Dr. Condoleezza Rice faces big test with Senate hearings

Sign On San Diego ^ | 1/16/05 | James Brosnan

[Libloather]

Rice faces big test with Senate hearings
Tough questioning expected this week
By James Brosnan
SCRIPPS HOWARD
January 16, 2005

WASHINGTON – National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who in college feared she was destined to play show tunes in a piano bar, faces a demanding gig next week before climbing another rung up from the segregation of her childhood in Alabama.

On the eve of President Bush's inauguration Thursday, his nominee for secretary of state is expected to face tough questions at Senate confirmation hearings about her own credibility and administration policies in Iraq, where more than 1,300 U.S. service members have died.

No one doubts Rice will be confirmed by the Senate, but the Foreign Relations Committee hearings Tuesday and possibly Wednesday will be a test of her ability to handle herself on a stage where she will appear frequently, as well as a chance for her to expound on Bush's foreign policy aims for his second term.

Democrats plan to challenge Rice in a way they never did with her predecessor, Colin Powell, who four years ago breezed through a 4½-hour hearing.

"I'm going to have a lot of questions," said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. "It ranges all the way from how in the world she could have been persuaded that going into Iraq was a good idea to some very specific things on the information the president used."

"I'm losing constituents every day because of that war," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "She was the key cheerleader. I hold her and this administration responsible for that."

The committee is loaded with liberal Democrats, including Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Bush's opponent in the 2004 election.

Republicans are confident she's up for the confrontation.

"She will be asked difficult questions, but I think she anticipates that," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Dick Lugar, R-Ind., said: "I don't think they will be contentious. We've indicated to all members they should have a full opportunity to ask all the questions."

Rice served on President George H.W. Bush's national security staff as a specialist on the Soviet Union, then was provost at Stanford University when his son tapped her to become his foreign policy adviser for the 2000 campaign.

During the campaign, Rice articulated a foreign policy based on an unabashed assertion of Washington leadership to shape the world according to U.S. national interests and values of liberty and tolerance.

In the White House, she often wound up refereeing between the cautious Powell and the aggressive Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"She will have a heavy responsibility in the beginning to establish her credentials with her colleagues around the world because of the high regard in which Colin Powell has been held," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.

"Condoleezza Rice will be a more powerful figure on the world stage than Colin Powell," predicted Nile Gardiner, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "Rice is far closer to President Bush than Powell. She is a far tougher character than Powell. She is likely to more aggressively advance President Bush's foreign policy with far less room for compromise."

Rice isn't granting on-the-record interviews before her confirmation hearings, where she'll likely be asked mostly about her future policy priorities.

The United States faces an almost dizzying area of challenges: Iraq, where so many Americans have died and insurgents threaten Jan. 30 elections; Iran's and North Korea's nuclear weapons programs; China's economic and military growth; and the decline of democracy in Russia, where Rice's expertise is deepest.

In many key areas, Rice's current views are undefined publicly, reflecting the model of the neutral national security adviser that she established at the White House.

One former National Security Council official who worked under her said, "She's like the ultimate Cheshire cat."

[Libloather]

The committee is loaded with liberal Democrats...

And their desperation will be on display for all to see...

[LauraleeBraswell]

Rice will perform beautifully.

How dare they!

[Goldwater4ever]

Democrats, the party of slavery and the KKK, treating blacks as second class citizens, what else is new?

[Piranha]

It sure will. I think that Ben-Veniste's bullying during the televised 9/11 commission hearings, and her composure under fire, did more to cause the public to trust her leadership than anything else that has happened since President Bush was sworn in in January 2001.

[BenLurkin]

"Condi Rice scares me", I heard the lady at my table say to her male friend. She had just finished mentioning "Now if Colin Powell would run . . .".

Sitting eating lunch at a food court near L.A. City Hall, I had little choice of table mates. I had been doing my best to tune out the discussion about Michael Jackson the heavy set thirty-something was having with her equally heavy set companion. They were ordinary L.A. hispanics -- generations removed from Mexico -- speaking english with no discernible accent.

I shoveled the lukewarm chinese food into my mouth with a plastic fork while burying my head into a newspaper some previous diner had discarded on the table. The comment about Powell got my attention, though. So it was that I heard the observations about Rice quite clearly.

"She's a very intelligent woman, but she scares me", the lady repeated, "I've actually met her and she just scares me."

