Saying something

What if you were a well-accomplished and educated person like Condoleezza Rice and the people who are paying you to run the United States Department of State accused you of gross mismanagement? Would you be angry, depressed, frustrated? Hopefully, all three. Condi was forced to face angry House Democrats yesterday to answer pointed questions about this country's conduct in Iraq. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that sponsored the hearings, said "I think there was a huge gap between what she said and reality." Ouch. That would anger anyone, especially someone like Condi. But she deserves it. Who is making all the diplomatic mistakes for the Bush administration? Is the president making all these wrong foreign policy calls? Not likely. He's already over his head on children's health insurance. No, the foreign policy guru must be Condi, with all of her doctoral and graduate degrees and university teaching positions, and fault for the stupid mistakes must belong to her and George W. Bush, for accepting her counsel despite the continuing decline in American fortunes abroad. Hmm, is a subtle pattern beginning to emerge? This sounds a lot like what happened to Alberto Gonzales, the obviously overwhelmed attorney general who Bush supported blindly even as the U.S. Justice Department lost all credibility. Is it time for Rice to hang it up or be canned, before she does to the rest of the Middle East what she's already done to the fertile crescent?