As Condi Rice shows, it takes a Village all right, just not the kind Hillary Clinton had in mind

Early word has it that La Condi's book is even better than the G. W. Bush administration tell-little books by Chimpy himself, Donald Rumsfeld, "Big Dick" Cheney, and Hank Paulson. Wow!

by Ken

Oh, those Village people! The Village of D.C. is of course more a spiritual place than an actual geographical location, and as the item from Al Kamen's Washington Post "In the Loop" column yesterday called "Names were dropped" shows, the boundaries can stretch all the way to the West Coast.

Al refers us to the “'exclusive excerpt' last week in the Daily Beast" from "what we’ve been told -- our review copy must have gotten lost in the mail -- is an excellent memoir of [Condoleezza Rice's] time as national security adviser and secretary of state during the George W. Bush administration," noting that

my Post colleague Glenn Kessler colleague wrote Tuesday that “No Higher Honor” is “the first serious memoir of the Bush presidency” — thus cavalierly dismissing a quartet of tomes by Bush himself, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Hank Paulson. Indeed, the first three — haven’t read Paulson’s — were largely self-justifying ruminations of the authors’ excellent performance in office.

Rice’s, on the other hand, despite some flaws, is reported to be a much more candid assessment of her eight years at the very top of the foreign policy decision-making world during the Bush presidency. Serious policy wonks will find much to ponder.

Al reports on the excerpt's account of "the late dictator Moammar Gaddafi’s obsession with [Condi] and her 2008 meeting with him, which she labels 'historic.'" But he's most intrigued by

an odd digression in which she writes that she stopped in Portugal en route to Tripoli. The purpose of the stop, which goes unmentioned, was to try to get Portugal to agree to take some of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Rice writes that she also asked the Portuguese foreign minister for advice on how to handle the wacky dictator.

Most curiously, she tells us she was “staying with my friends Ambassador Thomas Stephenson and his wife, Barbara.” (Stephenson was a venture capitalist and major Bush donor.) An oddly extraneous detail. Seems almost a private shout-out to some pals, or maybe a product placement in a movie. [That's Mrs. S in the picture. -- Ed.]

The Daily Beast, apparently without realizing it, gives a clue by quickly following the Gaddafi encounter excerpt with a brief bio of Rice, not in the book itself, that says she “is the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution” at Stanford University. That’s also the job she had before she became national security adviser.

Oh. That Thomas and Barbara Stephenson.

Just a small reminder of how these folks really do take care of one another.

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Muammar G likes "Leeza" R, all foreign dictators love the Cheneys, and Chimpy got hisself a calf-and-foot massager!

What do you give the crackpot despot who has everything? Certainly not diamonds. How 'bout a lovely DOS dinner plate?

Our pal Al Kamen has been rummaging around the State Dept's latest annual foreign-gifts list for today's Washington Post "In the Loop" column, and among other things has discovered that Libyan President Muammar Gadaffi apparently has a thing for a certain former U.S. secretary of state. No word from "Leeza" as to whether wedding bells might be in the offing.--Ken

Libyan dictator Moammar Gadaffi, a somewhat eccentric fellow, was clearly bewitched by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whom he had taken to calling "Leeza."

So when Rice visited him in Tripoli in September, the two had a private dinner in a small kitchen in his personal quarters, in an area where only women are allowed (except, of course, the leader himself).

Gaddafi gave her several gifts, our colleague Glenn Kessler reported at the time, including a diamond ring in a wooden box, a lute, and a locket with a photo of the leader himself inside. He also gave her a signed copy of his manifesto, "The Green Book," signed "with respect and admiration." There was also a DVD -- probably starring him.

Last week, in the State Department's annual compilation of gifts from foreign officials, we find out that the value of what Rice got from the lovestruck Gaddafi -- as appraised by State Department officials -- was $212,225. Must have been one huge rock.