So Colin Powell is okay but Condi Rice 'scares' this potential voter. (That she is 'scary' suits me fine --- particularly when she needs to face down some very evil enemies).

I myself would vote for Condi in a heartbeat and sensed my fellow angelena could be won over to vote for Dr. Rice, but had neither the time nor insight to address it. I folded up the paper and abandoned it on the table for someone else to read, and left.

Here is some free research for the Republican party (no charge). Perhaps FReepers can pitch in to help Dr. Rice be more of a known commodity to these average voters.

[EQAndyBuzz]

""I'm losing constituents every day because of that war," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "She was the key cheerleader. I hold her and this administration responsible for that."


The committee is loaded with liberal Democrats, including Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Bush's opponent in the 2004 election. "

Well that is good news(x2). Boxer is losing constituents because she is a communist and Kerry won't show up.

[BibChr]

...Iraq, where more than 1,300 U.S. service members have died

Beautiful, textbook example of media bias. Let me 'splain.

The writer would say, "That's just the truth." And yes, it is. It is a negative truth, cited to creatr a negative impression.

A balanced report would say something like "Iraq, where more than ___ terrorists have been killed, and more than 1,300 U.S. service members have died." Or "Iraq, where more than 1,300 U.S. service members have died in freeing the country from Saddam Hussein, under whose regime ___ were killed." Or "Iraq, where more than 1,300 U.S. service members have died in defusing a houthouse for terrorism, and creating only the second democracy in the entire Middle East."

Honest conservatives don't demand that the MSM stop reporting events or facts unfriendly to our causes or convictions. We just demand that the whole story be told.

Dan
Biblical Christianity web site
Biblical Christianity message board

[BenLurkin]

ping

[Enterprise]

"Dr. Condoleezza Rice faces big test with Senate hearings"

Naw, Dr. Rice will do just fine. The real test here will be which Democrat will be the biggest horses's ass. Actually, there needs to be an independent thread on this when the hearings begin. My vote for early favorite has to be Barbara Botox. But oh, she will have lots of strong competition.

[martin_fierro]

"I'm losing constituents every day because of that war," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "She was the key cheerleader. I hold her and this administration responsible for that."

Dumbest Broad in the Senate vs. Dr. Rice.

In a battle of wits, Babs, it helps to have some.

[BibChr]

"I'm losing constituents every day because of that war," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "She was the key cheerleader. I hold her and this administration responsible for that."

Not nearly as many as you are losing every day due to your blessed sacrament, abortion, you cringing embarrassment of a fool. And I hold you responsible for that.

What is infinitely worse for you, God holds you responsible (Proverbs 24:11, 12; Isaiah 1:15).

Dan

[Semper Paratus]

Dr. Rice is the "Anti-Carol Mosley-Brown".

[G Larry]

No, the Dem's face a big test.

How can they criticize Dr. Rice without their racism showing through?

[Libloather]

US Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice goes before the Senate next week in the first test of her ability to sell the hardline US foreign policies she crafted with President George W. Bush.(AFP/File/Stephen Jaffe)

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice walks down stairs next to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's office with the 'Preamble To The United States Constitution' printed on the wall at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., outside Washington, January 13, 2005. Rice, the first African-American woman nominated to be secretary of state, begins two days of hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week. Photo by Larry Downing/Reuters

U.S. President George W. Bush walks with Condoleezza Rice, his nomination for Secretary of State (R) and Robert Zoellick, his nomination for Deputy Secretary of State, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, January 7, 2005. Zoellick, who served at the State Department as undersecretary for economic affairs and as counselor for former Secretary of State James Baker has steered U.S. trade policy around the world over the past four years. REUTERS/Jason Reed

[Howlin]

It's going to be a very busy week for us.

[Enterprise]

"I couldn't imagine how disgusting Dr. Rice will feel."

Point of friendly order - Dr. Rice, and the rest of us, will feel disgusted with the disgusting Democrats.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

Same crap that we heard about Alberto Gonzales. The low life vermin in the Democrat Party could not lay a glove on Gonzales, and Condi will again make them look like the buttheads they are. The Democrat Party sinks further toward destruction!!!

[Shady]

Barbara Boxer doesn't deserve to polish Condi's pumps after her disgusting show last week.

[Howlin]

No one doubts Rice will be confirmed by the Senate

So does anybody have any questions about just what IS going on here?