Question of the day
posted at 5:08 pm on July 16, 2007 by Allahpundit
Via the mightiest of wingmen. It’s not often that crazy Jack Cafferty is right, but it’s not unprecedented either. Remember back in the day circa 2005 when there was a serious movement afoot among righties to draft Condi?
You don’t hear much about that nowadays, do you?
Blowback
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I don’t think a joint task force of Moses, Jesus and Mohammed could do much to sort out Middle East peace. I don’t see how Condi is going to accomplish anything like that.
But hey, Albright got peace between the US and North Korea and that worked out swimmingly!
Who knows? Maybe I can broker peace between conservatives and liberals?
Nethicus on July 16, 2007 at 5:12 PM
How successful will Rice be at Israeli-Palestinian peace?
Zero.
Nada.
Nihil.
Zippo.
A big fat goose egg.
Maybe if she works real hard she can get Abbas to sign some meaningless piece of paper but that has to be the limit of her ambition.
It’s the same classic problem that everyone has always faced in the so-called Peace Process: anyone who has the power won’t make a deal and anyone who will make a deal doesn’t have the power.
Thomas the Wraith on July 16, 2007 at 5:18 PM
I think that Bolton would be an excellent Secretary of State.
FloatingRock on July 16, 2007 at 5:22 PM
I hated that singer.
Let me see, how many Sec’s have brokered a peace in the middle eastthat has “stuck”…quite I’m counting…then there is…oh yeah and him…can’t forget about her…sshhh, still counting…OK here it is…none.
right2bright on July 16, 2007 at 5:27 PM
I like and admire Sect. Rice. Therefore, I don’t wish this job on her. However, if she wanted it, she has my support.
Blake on July 16, 2007 at 5:28 PM
I think John Bolton’s ‘stache would be even better.
Bad Candy on July 16, 2007 at 5:29 PM
Ugh. You use – Jack Cafferty??? – as an opportunity to cut-down Sec. Rice?
What am I missing here? A sense of proportion? Irony?
Condoleza Rice isn’t a politician, she’s a public servant.
Randy
williars on July 16, 2007 at 5:33 PM
While I think she could’ve done more, in all honesty, she couldn’t have solved it. No one could’ve. The conflict in the Middle East has been going on for about a thousand years. That’s like asking her to move the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Coast.
amerpundit on July 16, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Our State Department is such a disaster, Bolton actually had an easier job with UN reform.
Unlike Bolton, Condi seems to lack the will for an overhaul at State which is why she has failed from the start.
Such a waste of brilliance.
Valiant on July 16, 2007 at 5:39 PM
I thought both Carter and Clinton brokered peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis years ago.
Well, they said they did. The MSM said they did. Jimmah got a Nobel Peace Prize and Billy Jeff got a wet kiss from Arafat in the Rose Garden.
So step up to the plate Condi. It’s not necessary to actually accomplish anything, just say you did. Oh wait, she’s a Republican. That makes anything she does a failure.
[Wolfie and Cafferty snicker]
fogw on July 16, 2007 at 5:39 PM
So…what HAS she done? The State Department is still full of lefty tards! Our foreign policy is in shambles! As a conservative I don’t see any real results! We are letting punks like Iran and N Korea have credibility! C’mon!
sabbott on July 16, 2007 at 5:42 PM
There are a few diplomatic victories during Bush’s term(s): the Orange and Velvet revolutions, NK giving up its nukes…
But none of those are due to Condi’s efforts. In fact, in the middle east she isn’t just hated, but ridiculed too.
AlexB on July 16, 2007 at 5:43 PM
John Bolton’s mustache would create peace in the Middle East…
Bad Candy on July 16, 2007 at 5:48 PM
I still remember the Sunday night live broadcast of the signing of the Camp David Accords on 17 September, 1978. It interrupted the premier of that notable sci-fi turkey, the original Battlestar; Galactica. In which the “Colonials”, on their way to sign a peace treaty with the “Cylons”, got their capital ships and then their worlds blown to dust bunnies by said Cylons, who only agreed to the “peace treaty” as a way to set the Colonials up for the genocide.
At the time, I wondered if this was synchronicity in action.
Today, I’m pretty sure it was. And that, as bad as Cattlecar; Galaxitive was (and the new version is), Jimmah would have better employed his time by watching it instead of brokering a “peace deal” that brought both more war and the assassination of both the other signers, namely Anwar el-Sadat and Menachim Begin.
Not that he, or anyone else in the “Peace” business, will ever admit it. As P.J. O’Rourke once said, “I guess there’s just no getting through to the highly insightful.”
cheers
eon
eon on July 16, 2007 at 5:51 PM
Jesus will sort it out when it’s time. Until then it’s going to be pretty messy, me thinks.