Rice was obliged to accept the gift; this must be done, according to protocol rules, when "non-acceptance would cause embarrassment to the donor and U.S. government." Alas, she was also obliged to turn it in to the appraisers. If it is determined a gift is worth a minimal amount -- around $200 -- the government recipient may keep it.

If it's worth more, the official may buy it for the appraised value or it is handed over to the General Services Administration. The annual report says that the diamond and, sadly, the locket with his picture, are headed to the GSA.

And what did Rice give Gaddafi in return? A plate adorned with the Great Seal of the United States and her robo-pen signature. Gaddafi told her he thought it was lovely. A plate? What? If he's good and she returns seven more times, he has a full service? This from the world's only remaining superpower to our best buddy in North Africa?

Times surely are tough. A small plate with a seal, though unsigned, goes for $39.95 at the State Department gift shop.

Gaddafi's largess was, as would be expected, outdone by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who showered close to $1 million on U.S. officials in 2008. His Highness gave Rice a "gold, diamond and sapphire set with necklace, ring, bracelet and earrings" as well as a "ceremonial robe." Value: $230,145.

But not all gifts are lavish.

Some can be a bit quirky, like a Singapore official's gift to President George W. Bush of a "Creative Zen MP3 Player and an OSIM uSqueez Calf and Foot Massager."

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko gave Vice President Richard B. Cheney and his wife, Lynne, "Two bottles of 1940 Massandra Golden Collection Wine" the gift list says, noting these, like any perishable gifts, are "handled pursuant to U.S. Service policy." (Bet the wine tasted really good.)

Yushchenko also gave Lynne Cheney "Three Ukrainian cookbooks," valued at $90, which she kept. And he gave the Cheney daughters and grandkids seven Ukrainian children's books, six plush stuffed animals, three girls' blouses, three boys' shirts, and a "wooden toy cart with horses," which they kept.

Even King Abdullah can get practical. He gave Lynne Cheney "two pairs of Dr. Scholl's high-heeled clogs," valued at $450. She declined. He gave daughter Liz Cheney (who was doubling as a deputy assistant secretary of state at the time) three pairs of those high-heeled clogs.

Nothing that many of the GSA-bound gifts "go on display or are used in government buildings," Al suggests, "Maybe we can auction them off to help pay for Obama's health-care plan?" (There's no indication whether the uSqueez foot-and-calf massager found its way to the GSA. Our research indicates that the list price on this baby -- not to be confused with the $100-cheaper iSqueez model -- is $499, but surely that would have been a small price for Chimpy the then-Prez to pay to tickle those delicate tootsies.)

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Paul Ryan Throws A Poisoned T-Bone Towards The Blue Dogs

John Spratt (D-SC) has long been considered a decent moderate and a budget hawk. Unlike the Republican party-line rubber stamps, he believes the emergency our economy is experiencing now-- after 8 years of GOP governance and bankster looting-- means that he'll have to loosen up on the hawkishness. The ranking Republican on Spratt's committee is Wisconsin wingnut Paul Ryan. Ryan is also a budget hawk-- or at least he has turned into one now that Bush is no longer handing out tax cuts for billionaires and promulgating the most catastrophic economic and financial policies since the 3 Bush-like presidents of the 1920s. The difference between Ryan and a sane-- and consistent--legislator can be summed up by a statement from California Republican, state Senator Abel Maldonado who told the Santa Barbara Independent that his fellow Republicans "urged him to withhold his vote so that the stalemate would bankrupt California... It was ‘Abel-- let it go into bankruptcy, let it go off a cliff, we need to prove a point, that it’s the majority’s fault.’”

Maldonado has been excoriated for his vote on the budget by doctrinaire, anti-tax Republicans [Ryan type Republicans] because it includes $15 billion in higher taxes. Although a right-wing recall effort against him fizzled, the California Republican Party voted formally to deny him financial or any other political support. And most other Sacramento Republicans are giving him the cold shoulder.

Last month’s GOP convention was nasty, he said. “It wasn’t pretty,” he added. “There was a lot of shouting and a lot of insults. People were yelling at me, calling me a sell-out and stuff like that. I took my wife and maybe I shouldn’t have.”

