Rice and Beans

Is Condi Full of Beans? -- Photo courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
James Mann is an author in residence at John Hopkins University. He recently wrote an editorial about Condoleezza Rice that appeared in the Dallas Morning News on 8/15. In it, he describes the press' initial fascination with Condi -- her boots, her dresses, her colorful background as aspiring concert pianist and as a respected Sovietologist. She is a relatively young black woman who has demonstrated impressive political survival instincts, having stayed above many frays involving Rumsfeld, Powell and others. But, according to Mann, all is not so well in the land of Rice.

Her diplomatic record is lack luster, and her first major policy forays have even evinced possible foot-in-mouth disease. Case in point: Condi told world leaders that the war in Lebanon was part of the "birth pangs of a new Middle East". Mann figures that this quote alone did serious damage with countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia whose help we still need. Mann gives Condi a plus for her close working relationship with Bush, but then gives her a minus for her apparent lock-stock-and-barrel acceptance of Bush's cockamamie ideas -- such as creating a "New Epoch" of change in the Middle East using preventive wars. Rice recently said something to the effect that you can't buy stability at the expense of Democracy -- a noble thought, but one which could also alienate our undemocratic Middle Eastern allies.

My own take of Condi is that she's a dutiful, inquisitive student but not a force in her own right. She seems much more a messenger than a person who authors the message -- that's why I'm perplexed by people who've suggested that she run for President in 2008. As Secretary of State, she needs to be a cogent counselor that helps steer the ship of state. Too often to me, she seems more like a cab driver using GPS instructions, not the person stating a destination. Quite honestly, I can't even imagine her as Secretary of State, and she is, so who knows about the presidential bid. Secretary of State can be a thankless job where setbacks are magnified and victories ignored. Condi will be metal-tested over the next few months; let's hope the GPS satellite instructions are enough to get her through.

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