BBQ Tips: You Can't "Grill" Rice

National Security Advisor and Bush tail wagger Condi Rice will be facing the Senate today, where news sources say she expects to be "grilled" prior to her confirmation as Dear Leader's new Secretary of State. You may remember that Barbara Boxer has sworn that she will be "asking the tough questions" when Rice comes up for confirmation. Now her opportunity is coming up to do so. I hope that a number of you had a chance to sign her petition to take forth in this effort. Among a field of apparently spineless Senate Democrats, Boxer is looking more and more like the lone medieval knight, sitting astride her charger, ready to face down the dragon in what seems to be a hopeless battle.

It looks as if some of the Washingtonians are making a bit more of this confirmation hearing than it deserves:

Some also say Rice may be too close to President Bush to be an effective Cabinet secretary -- unlike outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has been seen as a moderating influence.

"When you look at a secretary of defense who has been as forceful and effective as Donald Rumsfeld, for good or for ill, he's a tough customer," said Susan Rice, a former adviser to Sen. John Kerry's failed presidential campaign.

"She'll have to show whether she has the stuff to stand up and fight."

Where on Earth are these people getting the idea that Dubya is interested in having somebody in the cabinet who has any desire to "stand up and fight" or even express their own opinions? I think Christie Whitman should be a good enough example of what happens to cabinet members who do that. If Bush wanted somebody with a spine or even a slightly different voice to give input on important policy decisions, Powell wouldn't be leaving. Rice is going to take notes, dot the i's and cross the t's, and march forth to spread Bush's propaganda to the rest of the world without a thought of her own in her head. That's just how Bush wants it, and the leaders of the rest of the world had best prepare for it.