Obama to appoint Susan Rice as National Security Advisor

[raycarey]

The appointment, which Mr. Obama plans to make on Wednesday afternoon, puts Ms. Rice, 48, an outspoken diplomat and a close political ally, at the heart of the administration’s foreign-policy apparatus.

It is also a defiant gesture to Republicans who harshly criticized Ms. Rice for presenting an erroneous account of the deadly attacks on the American mission in Benghazi, Libya. The post of national security adviser, while powerful, does not require Senate confirmation.

For Ms. Rice, the appointment amounts to redemption after she withdrew from consideration as secretary of state because Republicans threatened to block her nomination over Benghazi.

Mr. Obama steadfastly defended Ms. Rice, and after he nominated John Kerry instead of her, White House officials said she became the front-runner to succeed Mr. Donilon, who has been in the job since October 2010 and had been the principal deputy before that.

A Rhodes Scholar who holds a doctorate in international affairs from Oxford University, Ms. Rice began her government career on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration, later serving as senior director for African affairs from 1995 to 1997.

A foreign policy adviser to then-Senator Obama during his 2008 campaign, Ms. Rice was viewed as a potential national security adviser in his first term. Mr. Obama instead sent her to the United Nations and chose Gen. James L. Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant.

At the United Nations, Ms. Rice earned good reviews for lining up balky members behind sanctions on North Korea and Iran. After Mr. Obama’s re-election, she was seen as a prime candidate to replace Mrs. Clinton. But that was before she appeared on television to discuss the attack in Benghazi, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

Ms. Rice, using talking points drafted by the C.I.A., said the assault appeared to be a protest gone awry rather than a premeditated terrorist attack. That proved incorrect, and though Ms. Rice cautioned that the account could change with further intelligence, Republicans accused her of sanitizing the truth for political reasons.

After withdrawing her name as secretary of state, Ms. Rice returned to the United Nations, where she kept a low profile, immersing herself in issues involving countries like Syria and North Korea. But she has retained the confidence of the White House, playing an influential role in internal debates over questions like whether to arm the rebels in Syria.

“When she speaks,” Mr. Biden said last month, “no one wonders whether or not she is speaking for the president.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/us...agewanted=all&

there is not a thing the obstructionist GOP can do to stop this appointment.

[sabang]

He's publicly rubbing republican nose in the dirt and like more and more of america, flipping them the bird.

[TonyBKK]

Good on ya Obama! Fuck dem Rethuglicans

[Humbert]

He's publicly rubbing republican nose in the dirt and like more and more of america, flipping them the bird.

I suppose Lindsey Graham would be more to your liking.
This whole interminable Benghazi thing is a partisan, political witchhunt conducted by the Republicans. I'm glad he is choosing her. He is doing just fine on foreign policy with or without congressional oversight. It is a presidential perogative to choose one's own staff.

[Albert Shagnastier]

Rice

Good Jewish Name

[mao say dung]

He is doing just fine on foreign policy

In what particular part of the world? I don't think acting as an even more effective poster boy for jihadi recruitment than Bush is part of the job description.

And I'm not sure that going down in history as the POTUS who made it OK for liberal-lefties to support extrajudicial killing as a regularized function of the office is "doing just fine".

I'm open to suggestion though. His continuing popularity among otherwise sane people has me more than baffled.

[sabang]

I suppose Lindsey Graham would be more to your liking.

Definitely. What the USA needs is a good ole' southern white boy to run the NSA, breeds don't cut it. The NSA head absolutely must be a spook, and with the, erm, comfort Lindsey allegedly takes from his fellow mankind, he is an ideally compromised candidate that can be kept in check while in office.

[TonyBKK]

He's publicly rubbing republican nose in the dirt and like more and more of america, flipping them the bird.

I suppose Lindsey Graham would be more to your liking.
This whole interminable Benghazi thing is a partisan, political witchhunt conducted by the Republicans. I'm glad he is choosing her. He is doing just fine on foreign policy with or without congressional oversight. It is a presidential perogative to choose one's own staff.

Aye, it's not like the Rethuglicans have been having much success in their foreign policy endeavors of late...
McCain Sneaks Across Syria Border, Joins Al-Qaeda

[sabang]

^ No wonder they set up a complaints department.

[Boon Mee]

Yeah. A real someone with the credibility the position deserves, eh?

