Last Tango In Paris -Hope This is Not a Re-post

[BrklynLiberal]

February 9, 2005 | 5:58 p.m. ET

Last tango in Paris (David Shuster)

I am a fan of Condoleeza Rice. I think she is smart and politically gifted. And I agree with those in the White House who say that the Secretary of State is an example of just how far our nation has come on issues of gender and race.

The many talents and skills of Dr. Rice make me all the more befuddled and frustrated over what happened yesterday in France. Dr. Rice stepped into the Institute of Political Sciences, an elite school in the heart of Paris, and responded to questions and questioners who were vetted by the school and by the state department in advance. That's right! America's top diplomat was unable or unwilling to talk on her feet and face anything that was unscripted.

A state department official said the U.S. embassy had asked the school to vet five people/questions. And what do you know? Rice took a total of five questions. As the Washington Post reports, "Like the questions, access to the hall was controlled. Of 500 seats, only 150 went to the school's students and staff. Another 150 were given to French opinion leaders and government officials. Fifty went to American organizations and etc. Meanwhile, scores of students from the school were kept well away from the session. Several complained of being pushed back by police."

The controls clamped down on the Secretary of State's "interaction" with French students are even more embarassing when you consider what Dr. Rice said in her speech. "History is made by men and women of conviction, of commitment and of courage, who will not let their dreams be denied." But there was Dr. Rice, denying a free exchange between the Bush administration and a bunch of French college students. What exactly is the administration afraid of? Men and women of conviction? That the French students will ask annoying questions? So what?

Dr. Rice is perfectly capable of disagreeing with somebody without being disagreeable herself. The Secretary of State went on to say, "We care deeply about one another. We respect each other. We are strong." Huh? By refusing to stand up in public to a bunch of French teenagers, "strong" is not what comes to mind.

Furthermore, regardless of whether we really respect the French or whether they respect us, "self respect" requires standing tall, and confidently answering our critics directly. If a bunch of French students are too much of a public challenge for an American Secretary of State... we've got bigger problems than you might think.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/

[leveymg]

1. None Arrested?Treated Better than Americans Who've Tried to Ask Questions.

Gosh, I wish all our police did was a little shoving at demos.

Bushco is, as the French would say, sans civite.

[peacetalksforall]

2. She is going to sink into the earth by the weight of her lies.

[pfitz59]

3. She speaks in a quavering voice.........

Uttering falsehoods and bland pronouncements with evident disdain for her listeners. Perfect Bush* front.....