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Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a Jackson crowd Tuesday night about the importance of America's role in spreading democracy globally in a speech that frequently, if not explicitly, advocated and defended Bush-era foreign policy. "The American spirit will lead the world," she said in ending her speech, which drew a standing ovation. "In its absence, the world would be a much, much worse place. ... If we're OK, everyone else will be OK, too." Rice, whose speech was part of Union University's scholarship banquet, also got applause for urging less federal involvement in the American economy, saying...

She's smart. She's experienced. She's worldly. Republican strategists worried about their party's future should take heed. ___ Successful candidates follow a simple fundamental rule: Define yourself before your opponent can define you. The Republican Party, which mustered a thumbs-up from only 38% of voters in last week's Bloomberg poll, sorely needs to brush up on the very rule it counsels in candidate-training sessions. To skeptics in search of a political home, the GOP's image has devolved into that of a minority collection of name-calling, "no"-saying, backward-looking, talk-show bullying cranks -- a definition gleefully perpetuated by Democratic pols. So next time...

Facing a world of diplomatic woes from Iran to North Korea, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had the opportunity to get some heavyweight advice at a dinner held by eight of her living predecessors. Tuesday night's private dinner at former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's Washington home gathered top U.S. diplomats from five previous administrations with decades of hands-on experience in some of the most difficult foreign policy crises America has faced. A spokeswoman for Albright says all but one living former secretary of state attended the event to honor Clinton(continued at link)

A week has passed since President Obama set a train in motion with the publication of secret memos to justify harsh interrogations by the CIA, and the White House appears to have lost control over its ultimate destination. Fresh disclosures of declassified documents on Wednesday implicated a dozen senior officials in the Bush Administration, including Condoleezza Rice, as having approved techniques such as waterboarding — simulated drowning widely regarded as torture — on terrorist suspects. The previous evening a Senate Armed Services Committee report linked the decision to authorise the CIA’s programme with the abuse of detainees by the US...

The CIA's use of waterboarding to interrogate terrorism suspects was approved by Condoleezza Rice as early as 2002, a senate report reveals. As national security adviser, Ms Rice consented to the harsh interrogation of al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah, the Senate Intelligence Committee found. Memos released last week show that he and another key detainee were subjected to waterboarding 266 times. Former Vice-President Dick Cheney has said the techniques produced results.

<p>WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused the militant Hamas organization of holding the people of Gaza hostage Friday and said the United States continues to seek a "durable and sustainable" cease-fire.</p> <p>Speaking to reporters in the White House driveway after a meeting with President George W. Bush, Rice also said that the United States remains "very concerned about the situation there and is working very hard with our partners around the world."</p>

Condi was just on CNN with Wolf Blitzer. At the end of her response to his question of what she thought about Obama's election, she said "The American people are wise to want change. Two terms is enough." Wow, no one digs a horn into an embattled president's back like a rampaging RINO. How nasty and disloyal of her.

The 49ers canned head coach Mike Nolan on Monday, and apparently, it's just the beginning of a front office overhaul. The club managed just 18 wins in 55 games, and were 2-5 this season. That, along with 2005 first-overall pick Alex Smith's glacial development had just about everything to do with Nolan's current status. But this morning, NFL Network's Adam Schefter reports that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might be interested in a job with the 49ers in the near future. "We all know that change has swept through San Francisco, but now it looks like more could be coming....

Known as the Steel Magnolia in her youth, Miss Rice has guided the US through the war on terror, looked tyrants in the eye and faced down terrorist threats during her nation's darkest hours. But a new book reveals that she was not so steadfast in facing down her own more personal enemies within the Bush administration. Instead, Miss Rice was so fazed by former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that she burst into tears at a meeting in the White House situation room. The floodgates opened for the then national security adviser in February 2004, as the Bush administration was...

While the Obama and McCain campaigns were issuing speeches and statements during the Russian invasion of Georgia, who got the cease-fire job done? Anyone, anyone? Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday signed the plan for a cease-fire in Georgia that his Georgian counterpart reluctantly agreed to a day earlier, setting the stage for a Russian troop withdrawal after more than a week of warfare. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili signed the deal Friday in Tbilisi after lengthy talks with Washington's top diplomat, Condoleezza Rice. You know a Condoleezza Rice-VP slot is not in the Democrats' best interest when the AP story...

