Rice Mill

Mr. Obama obviously understands how to win office. It is a bit disturbing to see how little he understands the government of which he is the head. He seems to think that there is something inappropriate when two Senators (John McCain and Lindsey Graham) threaten to block a hypothetical nomination. UN ambassador Susan Rice is thought to be a candidate to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

If Senator McCain and Senator Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.

It is not easy to imagine what the President means by "they should go after me." Is he suggesting a Teddy Roosevelt style round of fisticuffs?

In fact, when a Senator attempts to block a Presidential nomination because of a policy disagreement with the President, they are going after him. That is how the confirmation process works. That is what makes it a basic part of the system of checks and balances. The Senate can check the President precisely by holding up his nominations. Does this former law professor really not understand this, or is he merely contemptuous of the process?

Likewise, it is precisely the job of the Senate to review his nominations and reject any that they find wanting. Dana Milbank, no friend of conservatives or Republicans, thinks that there are good reasons why Rice is ill-fitted for the head post at State. From the WaPo:

Obama's over-the-top defense of Rice was surprising, particularly in contrast to the president's relative indifference in accepting the resignation of CIA chief David Petraeus, one of the most capable public servants. And it was disappointing, because McCain, even if wrong on the particulars, is right about Rice. She is ill-equipped to be the nation's top diplomat for reasons that have little to do with Libya.

Even in a town that rewards sharp elbows and brusque personalities, Rice has managed to make an impressive array of enemies — on Capitol Hill, in Foggy Bottom and abroad. Particularly in comparison with the other person often mentioned for the job, Sen. John Kerry, she can be a most undiplomatic diplomat, and there likely aren't enough Republican or Democratic votes in the Senate to confirm her.

Back when she was an assistant secretary of state during the Clinton administration, she appalled colleagues by flipping her middle finger at Richard Holbrooke during a meeting with senior staff at the State Department, according to witnesses. Colleagues talk of shouting matches and insults.

The President has an unfortunate tendency to think that his electoral victories mean that he and his people are above criticism. In fact, it is precisely the opposite. Taking office in a republic opens one up to criticism. The President's remark at his very rare press conference was way out of line. That may explain why he so rarely exposes himself at such a venue.

Comments

[Stan Gibilisco]

I heard that comment from the President on NPR as I scarfed down my lunch salad and thought nothing of it; it's just Obama's version of "The buck stops here."

As we all know, the mouth is quicker than the brain sometimes. As we all know, eh Mitt?

[Donald Pay]

Just a friendly suggestion for McCain and his wife Lindsey: stop being cowards. This couple is always hold hands and hiding behind each others' skirts. The number of people killed as a result of the "terrorist" attacks in the entire Middle East that day were four. That equals the number of students killed at Kent State. The murders of those four students didn't stop the Vietnam War demonstrations, and the murders of those four Americans in Benghazi is not going to stop America's foreign polity.

If McCain and wife Lindsey want to do something real, why don't they investigate the failures in the intelligence community that led, apparently, to this tragedy, and to the vastly greater one this couple supported: the Iraq War.

[Mark Anderson]

It all depends on which Rice McCain or Graham are talking about. Weapons of mass destruction lead to a war with over a 100,000 deaths but what the hell, she was only giving out intelligence information. We can't apparently have a Democrat giving out intelligence information in the same manner. I'm old enough to remember the 239 Marine deaths during Reagan's tenure, did the Democrats go after him, hell no, he was our President and we were under attack. Republicans can't help themselves, anything in the world goes wrong and it must be Obama's fault. It's just partisanship that we will have to get used to living with. It actually helps in elections and it helps in nominations as we shall see.

[Jon S]

Umm, Donald? Have you heard of the Iraq Study Group? That one was investigated. I want the president to take Donald's line and say, "Hey, it's just four dead. That's the same as Kent State so it' no big deal." I also enjoy Donald, whose greatest act of courage each day is commenting on blogs, questioning the intestinal fortitude of John McCain.

[Donald Pay]

Yeah, let's stack up the bodies and view the size of the misjudgements, Jonny boy. When you stack up the bodies of the young men and women killed off by McCain and his wife Lindsey due to their bad judgement about Iraq, it really isn't close. In fact, those two idiots should have turned in their resignations a long, long time ago.

[Jon S]

There's Donald for ya. I guess the DNC hasn't sent him the memo so he doesn't know what to think. Therefore he resorts to name calling.

[Donald Pay]

There you go again, Jonny Boy. It's gotta be your full-time job defending these creeps, and now you find yourself working on Sundays---two posts on the Sabbath. You won't get to heaven that way. But then there is no Heaven for you when you sign up to be an apologist for Republican creeps like John and his wife Lindsey, who have been wrong on every foreign policy issue over the last 13 years. Taking your talking points from them is like getting them from Satan.