Volume III. No. 28
 01-27-05
 Race Has Nothing To Do With It, Condoleeza
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2005
 

 Oh my, Condoleeza Rice finally got herself confirmed as the next secretary 
 of state. Are congratulations in order? Not really, unless you're a conservative 
 Republican and are in agreement with the dark Orwellian world that our
 current president is creating. With his new top diplomat ensconced in the 
 State Department, the closed circle of Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld 
 will grow ever tighter and more exclusive.

 That grouping even sounds ominous.

 But, back to Dr. Rice's confirmation. She was approved in the Senate by a 
 vote of 85-13, which of course, are the most negative votes that any such 
 nominee has received in almost two centuries!

 What's going on?

 Nothing much really, except that Senate Democrats were upholding their
 constitutional duty of actually debating Dr. Rice's appointment. Republicans 
 on the hill complained that it was all petty politics, and pointless as Rice's 
 confirmation was assured the very day that Bush announced that she was 
 his choice to succeed the gentlemanly, but fish out-of-water, Colin Powell. 
 Somewhere in all of this mix, Senate Republicans have lost sight of the fact 
 that ours is a goverment of checks and balances, and Dr. Rice's previous lies 
 and misleading statements prior to the Iraq War, and her refusal to as Senator 
 Barbara Boxer put it, "come clean" during her Senate Foreign Relations
 Committee appearance, were fair game.

 Of course there is politics involved, but Republican complaints about 
 Dr. Rice's treatment and the delay of her confirmation vote until yesterday,
 ring hollow. In truth, Senators Boxer, Kennedy, and Byrd, to name but
 three, did the country and their party a tremendous favor in the manner 
 in which they so eloquently stated their reasons for opposing Dr. Rice. 

 This is democracy in action, was it not? The same democracy our soldiers 
 are allegedly fighting for over in Iraq. In that horribly misguided, and 
 unnecessary war.

 It is a shame that so many other Senate Democrats who have doubts as 
 strong as Boxer's, Byrd's, and Kennedy's lacked the backbone to actually 
 cast a vote against Rice's appointment. This again shows that Democrats 
 have not yet gotten the message that their waffling is only viewed as 
 weakness by their opponents and is not respected across the aisle. 

 If Rice is indeed incompetent, a liar, { no matter how you want to finesse
 the word } and incapable of acknowledging past mistakes, then what sense 
 does it make to vote for her? If that is not reason enough to take a stand, 
 then what is?

 Dr. Rice's personal history is certainly one she can be proud of. And she
 is now, in fact, the first female African-American secretary of state. But, 
 as the last days of debate about her nomination drew to a close, some 
 elements of hypocrisy surfaced. There were growing whispers of racism
 in the African-American community. And some Black liberals rushed to
 the nominee's defense. Dr. Rice of course, just like staunch conservative
 Clarence Thomas once did, said nothing to dissuade this sudden new base 
 of support. Even Andrew Young, Jimmy Carter's Ambassador to the UN,
 spoke in Rice's defense.

 Dr. Condoleeza Rice is now beloved by African-American liberals? Are
 you kidding? How ironic as we watch history repeat itself. 

 Condoleeza, you're not the African-American secretary of state. You're 
 a secretary of state that happens to be African-American. The tough
 questioning you encountered in the Senate had nothing to do with race. 
 The controversy was the result of your misleading and contradictory
 statements to the American people concerning the Iraq War in the past, 
 and your inability in the present to ahem..."come clean."

 Don't let others use any racism excuse on your behalf. It is a bit excessive. 
 As a conservative, you of all people, should realize that.
 

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