..."I regret signing” the pledge, he said. “I regret not having a couple of words added-- ‘unless there’s an emergency.’ We have a fiscal emergency in our state. People want ideas and solutions, not political positions.”

Ahhh... "ideas and solutions, not positions." He's in the wrong party. Paul Ryan speaks for Republican obstructionism on all matters budgetary. And he's all about the hackneyed old right-wing nostrums that have laid our country low. That and... political positions. Yesterday at the Budget Committee markup of Obama's spending plans-- in effect his policy agenda-- Ryan reached out, quite eloquently, albeit disingenuously, to Blue Dogs and asked them to join him sabotaging President Obama's rescue plans and staying with Bush-Cheney economics. Even the Blue Dogs aren't-- well, most of them; I'm not counting the congenitally stoopid ones like Bobby Bright (AL) or the hopelessly reactionary ones like Walt Minnick (ID) and Heath Shuler (NC)-- lame enough to buy into Ryan's sophomoric and transparent partisanship. While you watch Ryan spreading his smooth GOP venom below, please consider making a contribution to StopPaulRyan.



Tuesday night Condoleezza Rice said something to the American people that knee-jerk obstructionists like Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan should have listened to carefully:

"My view is we got to do it our way; we did our best. We did some things well, some things not so well. Now, they get their chance. And I agree with the president [Bush]. We owe them our loyalty and our silence while they do it. Because I know what it's like to have people chirping at you when they perhaps don't know what's going on inside. These are quality people. I know them. They love the country. And they won't make the same decisions, perhaps, that we did. But I believe they'll do what they think is best for the country..."

Despite Ryan's dramatics, the House Budget Committee voted to send the president's budget to the full House, all 24 Democrats voting yes, including Blue Dogs Allen Boyd (FL), Dennis Moore (KS), Marion Berry (AR), and even Jim Cooper (TN), and every single Republican, led by Ryan, voting to obstruct. Ryan tried disparaging it by likening it to the New Deal, something dittoheads and extreme right partisans hate but almost all Americans love and admire. In voting "yes," Marion Berry, a lifelong budget hawk, said "We hadn't heard a president in 8 years say the word 'infrastructure.' It is such a relief to have a president that understands that if you don't make the necessary investments in education and infrastructure, no matter what else happens you have absolutely no reason to expect that anything is going to get any better."

GOP House Chief Obstructionist Boehner popped out of his tanning booth long enough to fellate some lobbyists and slam the door on the paws of the very Blue Dogs the hapless Ryan was trying to woo. "To chuckles from the assembled lobbyists, Boehner called the Blue Dogs 'lap dogs' and said they refuse 'to get off people’s laps and actually do something.'”


UPDATE: Ryan Admits He's A Clown

Last week he did something he had never ever, ever thought he would do-- he voted against the rich, corrupt banksters who have completely financed his disgraceful political career. In a move that shocked everyone who knows what a sleazebag Ryan (R-WI- $1,555,321) he joined most House members, including half the Republicans, to vote for a tax to get back the hundreds of millions of dollars in government funds allocated as bonuses for AIG and other bankrupt companies on the dole. Now he's telling the rich banksters who make it possible for such a worthless shill to prosper as a politician that he's sorry... and he'll never do it again. He's says he was confused and blame sit on the Democrats, but that the banksters were naughty boys for handing out the bonuses which he termed "completely ridiculous. They rewarded failure." But if he had it to do all over again he wouldn't vote for it. In other words, he wants his cake and to eat it too, except it isn't cake; it's hundreds of thousands of dollars in legalized bribes from banksters per election cycle.

Ryan and party Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) voted for the legislation while Republican Leader John A. Boehner and the bulk of the party's conservative wing voted against it.

Ryan said he "wanted to send a message" to the companies that received bailout money.

