is good. GW wins, Arafat dies, Condi in as Sec of State. Now all we need are some good picks for Supreme Court, and we are on our way. Its been one GOOD November!!
Posters are confusing “original intent” with “no litmus test.” They’re different. “Original intent” has to do with how a judge interprets the Constitution or a law. He asks what those who made the law intended it to do and doesn’t find modern fashions (i.e. homosexual marriage) lurking in the shadows.
“No litmus test” refers to not requiring a potential justice to past muster on how he would vote on a case that might come before the Court. Abortion cases are most relevant there since they’re the most controversial. This only overlaps with original intent in that no one who wrote the Constitution ever intended for it to legalize abortion.
Here we need to make a distinction. It’s right for judges to refuse to tell the Senate how they’d vote on specific cases that are likely to be before the Court. We don’t want to put a lousy judge on the Court just because he’d vote right on one specfic case.
On the other hand, the whole Roe v. Wade framework itself is grossly unconstitutional. Insisting that a judge not support its hideous reasoning is simply insisting that he be a competent judge. A judge who can find abortion in the Constitution can find anything there, including concentration camps and gas chambers.
The Republicans are approaching “put up or pay for it” time on abortion. For 30 years, they’ve been wooing traditional Democratic voters by promising to end federally legalized abortion. Now that they control the White House and have healthy margins in both Houses, it’s time they started to deliver concrete results. That means making Thomas Chief Justice and putting solid prolifers on the Court and in the federal circuit courts. In short, they must show as much zeal as liberals have displayed for putting proabortion judges in power.
If the Supreme Court gets out of the abortion-defending business, for a time the issue will fall back on the states, where in most cases it will be a winning situation for Republicans at the state and local level like it has been at the national level. And eventually the “Roe Effect”–the great birthrates among prolife people and in prolife (red) states will carry the day.
It’s a lot like the debate over slavery. Like the “blues,” slavery advocates were loosing the population war (few immigrants wanted to settle in slave states) and secceeded in an attempt to escape before they became impotent.
Impotent liberals. I like the sound of that.
–Mike Perry, Seattle
Dems, liberals and the like – I waste no more emotion or time on their irrelevancey. Don’t listen to, read about or care what they have to say. Enough is enough, finally.
Prayers do get answered. Condi Rice is the latest (and great) example. Now, an American Black woman in the most powerful world position since Cleopatra. Love it!
Hi LaShawn! Would you please help me spread the word and put this flame out before it becomes a fire? I am going to put the copy that I’ve already written.
I was reading Arab News, and we have a problem. There is an EX Marine (I use that only when they act like one) named Staff Sgt James Massey, Waynesville, NC who is telling people on the blogosphere (and apparently the arab street) that we are over there committing genocide. Please, read this article! Tell your friends, I’m telling everyone, because I do not want to see our proud and brave men and women treated like Kerry treated them when they come home. Not this time. Wrong time (2004,) wrong place (USA,) wrong war (blogosphere!) That is the only thing Kerry got right, but he doesn’t even know it! God bless.
Until Dems start talking spending cuts, instead of tax increases (on the Rich!), deficits don’t matter so much. Pretty dishonest to want more jobs AND lower deficits — jobs and growth are usually considered part of the tradeoff against gov’t spending, moderated by the interest rate.
Deficits matter when the interest rate starts going up. A “falling” dollar, imports more expensive, is part of the balance against outsourcing.
But I wanted Condi as VP instead of Dick. Great for State, too (I hoped as soon as I heard)
More of the same – AM NPR -
Described Colin Powell as a
“rare moderate voice who lost key policy battles” – (assuming that “moderate” is the “correct position”).
Also said about C Rice:
“Inexperienced”
“Could not have survived any other way (except to be “close to president”)
“could have too much loyalty”
Ms. Barber,
I am very offended that you refer to new Sec of State candidate as Ms. Rice. She is Dr. Rice. Please respect that. I know media refers to her like that. But, why are you doing this?
PS: 2008 ticket: Dr. Frist/Dr. Rice. You heard it here first.
Ali Karim Bey
Political Investigator and Analyst
& Pizza Delivery (Freelance)
Of all the things to criticize, you pick my use (or non-use) of Condi’s title, which you deem disrespectful. Some days I don’t know why I enable comments on this blog.
