Condi and George Sittin' In A Tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G

I just finished reading an article in today's Washington Post, well the Post Online, about Condoleeza Rice's tenure as Secretary of State, entitled "Why Her Dreams Crashed." The first paragraph, provided below, sets the tone in no uncertain terms:

"As Condoleeza Rice jets around the world, she must sometimes wonder where she's going. Over her three years as secretary of state, she has squandered great opportunities by putting faith and loyalty above her old worldview. The problem isn't just that she has swerved from the realism that propelled her to prominence; it's that the result has been a shambles."

The article continues in detail about how the once ultra-realist Rice fell under the influence of her boss, President George W. Bush, in some form of role reversal. Where she was once the teacher, she became the pupil. It's an outstanding article, and one that I strongly recommend one read, to get a greater understanding of the policy situation than one will get from watching 30-second sound bites on the evening news.

Essentially, Rice abandoned her policy "upbringing," that is, being grounded in the real world, and in fact, not conjecture, and make-believe, pushed by a man who'd never traveled off of the North American continent until he became president. The author suggests that something called the "strong mentor" syndrome overcame her. Who was the strong mentor?! And if it was George Bush, what in the hell could he teach her?

I have a simpler, more likely idea.

Does anyone besides me think that GWB is giving Condi Rice a piece of his love she can have? I think we should check the presidential iPod -- he does have one -- and see what's in his playlist. Let's see if he has a love of Teddy Riley and Guy...And we all know that Condi has no husband, and no known male suitors, so... I mean, I don't want to slander anyone, but it's certainly worth examining.

I'm serious.

Perhaps a little presidential menage à with Laura, maybe?

I'm sure all of us have thought such thoughts, I'm just giving them voice.

How else can one explain the fact that this woman, smarter than almost anyone -- no, EVERYONE -- reading and writing this post, completely abandoned her instincts and whole world-view. She went from realist, tutored by the likes of Josef Korbel, and Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor to the Bush the Elder, to this...weird polyanna-ish believer in the preeminence of United States morality.

She bought wholesale into The Cowboy President's crusader-like march into the middle east, in particular, Iraq, at great cost to the prestige, and ultimately the safety of the United States. We've built more terrorists in the past six years, than the preceding 60 combined, at the cost of massive amounts of national treasure, and immeasurable losses in the only irreplaceable capital: human.

Rice was supposed to bring knowledge to the game, and she wound up getting schooled.

I sure do hope the dick is good, because a whole country is getting fucked.