Ordinary1 on July 16, 2007 at 5:56 PM
Maybe I’m nitpicking but, 6 years? January 25, 2005 to the present is 6 years? It isn’t even 3 years. On the other hand, that kind of math could make Global Warming seem real.
trubble on July 16, 2007 at 6:05 PM
[right2bright on July 16, 2007 at 5:27 PM]
I agree with your implied point, right2bright.
[AlexB on July 16, 2007 at 5:43 PM]
North Korea, too? Why doesn’t she get any of the credit? The breakthrough happened on her SoS watch. She was the National Security Advisor and has been with Bush since his first campaign. Whose idea was it for the seachange of a course on NK that we’ve been holding since 2000 and appears to be bearing fruit now?
Cafferty plays the usual game of “I can’t think of anything good she has done.” Condi could bring peace to the whole world and he still wouldn’t be able to think of anything.
Hey, is the MSM still wondering if Osama’s tape is “NEW”?
Dusty on July 16, 2007 at 6:13 PM
[AlexB on July 16, 2007 at 5:43 PM]
I hit the button too soon.
I do agree with your observations on the views in the ME of Condi. My neighbor, who was originally from Germany but spent alot of his life dealing with those in the ME, has said repeatedly that Condi will get nowhere in the ME because she is a woman. He also said most Americans don’t know how to deal with people in the Middle East.
I don’t know that we should always be *dealing* with them but as much as we have to, I still want to know we are not compromising in ways that just benefit them. As such we will be butting heads for the next 20 years at least and Condi is doing her part without losing sight of the goal. In that sense, that Condi is gving them more of a headache than they are giving us is a kudo for her as far as I am concerned.
Dusty on July 16, 2007 at 6:24 PM
omg…What can ever be done by outside forces to broker peace in the Middle East? If it’s even possible…
I don’t think it’s fair to say “what has Condi done?”…It’s more what she hasn’t done, a la Madeline Albright/North Korea. Public Service as a cabinet member…it’s not about any “legacy”. And for sure Condi would make a great President, but she’s always been clear she doesn’t want the job.
Why the sudden attack on Ms. Rice, AP ?
JetBoy on July 16, 2007 at 6:26 PM
Is there a Norrisesque fact sheet about Bolton?
PRCalDude on July 16, 2007 at 6:29 PM
“The six years she’s had this job” started when Powell resigned. She really wasn’t a bad National Security Advisor. The problem stems from something in the Kool Aid at the State Dept.
bdfaith on July 16, 2007 at 6:30 PM
No, that was Yitzhak Rabin.
ScottG on July 16, 2007 at 6:34 PM
Let me get this straight: she’s not Madeline Albright, and she served in the cabinet, so she would make a good president.
Okey-dokey.
Nichevo on July 16, 2007 at 7:01 PM
You don’t hear much enthusiasm for drafting anyone that has anything to do with this floundering administration to run in 2008. It is irrelevant to judge her based on that. Using a mid-East peace deal as some kind of a benchmark test for Rice is about as absurd as asking her to pull 100 rabits out of a top hat while singing “We Are The World” to Kim Jong Ill.
Resolute on July 16, 2007 at 7:13 PM
Uhm… Powell left office on January 26, 2005. Not that silly things like facts matter, but it hasn’t been six years yet; it won’t even be six years at the end of her services as Sec o’ State.
12thman on July 16, 2007 at 7:17 PM
My thoughts exactly. As Secretary of State he would have been far more effective than as U.N. Ambassador, IMO.
infidel4life on July 16, 2007 at 7:21 PM
Wasn’t Dick Morris the biggest proponant of a Condi candidicy? He viewed her as the best chance the Republicans had at countering Hillary’s percieved demographic advantages…he wrote that book. I don’t recall any others who were that excited about the possibility.
Dork B. on July 16, 2007 at 7:45 PM
The Velvet Revolution was in 1989. I think you mean the Cedar Revolution. Also Gaddafi giving up on his nuclear weapons program to add to your list.
aengus on July 16, 2007 at 7:53 PM
Sadat let key members of the Muslim Brotherhood out of prison, including Zawarhiri, for sentimental reasons. He was naive. I’m not used to defending Jimmy Carter but that peace was a good thing. Musharaff is making the same mistakes Sadat did, not rolling up the Islamist elements that threaten to destroy him.
aengus on July 16, 2007 at 7:56 PM
Oh how I wish Bush had the cajones to appoint John Bolton Secretary Of State.
pilamaye on July 16, 2007 at 7:58 PM
While I agree with your conclusion, I don’t agree with how you got there.
