Even
before being nominated, she is trying to do just that in a process usually followed
by those who have already been named for high position, a tour of one-on-one
meetings with Senators who would vote to confirm her or not.
Ambassador
Rice’s meetings follow the growth of potential opposition beyond the
McCain-Graham-Ayotte gang of three Amigos as Maine Sen. Susan Collins tells
reporters, “I continue to be troubled by the fact that the United Nations
ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height
of a contentious presidential election campaign.”
Meanwhile,
the molehill that became a mountain prompts scurrying to cover agency backsides
as the FBI and CIA point fingers at each other in what normally would be seen
as dropping the ball in a confusing local conflict but has now been inflated
into a world crisis.
McCain,
Graham et al, consciously or not, are following the 1950s playbook of Sen. Joe McCarthy
who pumped up every incident into a global accusation (“Who lost China?”).
No
responsible person wants to sweep under the rug a situation that resulted in US
deaths on foreign soil, but the torrent of accusations against Rice is coming
from Republican partisans who hardly fit that description.
If
Ambassador Rice is nominated, a full inquiry into her qualifications by sober
Senators would be in order. Meanwhile, she is running a gauntlet of accusations
by a few who are drunk on petty power.
If she emerges victorious, the new Secretary of State would do so with enough scar tissue to combat tinpot tyrants around the world.
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