Condoleezza Wrong: Words I seldom use but which I find very enlightening - even if at times infuriating - are, “I don’t know.”
What’s the big deal you may ask? The big deal is that I am among the legions of people who think they know everything. I do draw the line at quantum physics but if push comes to shove I’ll give it a whack.
The difficulty with what I would call a “gift,” and others call a mental illness, is that the pressure to be right is intense. But as those who carry this cross know, whether you’re right or wrong is irrelevant, the fact is you sound like your right. And in the land of leadership what separates the boys from the men is the determination to proceed once you’ve decided on a direction – wrong or right.
Which brings me to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Ms. Rice, or Condi as her friends call her, is very like me insofar as - by outward appearances - she attempts to give the impression that she is right. The right person for the right job, at the right time, right earrings, and works for the right, what she is doing is right, etc. Unfortunately for her, she is the only one who thinks so.
Ms. Rice has few tangible accomplishments since she took over the position of Secretary of State. She is unlike the last SOS - who had my complete respect until he pitched the UN on the Iraq invasion (his body language and lack of eye contact screamed “I’m lying!”) - the honorable Colin Powell. Mr. Powell is a decorated soldier and an elder statesman – a political bear and good one. Ms. Rice is an (reportedly) elitist college intellectual (Dr. Rice) who spends an inordinate amount of time burning hydrocarbons flying around the world with nothing to show for it.
Criticism of her actions is slow because she is an African American woman and survives on the periphery of a group who draw the flak away from her. From the results of her work I think that the only reason she has survived is exactly because of those reasons. Whether that’s true of not (criticism) Ms. Rice’s tenure in the administration has been a waste of time. History, unlike her tailor, will not be kind to her.
Secretaries of State are, by necessity, poker players who carry a big stick. Their authority is derived from their experience, their demeanor, their support from the President and the cabinet. They are key insiders; their words carry weight; if they say they’re going to kick you in the nuts it’s generally a good idea to take an immediate defensive posture.
On an HBO program about the Bush administration recently it was clearly demonstrated that Ms. Rice has never been “one of the boys,” has never been an insider and her words carry no weight in the White House. She carried a big stick alright, but for Rumsfeld and Cheney; it wasn’t hers. She is a messenger with a title. And that’s the way it was designed to be.
Proof? Condi loves to travel to the Middle East to solve the insolvable, and talks to groups of men who have no respect for women. Men who regard women as property. Men who kill women for moral or religeous slights. With the exception of Israel, none of the Middle Eastern counties give women the right to be seen as person (let alone as a woman), drive or vote. So why would they do anything more than politely nod when Ms. Rice sits with them for the photo ops? No sooner has she jetted back to the U.S., than her mission is quickly forgotten. In the man’s world of the Middle East a gun and smile (to quote the late Al Capone) gets you a lot more respect that just a smile. Some demonstrations of her power early on in the form of demonstrations of bloody violence would have been good for a start – something that would have shown that her word was her bond. Even the boys club would have supported that idea.
What should she have done differently? I’m going to default to my “don’t know” stance. Mainly to save you my diatribe on the subject of lost opportunity for an intelligent minority in an ultimate position of power.
Ms. Rice could and should have grown a pair of balls and fought her corner with the boys club but she instead has basked in the status of the office too much to do so. She would have been better to have gone down in flames fighting for what she believed and to have been known as a tiger than just hanging around until the end of the party as she has done.
To understand how impotent Condi is, just look at the first lady Laura Bush and quickly name one item that Mrs. Bush fought for tooth and nail during the last eight years. You've got nothing huh? Me neither. And I believe that’s, as I've already said, by design. Ladies are to be seen and not heard in the White House. Now of course if Ms. Rice had me as an advisor…
What’s the big deal you may ask? The big deal is that I am among the legions of people who think they know everything. I do draw the line at quantum physics but if push comes to shove I’ll give it a whack.
The difficulty with what I would call a “gift,” and others call a mental illness, is that the pressure to be right is intense. But as those who carry this cross know, whether you’re right or wrong is irrelevant, the fact is you sound like your right. And in the land of leadership what separates the boys from the men is the determination to proceed once you’ve decided on a direction – wrong or right.
Which brings me to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Ms. Rice, or Condi as her friends call her, is very like me insofar as - by outward appearances - she attempts to give the impression that she is right. The right person for the right job, at the right time, right earrings, and works for the right, what she is doing is right, etc. Unfortunately for her, she is the only one who thinks so.
Ms. Rice has few tangible accomplishments since she took over the position of Secretary of State. She is unlike the last SOS - who had my complete respect until he pitched the UN on the Iraq invasion (his body language and lack of eye contact screamed “I’m lying!”) - the honorable Colin Powell. Mr. Powell is a decorated soldier and an elder statesman – a political bear and good one. Ms. Rice is an (reportedly) elitist college intellectual (Dr. Rice) who spends an inordinate amount of time burning hydrocarbons flying around the world with nothing to show for it.
Criticism of her actions is slow because she is an African American woman and survives on the periphery of a group who draw the flak away from her. From the results of her work I think that the only reason she has survived is exactly because of those reasons. Whether that’s true of not (criticism) Ms. Rice’s tenure in the administration has been a waste of time. History, unlike her tailor, will not be kind to her.
Secretaries of State are, by necessity, poker players who carry a big stick. Their authority is derived from their experience, their demeanor, their support from the President and the cabinet. They are key insiders; their words carry weight; if they say they’re going to kick you in the nuts it’s generally a good idea to take an immediate defensive posture.
On an HBO program about the Bush administration recently it was clearly demonstrated that Ms. Rice has never been “one of the boys,” has never been an insider and her words carry no weight in the White House. She carried a big stick alright, but for Rumsfeld and Cheney; it wasn’t hers. She is a messenger with a title. And that’s the way it was designed to be.
Proof? Condi loves to travel to the Middle East to solve the insolvable, and talks to groups of men who have no respect for women. Men who regard women as property. Men who kill women for moral or religeous slights. With the exception of Israel, none of the Middle Eastern counties give women the right to be seen as person (let alone as a woman), drive or vote. So why would they do anything more than politely nod when Ms. Rice sits with them for the photo ops? No sooner has she jetted back to the U.S., than her mission is quickly forgotten. In the man’s world of the Middle East a gun and smile (to quote the late Al Capone) gets you a lot more respect that just a smile. Some demonstrations of her power early on in the form of demonstrations of bloody violence would have been good for a start – something that would have shown that her word was her bond. Even the boys club would have supported that idea.
What should she have done differently? I’m going to default to my “don’t know” stance. Mainly to save you my diatribe on the subject of lost opportunity for an intelligent minority in an ultimate position of power.
Ms. Rice could and should have grown a pair of balls and fought her corner with the boys club but she instead has basked in the status of the office too much to do so. She would have been better to have gone down in flames fighting for what she believed and to have been known as a tiger than just hanging around until the end of the party as she has done.
To understand how impotent Condi is, just look at the first lady Laura Bush and quickly name one item that Mrs. Bush fought for tooth and nail during the last eight years. You've got nothing huh? Me neither. And I believe that’s, as I've already said, by design. Ladies are to be seen and not heard in the White House. Now of course if Ms. Rice had me as an advisor…
2 comments:
Regarding "Condalisa Wrong". So you base your "insider" knowledge of how power is moving around the white house and this administration on a show you saw on HBO and present it as evidence of anything?
I stand in awe of journalistic resources and research that goes to such great lengths! It only goes to add further weight and credence to this insightful commentary.
... ahh, but if she grew a pair of balls her tailor might have a problem!
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