The problem is no one has the power.
Even if all the leaders signed on to peace, the rank and file Muslim street wants Israeli gone. So where does the peace come from?
Christoph on July 16, 2007 at 8:44 PM
Yes. And an endorsement from Dick Morris would keep me from voting for anyone.
Connie on July 16, 2007 at 9:00 PM
Given that Islam teaches, there won’t be any peace until all the Jews are either all dead or converted to Islam. And after that, Christianity will be next, followed by Buddhism and Hinduism.
Kini on July 16, 2007 at 9:06 PM
Fact: There is no razor capable of cutting Bolton’s moustache. Fred Thompson once told Bolton it looked good like that, and each individual hair maintains its exact length ever since, simply out of respect.
The Monster on July 16, 2007 at 9:19 PM
…and the dictators of Muslim nations exploit this to distract from their domestic failings.
brewt on July 16, 2007 at 10:01 PM
Bolton’s achievements are a mixed bag too. Although he’s one fierce warrior whom I really appreciate, and who had some successes at the UN, he is one of the people who antagonized NK so much, and so deserves a partial credit for them deciding on getting nukes. (Yes, I know Clinton and that dumbass SoS of his are responsible for giving Kim the equipment, but it was Bolton that pissed Kim the most… I think NK referred to him as “human scum”)
Condi though…
You’re partially right that some of her failings in the middle east is because she’s a woman. Bush would come up with some ideas, and Condi, being perceived as weak, couldn’t defend his ideas. She was too apologetic… plus she had to fight Arab chauvenism.
The only interesting idea she had in her entire term (and I say “idea” because I don’t know how well it’s been implemented) is that the State dept. should be re-organized and make appeals to the people as opposed to the leaders of ME countries (since the leaders are not always popular).
But the negative side of that is that the leaders control the spin on everything she says anyways by virtue of controlling the media.
It is true – she hasn’t had a single achievement. The success in NK is due to some unnamed lower-level career diplomats who have been going to meetings for months… who really know the NK culture… who really know how to negotiate. And she ain’t one of them.
AlexB on July 16, 2007 at 10:40 PM
PRCal, yes, Ace did a Cool Facts about Boltons ‘stache.
Not that you’ll see this…
Bad Candy on July 16, 2007 at 10:51 PM
It isn’t news that among staunch Islamists, the very concept of “peace in the Middle East” means no Israel. Why can’t we understand that and work from the framework that provokes, instead of insisting that the impossible can be achieved against the wishes of one party to the process?
Freelancer on July 16, 2007 at 11:05 PM
Hey:
You can read updates on the “Draft Condi” movement here and here:. We are still going strong, but money always helps.
By the way, she never took the Sherman oath. She told Katie Couric that elected office “probably” isn’t for her.
She can always change her mind if we show our support.
Lothar on July 16, 2007 at 11:35 PM
Sorry about that last post. I’m on a laptop and I cant figure out how to highlight text.
Lothar on July 16, 2007 at 11:36 PM
Struggling for peace with those who only want you: A)Converted to Islam; B) Subject to Islam; or: C) Dead is a non-starter.
Can’t they just begin from that position, since it is the enemy’s position?
What is to send ‘humanitarian’ funds to or negotiate with?
They use the former for buying weapons and the later for gaining time to plot new attacks.
If they would just say: “There can be no peace until Muslims accept that neither we nor the Israelis will agree to being dominated by Islam.” at least the enemy would know we understand them.
profitsbeard on July 17, 2007 at 1:01 AM
Still waiting for Mid East peace…… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
BadBrad on July 17, 2007 at 8:13 AM
I despise Jack Cafferty but Clueless Condi Rice of the Veil is in way over her head and is increasingly (it seems to me) to be under the influence of her mentor the odious James Baker.
Hilts on July 17, 2007 at 8:41 AM
This reminds me. How does Dick Morris retain any credibility at all?
kmcguire on July 17, 2007 at 9:08 AM
Here’s what Rice has faced:
“You can’t mention that Palestinians are the aggressors, and that if they quit fighting there would be peace with Israel”
(One arm tied behind back)
“You cannot upset policy by declaring who among nations is working against our objectives.”
(Second arm tied behind back)
“And above all else, you must never ever move away from our position that Islam is a religion of peace.”
(Gag in mouth)
How well could you work under these conditions?
I respect Rice as a person, but she would have to be a Superwoman to succeed at the job of SoS. And superwomen don’t exist any more than supermen.
Doug on July 17, 2007 at 1:40 PM