Archive for November, 2012

Susan Rice is Bad Choice for Secretary of State–at the Moment

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

When I heard what Ambassador Rice had to say about Benghazi, what she said repeatedly on all those Sunday shows that day, I was startled but I withheld judgement, I figured she knew something I didn’t.  Well, it seems she knew less than did an informed member of the general public.

We need a Secretary of State who doesn’t say stupid things in public, over and over again, just because someone tells her to.  The Benghazi talking points didn’t smell right at the time, and she should have known better.

I have liked Susan Rice, but this is embarrassing, I hope the President picks someone else to succeed Secretary Clinton.

That said, if the President does choose Rice, the Senate should let him have his choice.  Their job in confirming appointees is to veto really bad choices.  Susan Rice is not a really bad choice, just a bad choice.  (John McCain is making a fool of himself here.)

Rice should get on with her life, and once she is best known for something other than this episode, then she can again look for ways to move up.

After the 2008 primary campaign, Hillary Clinton was not smelling like a rose either.  Known for being a wife, short-term senator from an adopted state, and a nasty campaigner, she was not a formidable politician, she might have even lost to John McCain had she been in that race.  But she has paid her dues and is now known as a fine stateswoman: disciplined, seasoned, and hard working.  And what does it get her?  The 2016 nomination–if she wants it (and if nothing goes wrong).  I don’t know what is next for Susan Rice, but now is not the time to find out, better to cool it.

-kb, the Kent who knows no one reads this stuff, but who still likes getting his ideas down, so he can later look back and see what a fool he was (or was not).

P.S.  Why was it reasonable for a tarnished Hillary Clinton to get the Secretary of State job but isn’t for a tarnished Susan Rice?  Because even losing the 2008 primary race, Clinton was still a big deal; being Secretary of State and taking orders from her recent opponent, was not a big promotion for her.  For a 48-year-old UN Ambassador, however, running the State Department is big stuff and a different world.  Just ask John Kerry, who, after being his party’s presidential candidate and serving nearly 30-years in the Senate, is probably stuck in Massachusetts, because the Democrats want to keep Scott Brown out of Washington.

© 2012 by Kent Borg

The Southern Strategy and How the Democrats will Rescue the GOP

Friday, November 16th, 2012

I read a story about how it was the gay vote that pushed Obama over the top. No, other stories say it was single white women. No, it was blacks. No, it was Latinos. No, it was east Asians. No, it as unions.

No, it was all of the above. Had Romney shaved off just one hunk of the Obama coalition, he would be working on his transition right now.

But the GOP is in a pickle and can’t grab any of the Democratic coalition. Because at the very core of the current Republican Party is Nixon’s “southern strategy” of appealing to southern racists. This became a theme with them and the GOP is now defined by what they are against. They oppose: anyone who isn’t white, anyone who isn’t straight, Democrats, abortion, atheism, damn foreigners, uppity women, poor people, cities, science, green-anything, etc. And, they are against government.

They are *for* a left over Norman Rockwell image, particularly if we choose a Rockwell that includes business, guns, and a Bible. That demographic has now shrunk below 50%, and is slowly fading.

The problem with defining a party by being against things is that they can’t open the tent for any of these hated threats without chasing out those already in the tent.

This pickle will vex them for years and years. I don’t see how they can fix it.

Instead, the GOP will regain power when the Democrats mess up enough that people vote for the other party without worrying what that party is. Maybe some third party will get the benefit, but probably it will still be the GOP. Let’s hope the GOP reforms itself into something mostly reasonable by then. For the sake of the USA, don’t pray for the GOP to suffer, pray for their quick recovery.

-kb, the Kent who is still trying to wrap his head around the meaning of the 2012 election.

© 2012 by Kent Borg