A real in-your-face appointment.

So much for that 'reaching across the isle' thing.

Heh...the gloves are well & truly off now for the next 3.5 years. Should be interesting to observe!

Susan 'You Tube' Rice indeed...

[Humbert]

Definitely. What the USA needs is a good ole' southern white boy to run the NSA, breeds don't cut it. The NSA head absolutely must be a spook, and with the, erm, comfort Lindsey allegedly takes from his fellow mankind, he is an ideally compromised candidate that can be kept in check while in office.
__________________

I think you may have confused National Security Agency with Susan Rice's role as the presidents national security advisor. Susan Rice has not been appointed head of the NSA.

[Boon Mee]

I suppose Lindsey Graham would be more to your liking.

Definitely. What the USA needs is a good ole' southern white boy to run the NSA, breeds don't cut it. The NSA head absolutely must be a spook, and with the, erm, comfort Lindsey allegedly takes from his fellow mankind, he is an ideally compromised candidate that can be kept in check while in office.

Good herb over there in Issan these days, eh?

[TonyBKK]

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

When Republicans blocked President Obama's effort to appoint Susan Rice as secretary of state they probably never imagined that they would inadvertently allow the president to bring her into the innermost ring of power, in a role that requires no congressional confirmation.

President Obama's appointment of Susan Rice to National Security Advisor is payback for her loyalty, and a thumb in the eyes of her Republican critics.

Well played!

[Humbert]

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

They are really going to become unhinged when Harry Reid uses the nuclear option to override their filibustering of federal court vacancy confirmations.

[Storekeeper]

Definitely. What the USA needs is a good ole' southern white boy to run the NSA, breeds don't cut it. The NSA head absolutely must be a spook, and with the, erm, comfort Lindsey allegedly takes from his fellow mankind, he is an ideally compromised candidate that can be kept in check while in office.
__________________

I think you may have confused National Security Agency with Susan Rice's role as the presidents national security advisor. Susan Rice has not been appointed head of the NSA.

Wasn't General Jones the first to be national security advisor under Obama? Remind me why he resigned? I'm cool with the rub it in their noses appointment but I'm not sure what qualifies her for such an important appointment. It's not often but sometimes BHO does some stupid shit.

[raycarey]

what reid is proposing is not what has been traditionally referred to as the 'nuclear option'.

the republicans are trying to convince people that it is, but it's not.

[Norton]

I'm not sure what qualifies her for such an important appointment.

Her credentials are nothing to be scoffed at. Credentials aside, she is a good soldier. Follows orders well. Always important consideration when the boss makes job appointments.

[Storekeeper]

I'm not sure what qualifies her for such an important appointment.

Her credentials are nothing to be scoffed at. Credentials aside, she is a good soldier. Follows orders well. Always important consideration when the boss makes job appointments.

Just read her bio on wiki ... Nothing extraordinary really ... Stanford graduate ... Oxford ... PhD in Philosophy. Foreign experience mostly in Africa ... Nothing in the ME. Kinda sorta has the resume of a life long civil servant.

I take this appointment simply as a reward for loyal performance and rubbing it in the noses of the Republicans. Nothing wrong with that I suppose.

[Boon Mee]

I'm not sure what qualifies her for such an important appointment.

Her credentials are nothing to be scoffed at. Credentials aside, she is a good soldier. Follows orders well. Always important consideration when the boss makes job appointments.

Indeed.

I think she's Hot!

[slackula]

but I'm not sure what qualifies her for such an important appointment

Condi Rice got the job and she was an expert on a country that had collapsed a decade before.

[Boon Mee]

but I'm not sure what qualifies her for such an important appointment

Condi Rice got the job and she was an expert on a country that had collapsed a decade before.

And she was/is a good piano player too.

[mao say dung]

I went through a difficult few months where every time I saw a picture of Condi I got a raging boner.

Thankfully, it passed.

[Boon Mee]

I went through a difficult few months where every time I saw a picture of Condi I got a raging boner.

Thankfully, it passed.

Ms. Rice surpasses Condi on the 'Hot' scale IMO.

[mao say dung]

^Agree she's better looking in a conventional sort of way, but the raging boner has reasons all its own. I had no say in it.

[Boon Mee]

^Agree she's better looking in a conventional sort of way, but the raging boner has reasons all its own. I had no say in it.

Like Morning Wood...