Rice and No Beans

[MSgt213]

It is fitting and proper that Condi Rice replace Colin Powell as Secretary of State. Putting a black face on the rock formation of white arrogance and prerogative represented by Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-et-al shows a shrewd consistency. But the face that Powell fronted for Bush's diplomatic charades was an open, amiable, somewhat ambiguous one. It offered the faint hope that someone in the administration could be reasoned with and would convey allies' concerns back to the Cowboy Jesus, that there was at least one listener in the bunch.

That illusion is gone. Rice's face is the game face of the Bushies, bony with Unwavering Resolve, eyes fanatical, mouth tensed. She has shown herself to be not a listener but a dictation machine on playback. "The President believes..." "The President has always said..." "The President has very consistent in arguing that..." "The President has said all along..." And now the dictation machine is in a position to dictate to other nations how they can fight terror and help make America a bigger, better empire. It'll be the President wants this, the President wants that, the President is firm in his belief that...

But her incompetence precedes her, as does her presumptuous statement that for their failure to support the U.S. in Iraq, France should be punished, Germany ignored, and Russia forgiven. Punished, ignored, and forgiven for being right in the first place and refusing to take part in this debacle?--such nerve.

As America gets more militarized and messianic under Bush, it's being economically and diplomatically outmaneuvered by the rest of the world. China is exploiting the US obsession with terrorism and Iraq to consolidate power and influence in Asia, and cutting lucrative oil deals with Iran. New Europe is bailing out of its troop commitments in Iraq. And the continuing humiliation of Tony Blair, who was twitted by Jacques Chirac for getting nothing in return for his steadfastness over Iraq ("I am not sure it is in the nature of our American friends at the moment to return favors systematically"), probably hastens the day when Britain says enough and throws in its lot with Europe and the Euro rather than be dragged into another bloody folly.

http://jameswolcott.com/