Condi Rice's Waning Influence

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This is really interesting. I think they don't want Rice, because they know the shots are all being called not by this flunky, but by Cheney.

This part is just gross, but not surprising: "Television media aren’t the only ones uninterested in Rice. A few months ago, every single major newspaper turned it down an op-ed by Rice on Lebanon. Price Floyd, formerly the State Department’s director of media affairs, recounted that the piece was filled glowing references to President Bush’s wise leadership and “read like a campaign document.”

"Over the past two years, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been on the Sunday talk shows 30 times, making her the most second frequent guest after Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE).

But that may be changing. In his Washington Post column, Howard Kurtz reveals that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is no longer a “prize catch” for the Sunday talk shows. She was recently turned down by both CBS and NBC:

The secretary of state has always been considered a prize catch for the Sunday talk shows. But when the White House offered Condoleezza Rice for appearances eight days ago, after a week focused on Iraq, two programs took the unusual step of turning her down.

Executives at CBS and NBC say Rice no longer seems to be a key player on the war and that her cautious style makes her a frustrating guest.

“I expected we’d just get a repetition of the administration’s talking points, which had already been well circulated,” says Bob Schieffer, host of CBS’s “Face the Nation,” who questioned two senators instead. “We’d had a whole week of that with General Petraeus and President Bush.”

Television media aren’t the only ones uninterested in Rice. A few months ago, every single major newspaper turned it down an op-ed by Rice on Lebanon. Price Floyd, formerly the State Department’s director of media affairs, recounted that the piece was filled glowing references to President Bush’s wise leadership and “read like a campaign document.”

Recent reports indicate that Rice’s influence within the White House is also waning, giving way to the more extreme policies of Cheney and his allies. A Newsweek article in June found that Cheney’s national-security team had “been actively challenging Rice’s Iran strategy in recent months.” In April, Rice advocated that five members of the Iran Revolutionary Guard be freed from captivity, but she was overruled after Cheney “made the firmest case for keeping them.”

These reports contrast when Rice first became Secretary of State. The media gushingly predicted she would succeed because she and Bush “know each other so well they have conversations based on body language” and speculated that she may even run for president in 2008.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/24/rice-influence/
 
It's a minor point considering the much more significant casualties of war, but Bush & Iraq have left a lot of ruined careers in their wake...
 
Yes...the saddest one was Powell. Though of course, he did it to himself in the end.

Yeah, but he's the one I can come closest to forgiving. He was really a great voice of dissent within that admin for awhile; he was just overpowered & marginalized as a result.

Before the war, General Shineski told the admin that they'd need several hundred thousand troops post-invasion, which the admin called "outlandish" and his career subsequently stalled. Economic advisor Larry Lindsey was fired for suggesting that the war would cost up to 4 times the admin's original estimate ($50 billion).
 
Yeah, but he's the one I can come closest to forgiving. He was really a great voice of dissent within that admin for awhile; he was just overpowered & marginalized as a result.

Before the war, General Shineski told the admin that they'd need several hundred thousand troops post-invasion, which the admin called "outlandish" and his career subsequently stalled. Economic advisor Larry Lindsey was fired for suggesting that the war would cost up to 4 times the admin's original estimate ($50 billion).

It just interests me; is Dick Cheney that tough? Not even a General can take him on? There is no one who can take on Dick Cheney? Wow, he must be something in person then. Though I remember that American citizen, whose name might have been Joe for all I know, telling him, twice, loudly and slowly, go fuck yourself Mr. Cheney.

Maybe we should bring that guy into this adminstration.
 
Though I remember that American citizen, whose name might have been Joe for all I know, telling him, twice, loudly and slowly, go fuck yourself Mr. Cheney.

Maybe we should bring that guy into this adminstration.

I remember that. It was right after Katrina I think.
 
I remember that. It was right after Katrina I think.

Yes it happened in New Orleans. That man, and the woman who told off Rice who was shoe shopping at Ferragamos in NYC while NO was actually drowning, were the only two highlights of that whole debacle.
 
Yes...the saddest one was Powell. Though of course, he did it to himself in the end.

I disagree my sister.

There is nothing sad about Powell or Rice. They were willing participants in the horror of mass-murder and the worst disaster in American history.

What is sad is all the dead bodies of women, children, babies, and innocent men they have left in their wake.

Powell, who knew he lied to the UN should be stood in front of a firing squad and shot for his betrayal to the American people, the troops who have been blown apart from thier family and thier lives, and his ndisgrace to the uniform he wore. Throughout his miltary career he has been a kiss-ass Uncle Tom bastard without courage, principle, or backbone.

Don't forget that it was Powell who was sent to Vietnam to concoct the lie to cover for the MyLai Incident.

Likewise, I feel no empathy for Rice who went to school with those 5 beautiful black girls who were murdered in Birmingham. She has betrayed the legacy she was given and has become nothing more than a cartoon of a Secretary of State.

Neither Powell or Rice are celebrated in the black community, nor should they be.
 
Rice will be front-and-center in the news soon enough. She's carrying water for Blackwater, refusing to answer any questions about the company and their actions in Iraq or any questions about Iraq contractors generally after requests from Congress. The State Department has also asserted that Blackwater does not have to respond to Congressional inquiries without prior authorization from State.

This should be interesting. Condi standing steadfastly by her man.
 
Yeah, but he's the one I can come closest to forgiving. He was really a great voice of dissent within that admin for awhile; he was just overpowered & marginalized as a result.

Before the war, General Shineski told the admin that they'd need several hundred thousand troops post-invasion, which the admin called "outlandish" and his career subsequently stalled. Economic advisor Larry Lindsey was fired for suggesting that the war would cost up to 4 times the admin's original estimate ($50 billion).
I beg to differ. As far as I can see, Powell is what he's always been: a spineless little toad. His every decision, good or bad, has been calculated to advance his career and influence.

It's not that he stood up to the neo-cons, it's that he felt he could profit more from opposing them. He backed the wrong horse, so to speak: he underestimated the extent of Bush's disconnection from reality.

Never, ever forget My Lai.

Military officers must follow orders, certainly. It's been well established, however, that such obedience must have limits. Powell has exceeded those limits not just once but many times.
 
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