La Shawn, I hear ya! The commenters on your blog are something else! Lol.
lol.. La Shawn, you are too funny.
A FaithMouse-a-lanch (www.faithmouse.com) is good too.
Have a great day, La Shawn!!
Ali Karim Bey. One of James Bonds’ allies.
Love your blog La Shawn
Lashawn,
You do know that Dr. Rice is pro-choice?
So I’ve heard. I’m praying it’s just a rumor.
I know we are getting way ahead of ourselves, but I only brought up her pro-choice stance because the
conservative blogosphere is abuzz with speculation that Dr. Rice is already in the running for a V.P. slot in 2008.
How will that play out?
Condi
I see this as a hugely bold and positive development. I think Condi is the most intelligent, capable leader Bush could have put at the state Department. Her sponge like absorption of information and her experience on the Board of Chevron, Stanford Provost, National Security adviser, and now as a representative (negotiator), for the President on foreign policy, makes her the Tommy Franks of USA foreign policy.
I see this move as the “Fallujah” of foreign policy. It’s going to be an attempt to drain the swamp of insurgents at the State Department. Bush now has appointed ambassadors in country, and Rice at the helm. It sets up some squeeze play possibilities in some of our more posh and renegade embassies over seas. Her experience and coordination of the war on terror, the security aspects of State, CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, and Defense make her one of the most knowledgeable people in government when it comes to assessing what can and can not be accomplished.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall in that first meeting with the French!
Rice as VP would be an excellent choice regardless of her stance on abortion. Though I’m anti-abortion, the GOP is no longer an anti-abortion party. Condi, Rudy, and others would have no problems in that regard.
LaShawn,
This is the first time I’ve read your blog and I enjoyed it. Very thoughtful. The most telling point is the suppression of dissent within the democratic party. Dems are to be paid the greatest honor for championing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed the denial of one’s civil rights. It liberated whites from having to accept such behaviour for fear of being ostracized, as well as protecting the rights of all. Resting on their laurels, dems rightfully point out that it was the republicans of that time who opposed the Act, and deny that they have changed. What the dems fail to recognize is that republicans have not changed, they have been replaced. In the market of free ideas, those with losing ideas are pushed out. The dems of today replaced those of the 19th century who supported the south in the civil war but fail to recognize that ideas are ever changing and that there’s are stagnating. Speaking of ideas, I don’t have a position on gay marriage. What I have a position on is that of judges writing law. Once that becomes acceptable, the constitution becomes hopelessly compromised. I oppose a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, but I favor an act of congress forbiding the courts to rule on the validity of state statutes regarding gay marriage. There is a provision of the constitution providing for just this kind of problem and I don’t understand why our congress won’t use it.
Looking at the list of priorities Lashawn has posted… I wanted to point out two more on which Dr. Rice is in disagreement: she is pro-gay rights and pro-affirmative action. I also wanted to mention that she used to be a Democrat up until the late 1980’s (she said Reagan won her over to the GOP).
That probably explains why she is so liberal on social issues (being a former-Democrat), but so hawkish on foreign affairs (inspired by Reagan).
The media has cynically portrayed Dr. Rice’s promotion to Secretary of State as a sign that the administration is adopting a more ‘Hardline’ foreign policy. Frankly, I welcome it.
Jab – To my knowledge Dr. Rice is not pro-affirmative action (correct me if I’m wrong). As I recall it was Gen. Powell who was pro-affirmative action.
K. Ham,
Here is the official White House press release from Dr. Rice, Jan. 17, 2003:
When the President decided to submit an amicus brief, he asked for my view on how diversity can be best achieved on university campuses. I offered my view, drawing on my experience in academia and as provost of a major university. I agree with the President’s position, which emphasizes the need for diversity and recognizes the continued legacy of racial prejudice, and the need to fight it. The President challenged universities to develop ways to diversify their populations fully. 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.
(emphasis added)
I’m glad she holds such a high position in Bush’s cabinet. Affirmative action, as originally conceived, was not discriminatory skin color preferences. It was “casting a wider net” to recruit qualified blacks that may not have been considered before. Now it’s just a skin color numbers game. No matter who supports it, it’s still wrong.
I don’t usually get into public discussions of why I deleted a comment. You may e-mail me if you’d like. – Admin
Digital….
You need to re-read your history. The Republican party lead the charge FOR the CRA, not the dems.
Hi LaShawn,
Dr. Condi Rice will be, I hope, the next Sec of State. She has to be confirmed by the Senate. Putting her deputy as next Nat. Security Adviser means she controls State Dept and NSA. If she cleans house at State Dept she will use whip with velvet glove. She is Christian as article in Christianity Today shows in 2002 article. Would try to give hot link but would probably be filtered out.
Condi and Thomas Sowell are PhD’s and tentured at Stanford’s Hoover Institute. Alma Powell’s father and uncle were the only principals at two black High Schools in Birmingham, AL. At one school, Condi’s mother was science and music teacher. Being a black and Republican (conservatives are now Republicans) is cause for criticism, but being black, female, and PhD is triple threat to the Democrats.
If she is Pro-abortion at least she won’t be blocking any judicial appointments. I think I will rethink my choice in ‘08 though.
Digital,
The Congressional Quarterly of June 26, 1964 (p. 1323) shows that 82% of Republican senators(27 for, 6 against)voted for the Civil Rights Act compared to 69% of Democratic senators (46 for, 21 against). All the southern Democratic senators voted against the Act. In the House of Representatives, 80% of Republican congressmen(138 for, 34 against) voted for the Civil Rights Act. 61% of Democrats (152 for, 96 against) voted for the Civil Rights Act; 92 of the 103 southern Democrats voted against it.
Roy Wilkins, then-NAACP chairman, awarded Republican Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights Award for his “remarkable civil rights leadership” recognizing the effort and leadership of Republicans in passing strong laws protecting Civil Rights.
Schools have done a poor job of accurately portraying the Civil Rights movement in this company. They have instead fostered the belief that the Democrats was the party that principally worked for the Civil Rights of black Americans. Nothing could be further from the truth. But this belief has led generations of black Americans to vote Democratic whether or not it is in their contemporary interest to do so with such regularity that the Democratic party sees the black community as a “safe” consitutency needing little more than lip service to keep them in the column.
Tom Joyner’s litmus test of black progress in America
Today on the Tom Joyner show (11/16/04) he commented on the sexually charged opening for “Monday Night Football”. The scene featured a naked Nicollette Sheridan jumping into the arms of Terrell Owens. NFL has apologized for the broadcast after viewer complaints.
Tom Joyner stated that if a scene like that can be shown on television, things must be getting better for black people in America. What an idiot!
A complete idiot.
Woohoo! Go Condi! I am so excited about this. Black, female, brilliant, talented and not taking anything off of anyone. What more could you ever ask for?
‘Black, female, brilliant, talented and not taking anything off of anyone.’
I don’t know why we’re putting in charge a sovietologist. Wasn’t she wrong about Glasnost?
just when it couldn’t get any scarier…someone with no international policy experience calling the shots in Washington.
Oh… like Bill Clinton when he took office? LOL
‘Oh… like Bill Clinton when he took office? LOL’
Who did he put in state?
Actus,
Did you know that Dr. Rice’s Ph.D. advisor was none other than Former Sec. of State Madeline Albright’s father? Professor Josef Korbel was a major influence on the only two women to be Sec. of State.
‘Did you know that Dr. Rice’s Ph.D. advisor was none other than Former Sec. of State Madeline Albright’s father? Professor Josef Korbel was a major influence on the only two women to be Sec. of State. ‘
Yes. So? Does this make her any less of a sovietologist?
People may want to take a look at the Wash Post cartoon by Oliphant. I think it is totally disgusting, and we should comment on it. You can get the link thru townhall.com
Unfortunately for Madeline Dimbright, whatever she learned of tyranny & oppression in her early years was for naught as she led the race to blame America first.
WELL, CONDI WILL BE THE YOUNGEST OR ONE OF THE YOUNGEST PERSONS TO SERVE AS SECRETARY OF STATE AND THIRD IN COMMAND IN US POWER. AINT THAT GREAT? HAVING DICK CHENEY NOT RUNNING FOR OFFICE IN 2008 OR MAYBE HAVING A HEART ATTACK BY 2006 WOULD SET UP CONDI FOR THE PRESIDENCY IN 2008, MOST LIKELY AGAINST HITLERY CLINTON. BEING THE MOST POWERFULL WOMAN IN THE WORLD AND ALL THAT BEFORE REACHING 55 IS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL LADY.
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