Susan Rice – Blame or Bias: A Woman’s Perspective

by Evangeline Paine
November 23, 2012

They say if all you have is a hammer, everything starts looking remarkably like a nail. After watching the precious pearl clutching outrage of the left over the objection of the possible appointment of the current UN Ambassador Susan Rice to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State- the immediate cries of racism and sexism were, yes, hammered home. For example, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., told CNN on Tuesday November 20, 2012 that calling Ambassador Rice “incompetent” was a racial code word, especially well known to people that were raised in the south, and that it was insulting. Born and raised in the south myself, I can’t seem to remember this being an exclusive insult to anyone. Even the incompetent ones, bless their hearts.

On November 19, 2012 Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) sent President Barack Obama a letter, urging him not to nominate Ambassador Rice for the position of Secretary of State, citing-

“Ambassador Rice is widely viewed as having either willfully or incompetently misled the American public in the Benghazi matter. Her actions plausibly give U.S. allies (and rivals) abroad reason to question U.S. commitment and credibility when needed. Thus, we believe that making her the face of U.S. foreign policy in your second term would greatly undermine your desire to improve U.S. relations with the world and continue to build trust with the American people.”

This letter is signed by 97 members of Congress. Inevitable George W. Bush/Harriet Miers comparisons come to mind. But would strong opposition to this appointment have the same result? I know where I’d place my bet. Mr. Bush’s nomination of Ms. Miers was vehemently objected to, and by many strong conservatives due to what was called cronyism (she worked for Bush throughout his tenure as Texas Governor prior to being White House Counsel) and inexperience (wait- what’s that? Elena Kagan? Shhh).

Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) came out with strong words against the possible appointment. Stating to do whatever within their power to block the nomination, Sen. Graham said baldly “I don’t trust her”. Well, on most days that end in y I don’t trust Mr. Grahamnesty, but that blunt bit of honesty was refreshing.

But it seems rather obvious that Mr. Obama does trust Susan Rice. Or at least feels the need to defend her. On his first scheduled press conference in over half a year, he comes out to rescue his beleaguered ambassador. Directly from his press conference-

“If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me. When they go after the U.N. ambassador apparently because they think she’s an easy target, then they’ve got a problem with me.”

Even the President of the United States thinks our UN Ambassador is nothing but a helpless, hapless wench that requires a man to stand up for her. No? Why else the arrogant “go after me” comment? He has no problem with Secretary Clinton handling her battles (and his, for that matter, it’s in the job description…oh wait…) Does he coddle Janet Napolitano? Valerie Jarrett? So why does he think Susan Rice, who needs his protection, should be our representative to world leaders? Was her body of work with the UN so exemplary that it overshadows the fact that she lied, for days, about the cause of the massacre in Benghazi, Libya that took the lives of four Americans?

If you ask Susan Rice, she believes she has-

“We’ve repaired frayed relations with countries around the world. We’ve ended needless American isolation on a wide range of issues. And as a consequence, we’ve gotten strong cooperation on things that matter most to our national security interest.”

When you’ve had China and Russia veto down three of your resolutions? When you’ve skipped several Security Council meetings? Or pulled a no-show for the Council’s Haiti crisis meeting to expand the UN’s presence there to stabilize and assist the island in the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake? (Does having famous Annie Leibovitz do a photo shoot in a Security Council Chamber for a Vogue layout count?)

How about when Iran was elected to the UN Women’s Commission? This commission was created to promoted gender equality and advancement of women. And Iran was elected to this commission. Yes, Iran. The country with the Islamic cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi that blamed earthquakes on immodest female behavior-

“Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes,”

And Ambassador Rice did nothing, said nothing about Iran being elected.

And when Libya was elected to the Humans Rights Council, she was not present to voice dissent. Why? What could take precedence? Flying to a UN panel discussion on global sustainability in South Africa seemed to carry more importance, somehow.

And we come to how Israel is treated. In 2010, Ambassador Rice decides to stay home for Memorial Day weekend as opposed to attending an emergency UN meeting over the Gaza Flotilla debacle. Then on September 27, 2012 instead of attending Israeli Ambassador Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in New York City, NY she chose to dine with foreign ministers. Who else do we all know that snubbed Ambassador Netanyahu? The dots they are a-connectin’.

I’m uncertain how expecting competence is either racist or sexist. Susan Rice wasn’t strong armed into her position, why do we have to be strong armed into accepting less than what America is worth or be silenced when we have doubts because it could be considered a dog whistle, code word–insert leftist talking point of the day here. This double standard of a minority can do anything anyone else can, until they can’t, at which point, it’s unfair, so we must allow them latitude, is appalling to me in this supposed enlightened time. Shouldn’t we be far beyond this by now? Do I, as a woman feel unequal to, well, anyone? No. I was raised to think for myself, do for myself and understand I am responsible for myself and my actions. Many people influenced me throughout my life, but none of them stood before me and cleared my path. Simply gave me advice on how to walk on it.

A woman I very much admire said something that bears repeating-

“… it’s good to have female or minority role models. But the important thing is to have mentors who care about you, and they come in all colors.”

This was from our former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.


Source: ConservativeReport.org