The lady in the picture above is Susan Rice. Ms. Rice graduated with honors from Stanford University. She then received a Rhodes scholarship to attend Oxford University, where she earned her doctorate degree. She served in the Clinton administration as a member of the National Security Council from 1993 to 1997 (as well as Director of International Organizations and Peacekeeping from 1993 to 1995, and as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs from 1995 to 1997). In 2009, she was appointed by President Obama as this country's U.N. Ambassador and was unanimously approved by the United States Senate. To say she has competently and faithfully served her country would be an understatement.Rumor has it that she is the favorite to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. That has been met with a chorus of disapproval from several Republican senators (McCain of Arizona, Graham of South Carolina, Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Collins of Maine), who say they will do everything in their power to block Rice's approval for that post.
The opposition was kicked off by Senator McCain, which said Ambassador Rice was just "not very bright". That's more than a bit ironic coming from the man who finished in the bottom 10% of his class at the Naval Academy and nominated the dumbest politician in America to be his running mate in 2008. That argument produced nothing but jeers, so he quickly dropped it.
But he didn't drop his opposition to Rice becoming Secretary of State. He then attacked her for misrepresenting the Benghazi tragedy to the American people, and he was joined in this effort by Graham, Ayotte, and Collins. The fact is that Ms. Rice has been very honest in her endeavors to explain what happened in Libya -- even to the point of visiting each of the senators named above to clear up any misunderstandings that may have occurred.
But there hasn't been any misunderstanding. These senators are not opposing Rice on grounds of competency or anything she has said about the tragedy in Libya (and they have to know she was in no way responsible for that tragedy). No, they are playing a different game -- a much more devious game. And the outcome they desire is revealed in the candidate they say would make a great Secretary of State, and whose nomination would breeze through the Senate for approval. The candidate they want is Senator John Kerry.
They are not being honest about their approval of Senator Kerry. These right-wingers have disapproved of Kerry for a long time, and I doubt they have agreed with him on any legislation in decades. He's a die-hard liberal, and they know it. And he would run the Secretary of State's office in a very similar manner to Ambassador Rice. That doesn't matter to them. They are after something else -- Kerry's senate seat.
They were shocked when Republican Scott Brown lost to Elizabeth Warren in the recent election. That was a seat they were counting on holding, and it hurt when they lost it. Now they want the other Massachusetts senate seat to replace the one they lost. If Kerry is appointed Secretary of State, there will be a special election to replace him -- and they know that Scott Brown will have a very good chance of winning the seat and returning to the Senate (taking a senate vote from the Democrats and giving an additional one to the Republicans).
The president needs to stand firm, and refuse to be bullied into nominating Kerry. While I have no doubt Kerry would make an excellent Secretary of State, he is much more valuable to the Obama administration in the Senate. The president should go ahead and nominate Susan Rice for the position. If Harry Reid follows through on reforming the filibuster, the Republicans won't be able to deny her a vote for very long -- and if her nomination is voted on, she will be approved.
The Republicans are playing a devious game. I just hope the president doesn't fall for it. I don't think he will though.