This morning, after receiving an update from his national security team on the situation in Georgia, President Bush delivered a brief statement from the White House Rose Garden. (Transcript) The United States and our allies stand with the people of Georgia and their democratically elected government. Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. Moscow must honor its commitment to withdraw its invading forces from all Georgian territory … The people of Georgia have cast their lot with the free world, and we will not cast them aside. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia today and met...

ALERT - Condoleezza Rice arrives in Tbilisi MOSCOW - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has arrived in Tbilisi Friday to affirm the support of Washington to face Georgia in Moscow, has seen an AFP journalist.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Friday shrugged off a reward for her arrest as a war criminal announced by university students ahead of a visit to New Zealand. “Protest is a part of democratic society and student protests are particularly a long honoured tradition in democratic society,” Rice told a news conference in the West Australian capital Perth. “And I can only say that the United States has done everything that it can to, in this war on terror, live up to our international and our national laws and obligations.” New Zealand university students had earlier offered a reward...

In any partnership, the coin of the realm is trust and responsibility - in other words, saying what you mean and doing what you say. In the dramatic rescue on July 2 of 15 hostages, including three Americans, held captive for many years by guerrillas and terrorists, deep in the Colombian jungles, we saw a powerful reminder that the United States has no better partner in South America than the government and people of Colombia. Colombia's leaders, especially President Uribe, had promised us that our three abducted citizens would be treated no differently than the many Colombian men and women...

Interview on the Sean Hannity Radio Show (Condoleezza Rice) (Excerpt) - SECRETARY RICE: ... First of all, this decision, this tactical decision to send Bill Burns one time to receive the reply that the Iranians are supposed to give to the offer that the United States, Russia, China, and three European states made – he’s going to go receive the reply, and he’s going to tell the Iranians, in no uncertain terms, that if they want to negotiate, the condition for doing that is to suspend verifiably their enrichment and reprocessing. So this is really to reinforce the policy that...

Lopez: How bad would a President Obama be for Israel? Why should that question matter to Americans? Glick: Senator Barack Obama would be bad for Israel most of all because he refuses to acknowledge that there is a jihad being waged against the free world. Indeed, he refuses to acknowledge that there is such a thing as an “enemy” in international affairs. And as a consequence, he is unable to understand what an ally is. As the U.S.’s most stalwart ally in the Middle East, and as the frontline state in the global jihad, Israel will likely suffer greatly if...

War On Terror: Caving to Muslim pressure groups, the Bush administration has banned the term "jihadist" to define the enemy. Islamic terrorists will now be known as "violent extremists." Our war on radical Islam has been hamstrung by political correctness from the start. First, we couldn't call the campaign to strike back at al-Qaida a "crusade" because Muslims found it historically offensive. Then we couldn't define the enemy as "Islamic terrorists" because it insulted Islam — even though it accurately described the Muslims committing murder and mayhem in the name of Islam. To appease critics, we narrowed the terminology, confining...

U.S. Urges Kenyan Leaders to Fulfill Power Sharing Commitment Statement by Secretary Condoleezza Rice Washington, DC April 8, 2008 On April 7 I spoke separately by telephone with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister-designate Raila Odinga to urge them to implement real power sharing by agreeing on the composition of their coalition cabinet. Both emphasized to me their strong commitment to do so. It is imperative that they form the cabinet without further delay and address the vitally important work of the nation. The United States and the entire international community stand ready to assist the coalition government and to...

...Whether Mr. Odinga has ordered his men to commit murder and arson is unclear. But his own background does not exactly suggest enthusiasm for democracy and the rule of law. Mr. Odinga's father, Oginga Odinga, led the Communist opposition during the Cold War and Raila Odinga was educated in Communist East Germany. In 1982 he was implicated in a failed coup against the then president Daniel Arap Moi. His eldest son is named after Fidel Castro and his daughter after Winnie Mandela. Even more sinister has been Mr. Odinga's electoral pact with the National Muslim Leaders' Forum — a hardline...

In response to my column Racist Slander From The New Yorker, "Condiment" author Hendrik Hertzberg wrote, Dear Mr. Parks: Evidently you neglected to read all the way through my piece. To save you the trouble of going back to it, here is how it ends: "Her [Rice's] ascension, though nowhere near as momentous a breakthrough as the election of Obama or Clinton, would be a breakthrough all the same. In this connection, a kind word for George W. Bush may be in order. By appointing first Colin Powell and then Rice to the most senior job in the Cabinet, a...

Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island PHOTO OF THE DAY President George W. Bush embraces a student Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008, during an education roundtable at the University of Liberia in Monrovia, Liberia. QUOTE(s) OF THE DAY President's Radio Address ~ February 23, 2008 Critical excerpt: Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell recently explained that the vast majority of the communications infrastructure we rely on in the United States is owned and operated by the private sector. Because of the failure to provide liability protection, he says private companies who have "willingly helped us in the past, are now...

Keith Weissman and Steven Rosen Are PhDs and Middle East Experts Who Did Some Lobbying. They Thought They Were Doing What Washington Insiders Always Do. Thomas O’Donnell didn’t reveal his job when he phoned Keith Weissman in 2004 and got the policy analyst’s wife. He says he didn’t want to scare her. When Weissman returned the call and found out O’Donnell was an FBI agent, his first reaction was to attempt a joke: “What did I do?” “I’m sure you didn’t do anything,” O’Donnell told him. He wanted to meet that day, for five or ten minutes, and get Weissman’s...

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly said in Annapolis this week that her childhood in the segregated South had helped her to understand the suffering on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...

There has been, for some time, more than ample reason to question the judgment of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with regard to her attempts to “foster” a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which attempts lead us now towards the dubious possibility of a conference in Annapolis. Word has it that the conference was her brainchild, although it was originally announced by the president. In fact, she seems to be supplying the steam behind this entire effort. Her statements frequently have an “other worldly” tone to them. She speaks about the window of opportunity open to...

The respected left-wing journalist Aluf Benn recently reported in Haaretz that “When Condoleezza Rice talks about the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel, she sees in her mind’s eye the struggle of African Americans for equal rights, which culminated in the period of her Alabama childhood.” Though Benn never cited any source for his description of Rice’s deep personal identification with the Palestinian national cause, he has interviewed Secretary Rice before and obviously felt his source was good enough for print. He went on to “guess” that Rice’s feelings were based on the similarity between the separation fence...

An anti-war demonstrator accosted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as she arrived to testify at a hearing on Capitol Hill, shouting "war criminal" before being dragged away by security. Members of the Capitol Police department also removed several members of the anti-war group "Code Pink" from the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing room, who struggled as they left. The hearing began on schedule and Rice's testimony did not appear to be affected by the incident.

Pope Benedict XVI refused a recent request by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the Middle East and Iraq, Vatican sources say. The Pope refused a request for an audience during the August holidays. Senior Vatican sources told the BBC the Pope does not normally receive politicians on his annual holiday at the Castelgandolfo residence near Rome. But one leading Italian newspaper said it was an evident snub by the Vatican towards the Bush administration. Christian rights There are at least two reasons why Pope Benedict may have decided peremptorily against a private meeting with Ms Rice. First,...

Official Mexican government reports reveal Mexico has entered discussions with the state of Texas and top officials in the Bush administration to extend the Trans-Texas Corridor into Mexico, with a plan to connect through Monterrey to the deep-water Mexican ports on the Pacific, including Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas. The official website of the Mexican northeastern state of Nuevo León contain multiple reports that José Natividad Gonzáles Parás, governor of the Mexican state of Nuevo León, has actively discussed with numerous U.S. government officials, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the...

Condoleezza Rice may be willing to compromise at a Middle East negotiating table - but not at a jewelry counter. Coit Blacker, a Stanford professor who is one of the secretary of state's closest friends, recalls going into a shop where Rice asked to see earrings. The clerk showed her costume jewelry. Rice asked to see something nicer, prompting the clerk to whisper some sass under her breath. Blacker remembers Rice tearing the woman to shreds. "Let's get one thing straight," he recalls her saying. "You are behind the counter because you have to work for minimum wage. I'm on...

WASHINGTON - Sports, not politics, will be Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.'s emphasis in his new role as a special envoy for the State Department. "This isn't a political statement for me, necessarily," Ripken said Monday after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice formally announced his appointment. "This is about the kids and planning baseball and using baseball for good reasons." Ripken, who set the Major League record for consecutive games played — 2,632 games in a row, earning him the nickname "Iron Man" — said he was ready for the task, which will take him first to China...

