Interest in Russia High Over Arrival of Condoleeza Rice

[chlamor]

American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived yesterday in Moscow. She said that it was her clear intention to discuss nuclear safety and the respect of democracy. A bomb scare at the hotel she was to visit forced a change in her schedule.

In Russia, she is called the "Black Panther."  Recently, the Muscovite newspapers discovered that in the United States, Condoleezza Rice is called the "Steel Magnolia" because this variety of tulip symbolizes the Southern States. The press likes to compare the chief of U.S. diplomacy to the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Ioulia Timochenko. In this comparison, Condi, whose astonishing avant-garde clothing is the constant butt of jokes, clearly outdistances the dames of the "Orange Revolution."

Ioulia Timochenko was planning to visit Moscow from April 16 to 17, but she pulled out due to a "schedule conflict." At least that was the officially called-upon pretext. The Russians laughed. They cannot even imagine the American secretary of state exhibiting such "frivolous" behavior. For them , Condoleezza Rice is a prototype of the professional political woman. All the daily newspapers yesterday devoted a significant place to Condy's first official visit to Russia, recalling that she was a famous Sovietologist and that she speaks Russian perfectly.

Relations between the United States and Russia have never been simple. They worsened over the elections in Ukraine and Iraq, Russia's assistance in developing Iran's nuclear program, and a number of other issues where Moscow and Washington find themselves with opposing points of view. At the meeting between Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush in Bratislava last February, message that the Kremlin had not learned the "lessons of democracy" was received with difficulty. Nevertheless, the visit of Condoleezza Rice is perceived as a sign of relaxation in Moscow. The secretary of state will be more positively predisposed toward Russia than her predecessor Colin Powell, because she knows the country better.

http://www.watchingamerica.com/lefigaro000020.html

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. They just want to settle bets about whether her veins actually stand out

when she's incensed.

[onehandle]

2. Russia has that much oil?

Is she arranging to sell them her old tanker?

What lies is she telling them?

Lies and Oil. What else could she possibly offer?

[NYC]

3. Condi = constant butt of jokes.

...In this comparison, Condi, whose astonishing avant-garde clothing is the constant butt of jokes, clearly outdistances the dames of the "Orange Revolution."...

We do make a good impression around the world, don't we?

[thebigidea]

4. "astonishing avant-garde clothing?" - she wores those boots what, once?

[susu369]

5. Speaks Russian perfectly? Perhaps not -

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=8235643