Do No Harm

I have been of the opinion that Condoleezza Rice was a fairly ineffectual Secretary of State ... certainly when compared to the likes of Jim Baker under George Bush, 41  Although I admire this woman greatly ... for no other reason than her profound revelation that "slavery was America's birth defect" ... I thought her tenure under George Bush, 43 was marked by little real progress in international affairs.  That is, until I see what a real bull-in-a-china-shop Secretary of State like Hillary Clinton can do.  She has clearly set back the United States's position in the world ... something on the magnitude of what our National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, did under President Carter.  Admittedly, Hillary has not done this on her own.  She has had a willing co-conspirator in her boss, The Barry.  But nevertheless, Ms. Clinton has made such a dog's breakfast of our foreign policy that I have been forced to rethink my evaluation of Ms. Rice in this role.

I have concluded that Secretaries of State should behave a lot like doctors and, at the very least, "do no harm."  And I believe that Condoleezza Rice left her post at Foggy Bottom without degrading our position in the world one iota ... no mean feat.  So, my belated hazzahs to Condi.