Condi's phone call behind reversal DILSHAD AZEEM ISLAMABAD - President General Pervez Musharraf withdrew the decision of imposing emergency following late night telephone call by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, The Nation has learnt here. “The decision is reversed after Condoleezza Rice strongly opposed the option of proclamation of emergency and conveyed to Musharraf strong reservations of the United States of America particularly those of Democrats-dominated US Congress,” diplomatic sources said.Condoleezza Rice discussed with General Pervez mainly two issues; his plan to impose emergency in the country on various grounds, and his non-participation in the Afghan Jirga, being held...

Enough with the Uncle Tom Name Calling Black Americans, who love their country, are not separatists and do not view everything through the prism of race are called “Uncle Toms” by black civil rights dinosaurs that refuse to acknowledge black progress. Imagine the absurdity of a sports team winning the championship refusing to accept the trophy. Civil rights pioneers fought a great fight and won. And yet, many of them reject victory and seek to punish contemporary blacks who are prosperously moving forward in their lives thanks to the heroic efforts of these civil rights pioneers.

(Editor's note: the Secretary of State delivered the following address to the Economic Club of New York on June 7, 2007.) Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: It's an honor to join you tonight to help you celebrate your centennial anniversary. For 100 years now, the Economic Club of New York has been one of the intellectual capitals of the most dynamic city in the world. You have shaped the world of ideas. You have done so with reason, and passion, and civility. And you have helped to guide America, thoughtfully and confidently, though times of change and challenge.

Rice slams Russia 01/06/2007 07:28 - (SA) Potsdam, Germany - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made new jabs at Russia on Thursday, saying the country needed to improve its human rights record and work with the West. "We want Russia to be strong, but strong in 21st century terms - not just with a strong centre, but with strong, independent institutions, both in and out of government a strong, independent judiciary and legislature, a strong, independent society with a strong, independent media and free and fair elections with access for monitors," she said. "Democratic institutions and an open society...

On a trip to California this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has done so many non-foreign policy photo-ops that local reporters have been speculating she's laying the groundwork for a run for governor. Now she's added fuel to that speculation by giving a very non-Sherman-like answer to a question about having future political ambitions. The transcript of the Q&A with a local newspaper reporter was just released by the State Department. Asked about running for governor, Rice answered: " Look, one doesn't ever know what life may bring, but I sure don't have any plans to run for office."...

War On Terror: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she might talk with Iran this week at a Mideast conference on Iraq. This would end a 28-year break in direct contact with Iran's rogue regime. It's a bad idea. We understand that Rice is keen on stabilizing Iraq. She understands a sad-but-true reality: Iraq's Shiite-led government sees Iran as every bit of an ally as the U.S.

A tense confrontation within the Bush administration over the release of the Irbil 5. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose tenure at Foggy Bottom began with such energy and fine language about support for freedom in the Middle East, is begging the Iranian foreign minister to come to a “future of Iraq” conference in Egypt next week. She told the Financial Times that it would be a “missed opportunity” if Minister Mottaki didn’t show up. In the same interview, she denied ever thinking about regime change in Iran. Our Iran policy, according to the secretary, is to “have a change...

Editor's note: the following interview with Secretary of State Rice took place in her office at the State Department last Thursday, April 19. It's been slightly edited for length and clarity.) SECRETARY RICE: What can I do for you? RCP: Well, I'm here to talk about Iraq. SECRETARY RICE: Okay. RCP: So I want to start by just talking about the last -- obviously, yesterday was another tough day. Last week, there was a very tough day. SECRETARY RICE: Right. RCP: And I know on some of the calls that I've been on with military commanders in Baghdad, they say...

Condoleezza Rice had been looking forward to this night for weeks. It was three days before her 52nd birthday, on a Saturday this past November, and she was taking 11 of her friends to the Kennedy Center to watch Yo-Yo Ma perform with the National Symphony Orchestra. On this night she would not have to think about Iraq or North Korea. A mix of glamour and seriousness, her looks, demeanor, and range of interests—from football to fashion—have been a source of stories both at home and abroad. President Bush has called her “Martha Stewart with access to nuclear codes.”