But that vote last week stands in stark contrast to one late last fall when Ryan, Cantor, Boehner and others granted the administration approval to spend $700 billion to buy troubled mortgage-related securities. Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson quickly retooled the program to directly inject money into banks and other struggling financial institutions — an audible that caused heartburn for members on both sides of the aisle.

"I voted for TARP initially because I thought we were on the brink of a crisis," Ryan said.

Reminder: StopPaulRyan.

CONDI AND CARTER IN THE MIDDLE EAST

So while one of the unindicted crimes-against-humanity-Principals, Condoleezza Rice, tries goading Muqtada al-Sadr into all out war, it looks like another American may have made a breakthrough in a foreign policy goal the Bush Regime has given only lip service: peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.

Rice, in the Iraqi capital to tout security gains and what she calls an emerging political consensus, said al-Sadr is content to issue threats and edicts from the safety of Iran, where he is studying. Al-Sadr heads an unruly militia that was the main target of an Iraqi government assault in the oil-rich city of Basra last month, and his future role as a spoiler is an open question.

"I know he's sitting in Iran," Rice said dismissively, when asked about al-Sadr's latest threat to lift a self-imposed cease-fire with government and U.S. forces. "I guess it's all-out war for anybody but him," Rice said. "I guess that's the message; his followers can go too their deaths and he's in Iran."

Kind of like hiding out in... DC. I guess Condi didn't learn any lessons from Bush's stupid and disastrous "Bring 'em on" comments, proving, once again, that the fish rots from the head.

Meanwhile, CNN is reporting that Jimmy Carter, who, predictably, has been viciously attacked by American war-mongers on the far right, says Hamas is prepared to accept negotiated peace with Israel. The Associated Press is reporting the details of Carter's statement.

Former President Carter said Monday that Hamas — the Islamic militant group that has called for the destruction of Israel — is prepared to accept the right of the Jewish state to "live as a neighbor next door in peace."

But Carter warned that there would not be peace if Israel and the U.S. continue to shut out Hamas and its main backer, Syria.

The Democratic former president relayed the message in a speech in Jerusalem after meeting last week with top Hamas leaders in Syria. It capped a nine-day visit to the Mideast aimed at breaking the deadlock between Israel and Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip.

"They (Hamas) said that they would accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, if approved by Palestinians and that they would accept the right of Israel to live as a neighbor next door in peace," Carter said.

The borders he referred to were the frontiers that existed before Israel captured large swaths of Arab lands in the 1967 Mideast war-- including the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza.
In the past, Hamas officials have said they would establish a "peace in stages" if Israel were to withdraw to the borders it held before 1967. But it has been evasive about how it sees the final borders of a Palestinian state and has not abandoned its official call for Israel's destruction.

Extremists in Israel and the U.S. Bible Belt oppose returning to the 1967 border and oppose talking with Hamas. The written statement Carter brought back from the Hamas leader read: "'If President Abbas succeeds in negotiating a final status agreement with Israel, Hamas will accept the decision made by the Palestinian people and their will in a referendum monitored by international observers ... even if Hamas is opposed to the agreement."

Although American Hate Talk Radio and the rest of the lunatic fringe of the right wing noise machine are reporting that no Israeli's would meet with Carter, the peacemaking ex-president did meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Eli Yishai, one of several deputy prime ministers. "Peres scolded Carter for meeting with Hamas but Yishai, of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, said he was willing to meet with Hamas leaders to discuss a prisoner exchange."

CONDOLEEZZA RICE SHOULD RESIGN-- BUT NOT TO BE McBUSH'S RUNNING MATE

Hopefully everyone who reads DWT, if not everyone in the country, is now aware that Condoleezza Rice was one of the high ranking Bush Regime officials who specifically went over specific torture methods... and approved them. All the while she was telling the American people and the world community that "we" would never condone or allow or approve torture, She is no longer fit-- if she ever was-- to represent this nation. It is a disgrace that she stay on as Secretary of State for even one more hour. When she was first confirmed as Secretary of State 13 Democrats-- and, of course, all of the rubber stamp Republicans-- voted for her. