The first black woman and the second woman to occupy such a high position in a president’s cabinet, Condoleezza Rice deserves praise for remaining dignified and calm in the face of blatantly racist, envious and old-haggish attacks on her character and intelligence. She’s a better woman than I.
I could use some serious counseling on how to control my temper in case my integrity is ever questioned by the likes of Ted “water torture” Kennedy or John “war hero” Kerry. And if I weren’t a Christian woman, the things I would say to Barbara Boxer…
I know you were expecting me to blog about Rice’s confirmation hearing, but I didn’t have the stomach for it. I wanted to wait until the inevitable conclusion to say that I am proud to “know” Condoleezza Rice. She’s given her life to the pursuit of serious study and government service, is unappreciated by white liberals who resent her accomplishments and independent thinking, and black liberals whose accusations of “race traitor” betray their poor reasoning ability and infantile envy toward a woman they should be proud of, regardless of her political ideology. But I’m sure it doesn’t keep her up at night. 
The final Senate vote was 85-13. Voting against Rice were James “Independent” Jeffords, Barbara Boxer, Daniel Akaka, Dick Durbin, Evan Bayh, Tom Harkin, Ted “water torture” Kennedy, John “war hero” Kerry, Carl Levin, Mark Dayton, Frank Lautenberg, Jack Reed, James Jeffords and former Ku Klux Klansman, Robert Byrd.
That’s all I have to say about Rice’s confirmation. I suspect that she and I would disagree on a few things, but I’ll save those for another post. She is in my prayers, and because I am a Christian, so are the people who loathe her.
Related post: Condi Rice and the Squad of Liberal Losers
Unrelated: Nominations for the Evangelical Blog Awards are rolling in. Don’t forget to nominate your favorite blogs. I’ll post my nominations next week.
The Anchoress goes off. Also see Wizbang.
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Further proof that liberals firmly believe that they have ownership of attaining equality for all minorities. Of course they would be patting themselves on the back if Dr. Rice was “their” choice. You could replace Dr. Rice with any minority, or woman, and the liberals would not approve, period. They don’t own her, or can’t claim to have gotten her where she is, so she doesn’t count. To them, she might as well be white, redneck and from deep in the heart of Texas.
We should be celebrating her accomplishment regardless of her political affiliation or ideology. Anything less is an affront to genuine equality.
Um… Ideaology DOES come in to whether you think some of the things she has done is an “accomplishment”
I can completely see the liberals not wanting to celebrate her accomplishment of being the first black woman — esp those who don’t think she is capable of filling the position with their own ideas…
Just because something happens does not make it an accomplishment, after all. People have to agree that it was something worth doing first.
(For example, I see nothing “accomplishment-worthy” about the guy who can down a dozen hot dogs in 10 seconds, or whatever. But evidently some communities do)
Amen La Shawn. While we’re at it, we should pray that Bush’s courage, as well as that of his cabinet, be strengthen to do the right thing and not take the easy way out by yeilding to emotional/mindless criticism.
I agree about the hot dogs, though if you substitute shots of Maker’s Mark I’d be impressed!
Seriously, she was much more composed than I would have been in the face of such scurrilous attacks …
Its historic, and it’s fulfilling Martin Luther King Jr. and so many others who endured the perils”
But a threat to Hillary’s 2008 aspirations.
I am annoyed every time I see Sen. Byrd referred to as a former or ex Klansman.
During their attacks on Judge Pickering, the Democratic mantra went something like “once a bigot, always a bigot.”
In Byrd’s case, the Democrats own standard would logically lead to “once a Klansman, always a Klansman.” That is certainly the way they talk about David Dukes.
So, I wish pundits and bloggers would start calling a Klansman a Klansman and drop the euphemisms.
La Shawn,
It pains me to see you inferring racism among the reasons why the Dems were so against the confirmation of Rice to her new position.
Do you honestly think that racism was behind the hard time Ms. Rice got in her hearings?
Could it possibly be that the Bush administration acted so negligently in the run-up to war that these senators were simply seeking some accountablity?
I’m tired of hearing conservatives complain about Rice’s treatment. As a liberal, I feel she is certainly qualified to perform duties as Secretary of State. However, I don’t feel these hearings WERE so much about her qualifications inasmuch as they were a severe questioning of her prior position the past four years in what some would see as a failed foreign policy. Part of that failure was Rice’s performance in the run-up to the war. She may not have directly fabricated evidence, but SOMEONE must be held accountable. We were lied to numerous times and the senators were raking Rice over the coals–as she should have been.
As for Robert Byrd, any person who was a former KKK thug deserves no respect in my book…whether democrat or republican.
Boxer’s performance at the hearings was a bit dramatic, but it’s about darn time someone gave this administration the verbal beating they’ve so richly deserved. It’s just a shame it wasn’t someone higher-up, like Rumsfeld, Cheney or Bush himself.
I actually felt bad for Rice last week while watching the hearings. Surely she doesn’t need my pity, but I do feel she is an extremely intelligent woman being led around by neo-conservative thugs (Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld, mostly) who would seek to stifle her BECAUSE she is a woman. Of course, this is just my opinion.
Thanks for keeping the comments, La Shawn. Headaches like me just HAVE to spew our opinions to willing bloggers like you!!!!
In a way Barbara Boxer is a sign of the accomplishments of the Feminist Movement. When I was involved in NOW one of the bywords was that while a superlatively talented woman [such as Condoleeza Rice] could go far, the Feminist Movement would have triumphed when a mediocre woman could go as far as a mediocre man. Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray are not even mediocre and yet they have been elected and reelected to the Senate. I would say that there is no further need for a “feminist movement.” God bless Condoleeza for the classy way she handled herself. I’m so proud to have her as Secretary of State of my country.
Despite what TED KENNEDY,ROBERT BYRD,JOHN KERRY and BARBRA BOXER tried to do they failed to prevent CONDI RICE from being named as SECRTARY OF STATE and these losers can go soak their heads
Hi La Shawn,
Could you or some-one fill me in in a bit. How did Robert Byrd get into his position? Did he ever recant the Klan (best way I can think of putting it). I’m astounded.
“I suspect that she and I would disagree on a few things, but I’ll save those for another post.”
Namely… the fact that Dr. Rice is pro-choice, pro-affirmative-action, and pro-gay-rights.
I EAGERLY look forward to your future posts squaring these issues wth your enthusiastic support of Dr. Rice. Many times, you have alluded to your disagreements, and how you would write more about it… but you have yet to elaborate.
Hi Catez – Good to “see” you. According to Wikipedia:
“Byrd was a local leader of the Ku Klux Klan for a period of time in the early 1940s, holding the title Kleagle; Klan recruiter. In a 1946, three years after leaving his KKK brethren behind, in a letter, he wrote to Georgia’s Grand Imperial Wizard, ‘The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia.’ However, when running for Congress in 1952, he announced, ‘After about a year, I became disinterested, quit paying my dues, and dropped my membership in the organization. During the nine years that have followed, I have never been interested in the Klan.’”
Dissent is patriotic.
I’m glad that some Democrats had the courage to vigorously question Dr. Rice, even those that ultimately voted to confirm her (including the MAJORITY of Democrats!)
LaShawn… do you have ANY evidence, even one iota, that any of the Democratic senators who opposed Dr. Rice did so because of racist intent?
Sorry, but the despicable Ted Rall isn’t a senator… I don’t doubt that there are a few obnoxious, despicable people out there who oppose Dr. Rice because of her race… but it is incredibly disingenuos of you to insinuate that any prominent Democrats did so because of racism…
Evidence, maddam… evidence.
Stop extrapolating the far extreme onto the mainstream.
Jab, I’ll tolerate only so much of your sarcasm, or whatever you call it. If by evidence you mean did I actually hear Ted Kennedy on tape calling Rice a nigger, no. And if you’re wondering if I videotaped Boxer, Rall and Harry Reid calling Rice Bush’s “brown sugar,” I didn’t.
Ms. Barber,
Where was the sarcasm in my post? I was not being sarcastic, I was being serious. Racism is a serious charge. You asserted certain Democrats opposed Dr. Rice because of racism. What evidence do you have for that assertion?
I agree with Mike M. above. It is more likely Democrats opposed her because of idealogical reasons, or beceause they believe she did a poor job as National Security Advisor. If you are going to assert the reason was racism, you need to present evidence. You would rightly cry foul if I just unilaterally asserted that prominent Republicans were racist without evidence.
Jab,
I dissaproved of your assertions about Condaleeza Rice’s positions already. You are liberal and as liberals do you are distorting the record. On the positions you named Dr. Rice is hardly to the left though she may be more moderate than others. For you to continue to paint Dr. Rice as something else is an attempt at misinformation (again).
You’ll have to allow some leeway here also on calling the Dr. Rice no-voters racist. Keep in mind that your side has called Dr. Rice a liar and has shown great disrespect. To us viewers out here viewing the left’s disrespectful/hateful way of treating Dr. Rice it simply is not just an accusation but very easy to see that these people can’t stand it that a very qualified black Republican woman is now Secretary of State. Just as easy as it is for you to see that she lied (WITH NO Evidence)
Baklava…
I backed up my evidence on Dr. Rice’s positions with her very own statements in a previous post.
You were the one who was distorting her positions so that she seemed more in line with republicans on social issues… I think you said her “mildly pro-choice” and pro-affirm-action positions (”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.”) were center-right positions…
If those are republican positions, well than sign me up!
Now you turn around and expect “leeway” on charges of racism? You have to be kidding me… I thought conservatives got outraged when liberals carelessly tossed around accusations of racism with weak evidence to silent dissent… yet you turn around and expect “leeway” to do the exact same thing? That’s hypocrisy. You cannot have it both ways. If is wrong for liberals to wantonly throw out accusations of racism with little evidence, then it is wrong for conservatives to turn arond and do the same…
Kerry, Boxer, Kennedy et al. opposed Dr. Rice because they believe she has done a horrible job as National Security Advisor and has not been truthful in her statements in the run-up to war… you obviously strongly disagree. So why don’t you explain your disagreements on the politics and leave the careless charges of racism out of it.
There is a good “Flashback” article with Condoleezza Rice at the NRO website titled “Star-in-Waiting” that originally appeared in the August 30, 1999, issue of National Review.
From the article: “Rice characterizes herself as an “all-over-the-map Republican,” whose views are “hard to typecast”: “very conservative” in foreign policy, “ultra-conservative” in other areas, “almost shockingly libertarian” on some issues, “moderate” on others, “liberal” on probably nothing. (She calls herself “mildly pro-choice” on abortion.)”
Ralph…
Her “all-over-the-map” positions stems from the fact that she used to be a Democrat until the late 1980’s… She was so impressed with Reagan’s policy towards the Soviet Union that she switched parties… So yes, on foreign affairs, she is incredibly conservative, absolutely no one disputes that. But she also used to be the provost at Stanford, where she supported affirmative-action policies for college students and faculty hiring (yet notably opposed affirmative action at the level of the tenure process)… She even declared that she herself was a beneficiary of affirmative action when Stanford hired her in the first place. Her views are that affirmative action is still necessary at the entry level, though NOT for promotions (which is why she opposed affirm action in tenure decisions).
Congratulations to Dr. Rice on becoming Secretary of State. Does anyone know who will be running against Senator Byrd in 2006? We should give that candidate some moola to send this former Klansman back to the hillbillies.
Three cheers for Condi Rice!! I am so proud of her! Let’s keep her in prayer.
One of the things that amazes me about liberals is the inability to see their own mendacity. The Democrats weren’t “raising questions” about Rice. They were accusing her of lying.
Liberal commentators on this forum conveniently, and deliberately, forget that both Boxer and that dimwitted halfwit Mark Dayton either directly or indirectly accused Rice of lying to the country. They were mildly supported in this effort by John Kerry and Joe Biden, who never miss an opportunity to hear themselves pontificate like Bill O’Reilly on steroids, if that’s possible.
Thankfully, on the Senate floor, two men with a constitution , John Warner and Pete Domenici, rightly pointed out the hypocrisy that was central in the Democrat/MSM meme. Bill Clinton and his Administration said the exact same things for eight years, using the exact same intelligence, and justified the DESERT FOX operation using the same shoddy material that was being supplied by CIA, MI-6 and the Israelis. Warner was relentless when he spoke of the utter silence of the Democrats on this point. What he left unsaid was that no Democrat would dare challenge Hillary Clinton in her Senate.
See, my liberal friends. Warner knew what Rice knew and what Hillary Clinton knows. Rice was under attack by small people, little people, and hollow people. They weren’t genuinely outraged about “the war”. They were angry about having lost the election. Barbara Boxer went so far as to use her “stand on principle” as a fundraising tool for the DSCC.
There’s only one Democrat in the Senate wearing the pants, and she prefers coral pink, last I checked. And no Democrat will dare question the legacy of her husband, or of her.
Finally, Boxer herself is an errand girl. She does as she is told to do. She’s an in-law of Hillary, which is something that LaShawn may not have taken into consideration. This doesn’t have much to do with racism, but has more to do with race. Rice is on a trajectory to take on Hillary in 2008. Bush and Karl Rove know this. That’s why Condi isn’t back in Stanford. Jeb can’t run because the people won’t want back to back Bushes. Rice just got herself a megaphone just as big as Hillary’s. Rice can run against Hillary in a way that Jeb or Giuliani can’t. She can hold men and split or best Hillary among women. Clinton knows this.
The attacks on Rice were no accident. They were planned. The problem is that they were meant to scare Condi. The assumption behind such an attack is that Condi is easily scared. I strongly suspect that quite the opposite has happened.
“Hell itself hath no fury as a woman scorned”
So, Jab, Ralph,
Are you saying that she is independent minded, and not a party robot? Someone with gasp opinions of her own?
That puts the lie to half or more of the lefts’ objections to Dr. Rice.
This means either Bush appoints people that aren’t in lockstep with his politics and ideals, OR if not, he isn’t a right wing extremist.
Or a touch of both options.
I find it sooo disgusting that people of low character like Ted (The Swimmer) Kennedy and his ilk call Condi rice a liar.
Why in the world is he even holding office? He needs to be forcefully retired when the next election is held.
When I heard Teddy demanding a time line for our exit from Iraq, and before the elections are resolved… my first thought was:
If I were Bush, Rummy or Condi, to ask the same of him with regard to Mass.
That, and could they have found more damaged people to go after Rice? The kleagle, the suspected murderer (maybe manslaughter), the check bouncing moonbat and the man whom admitted committing war crimes and meeting with the enemy. I wonder if any other dems had a valid objection to Dr. Rice, but didn’t speak up, for fear of being associated with the mouth foaming wing of the party…
It’s so good to see John Kerry participating in the conformation hearings. guess he’s not into ice boating or ice fishing to take up his time.
Same with Ted the “swimmer” he must have run out of Chivas Regal and had nothing better to do.
As for my senator Lousenberg he also voted no to confirm Condi.We haven’t heard much from him since he was elected in New Joisey, most of us thought he had passed away last year.
I am sure Dr. Rice will be one of the best ever!
Ms. Barber,
What I think many have missed is that Dr. Rice is now fourth in line to the Presidency. As SecState she is the first of the non-elected in the chain. It is I think a true sign of how far we have come from the darkness of the Jim Crow South.
I am proud that my president acting as my agent has appointed a woman like Dr Rice to such a high office. I pray that she succeeds and I will be proud to vote for her in 2008.
Ratso,
Like a vampire and the headless horseman, Teddy has ‘issues’ with crossing boddies of water. Ice fishing and the like wouldn’t be advisable for someone with this condition.
As for Sen Franky, I think Gov. McGreedy’s step-down has delayed the planned midterm retirment and replcacement. Codey has a few months more to go, but with all the scrutiny he’s under, he may not want to give the republicans any ammo that implies he’s another crooked back room party man in Trenton. In November, win or lose, that is when I expect Lautenberg to step down. Esp if Codey loses the election… they can’t abide the notion of a Republican appointing a Red senator to represent our belovedly blue state.
Condoleeza Rice rules. Thank God we have her representing our blessed nation.
I am a huge Condi supporter, and I could not care less that she is female or black. I want the best people to hold the best positions, and she more than qualifies.
Now I only wish that our press would get behind her. Fat chance of that. Want some more outrage? Read this article:
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4216
Dr Rice outclassed them all. Mr Powell did an admirable job, but I don’t believe in his heart he is a politician. A great military leader, but not a politician. Dr Rice will bring class and distinction to the position and won’t hesitate to tell the President the truth regardless of reaction. The 3 stooges, kennedy, skerry, and boxer showed their “ass” once again. They make a mockery of our system each and everytime they open their mouths. Term limitations in the House and Senate. An idea who’s time has come.
La Shawn,
Thanks for the info on Byrd. I must have been in brain disengage – didn’t think of looking him up. So he’s “not interested in the Klan” now. Hardly a recant. I shouldn’t be astounded – the total depravity of humanity is evident all over. But I am astounded.
Mike M, Jab: Ever hear the old adage about our political squabbling stops at the water’s edge? When moonbats posing as representatives and defenders of democracy spew such vile and malicious accusations against the leadership, they are not just simply entertaining the choir, they are also painting an caricature that misrepresents the truth, they are also giving license to others to pile on the disrespect. That disrespect also reflects back on them.
To wit, witness the thug Hugo Chavez, a good & trusted friend of Jimmy Carter, and the audacity to brag on national Tv about how he’d like to get to know Condi in a Biblical way and how he’d do it.
What? You didn’t see or hear it, well thank the MSM for censoring that sort of adult material in order to shelter your innocence; but you can check it out at
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4216.
(Hat Tip Drew)
Ok, so put aside your politics and think about it. Here we have a “national leader” fantasizing out loud to his public about making a sistah his *itch. That ain’t racist?
After all, Hugo sits back in his den watching CNN highlighting all the distortions of the record. The very things that these same accusers so solemnly agreed was true, but now claim the opposite in order to impunge a black woman what escaped the plantation. Who can blame Hugo for thinking that he’d like to be the one to bring her down several notches.
Pleeeeze!!!
Thereas, I’m with you for term limits
There is a certain consistency in this administration. When I consider Dr. Rice’s approach to the Senate misfits and the Vice President’s election “debate” dealing with Edwards I see two similar ways of dealing with hostility and disrespect.
It reminds me yapping stray dogs around a tank. Not enough of a threat to get in the way of the job that needs to be done. No even enough of a nusance to swat down.
Or both could be following the biblical advice.
“A soft answer turns away wrath”
I like either image.
Of course it was all about racism. Boxer and her ilk are desperate now, and they’ll use any tactics, no matter how sleazy, to further their agenda.
Besides that, Boxer is mentally unstable: She was the only senator (not Hillary, not Feinstein, not Kennedy etc) who refused to certify the Electoral College in Ohio.
Boxer supports about a dozen lawsuits currently winding their way through Federal Court, challenging the Ohio vote.
The Los Angeles Times just today hinted that Boxer’s irrational behavior could alienate her mainstream constituents of both parties.
I’ll say! Maybe she should go be a Senator in Ohio since she’s so concerned.
Then again, I wouldn’t wish that on them either.
Ultimately, it’s all Robert “Grand Kleagle” Byrd’s fault. If his bubbas-in-arms had only taken out Condi’s father’s church instead of 16th St Baptist Church, Condi may not even be here today to close the loop on MLK’s dream.
In her commencement speech to Vanderbilt graduates last Summer, she said the following:
I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, before the Civil Rights movement–a place that was once described, with no exaggeration, as the most thoroughly segregated city in the country. I know what it means to hold dreams and aspirations when half your neighbors think you are incapable of, or uninterested in, anything better.
I know what it’s like to live with segregation in an atmosphere of hostility, and contempt, and cold stares, and the ever-present threat of violence, a threat that sometimes erupted into the real thing.
I remembered the bombing of that Sunday school at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. I did not see it happen, but I heard it happen and I felt it happen, just a few blocks away at my father’s church. It is a sound that I will never forget, that will forever reverberate in my ears.
That bomb took the lives of four young girls, including my friend and playmate Denise McNair. The crime was calculated, not random. It was meant to suck the hope out of young lives, bury their aspirations, and ensure that old fears would be propelled forward into the next generation.”
That must really stick in Byrd’s craw.
So Condoleezza Rice gets exempt from anwsering the tough questions because she’s a black woman? Wow, I thought you were against affirmative action.
C. Rice and the lies she help tell is the reason why two of my family members lay cold in a wooden box. Lucky for them they both accepted Christ as their Savior and are in heaven with Him. Lucky for Rice that God forgives upon your asking so maybe she’ll be there one day too.
I don’t see how she sleeps at night. Probably tired from having to keep her story straight. Mushroom or Puffy Cloud? hmmm, Who knows.
The real heros…all the senators with enough guts to stick to their convictions.
Rice is driven by power and connections. She will suffer by this drive just as much as she has gain from it.
Candyce H.
For all of the world to see, please tell us what was Condi’s lie. We’ll wait and so that we can respond to your meritless accusations..
Sound and fury, Baklava, sound and fury.
Or as they say in the theater, sturm und drang.
Baklava,
Sorry—it was bad intelligence.
Silly me.
The problem with Condi Rice is that as National Security Advisor she failed to advise the president, and America, about the worst attack in our history – 9/11/01. Incompetence is her failing, and she failed miserably in her role as National Security Advisor. But because she is black, she can’t be fired, (for political reasons) so she was promoted to Secretary of State. So, race was not a barrier to her securing her position, but race prevents Rice from being held accountable for her role in the 9/11 attack, and answering for the thousands of dead and wounded Americans. In fact, America would have been better off if her position as National Security Advisor was vacant on 9/11/01 – then perhaps Richard Clarke’s views may have been heard, and the terror plot possibly thwarted. (See “Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror” written by Richard A. Clarke, a Republican, former counterterrorism czar, national security counselor to three presidents).
Neil, check your facts. Please.
The failing was mainly institutional amongst the intelligence community and PC vis a vis profiling potential terror suspects. The NSA is responsible for formulating and presenting options to POTUS based on the information that trickles up thru various directors. Where’s the smoking gun that anyone who reports to Condi was ignored? Those directors were as surprised as any. And don’t bother bringing up the August memo, all of the info was commonly reported by MSM. In fact, rather than doing real intel, it seems as if analysts spend their days compiling MSM articles and calling it intel.
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