BCC leaders throw out teacher's suspension By Ashley BachSeattle Times Eastside bureauBellevue Community College leaders have thrown out a one-week unpaid suspension for an instructor who wrote a racially insensitive math question that sparked a national controversy last spring.(snip)A few years ago, Ratener wrote a question that presented a scenario about a person named "Condoleezza" throwing a watermelon off a roof.School officials said this demeaned U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and employed a racist caricature of blacks eating watermelons that dates to the 1800s.A student complained last spring, and by April the issue had become a national story. Some in...

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday rejected any comparison between the international community's handling of Iran's nuclear program and its policy of appeasement toward Nazi Germany in 1938. "I am fond of historical analogies, but not that fond," Rice told Haaretz in an interview, responding to a question about the analogy frequently cited by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. However, she did lambaste Iran's behavior. "We clearly face a country that is pursuing policies in an assertive way that are contrary to the interests of the United States and are contrary to the interests of all people who want...

ALARM - the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Baghdad BAGHDAD - the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived Saturday morning to Baghdad for a short visit, one learned near a spokesman from the embassy from the United States in Iraq.

At a hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Queens Rep. Gary Ackerman yesterday slammed the Pentagon for firing Middle East translators who were gay - and cracked jokes about a "platoon of lesbians" in Baghdad. Ackerman, a senior Democratic member of the House International Relations Committee, was questioning Rice at a hearing about the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays. He accused the Pentagon of firing military linguists fluent in Arabic and in the Iranian language Farsi who turned out to be gay. "For some reason, the military seems more afraid of gay people than they are...

NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE When people say they're "speaking truth to power," you can assume they haven't had an original thought since the Beatles broke up. But that was how Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., characterized her interrogation of Condi Rice. While chastising the Bush administration for its plan to send more helpless American waifs into Iraq, Boxer said: "Who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young." These are pertinent details; ever since 9/11, analysts have insisted that the fight against militant global Islamic jihadis hinges on...

Some fascinating details on the CIA leak affair are coming out in the courtroom of the Lewis Libby trial. This morning, for example, we got a better picture of why former ambassador Joseph Wilson decided to go public with his story, publishing an op-ed in the New York Times in July 2003. Prior to that time, Wilson had been talking to reporters on background — his name had not been linked to the whole Niger/yellowcake/16 words affair. But Wilson has said in a number of interviews that after watching the appearance of then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice on "Meet the...

As The Stiletto was walking down E Capitol Street one day Nancy Pelosi looked at her and said her 100 Hours Watch had stopped cold dead And The Stiletto said Does anybody really know what time it is Does anybody really care If so The Stiletto can’t imagine why She’s a single woman, like Condolezza Rice NOTE: Original source includes links that add context (and extra snarkiness) to these parody lyrics.

The White House and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday accused Democrats of suggesting that the secretary's childlessness, race and sex are to blame for mistakes in Iraq. White House spokesman Tony Snow said Sen. Barbara Boxer's comments that Miss Rice won't "pay the price" for her decisions in the Iraq war because she is unmarried and without children was a "great leap backward for feminism." "I don't know if she was intentionally that tacky, but I do think it's outrageous," he told Fox News. "Here you've got a professional woman, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Barbara Boxer is...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice let slip her news media preferences Thursday, saying, "I love every single one" of Fox News network's correspondents and also favors CBS anchor Harry Smith. In comments overheard on an open microphone between morning television interviews, including one with Fox, the top U.S. diplomat said: "My Fox guys, I love every single one of them." But Rice told an aide that when she was next in Iraq she would like to do a "one-on-one" interview with CBS "The Early Show" anchor Harry Smith. "He's a decent guy. I know they are, like, 55 in the...

Crowds who paid up to $500 to hear Donald Trump speak on how to get rich instead heard "The Donald" bashing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and questioning the competence of the Bush administration. When talk of wealth turned to politics at the private class at the Learning Annex, Trump first discussed Rice. - said. "I don't care if she's lovely. I want someone who can go and make deals. She goes to countries and nothing ever happens except sound bites." Trump also talked about outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "Look at this guy Rumsfeld," Trump said. "Millions of people...

In a secret end run around Cheney and Rumsfeld, the secretary of state pressed Bush to back the Iraq Study Group -- and change the course of the war. In late 2005, three Washington insiders with foreign policy expertise were summoned to a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- a little-known event that may end up changing the course of the war in Iraq. The three men were working to help Rep. Frank Wolf, who wanted to create an independent panel to overhaul the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq, after a recent trip there left the Virginia Republican...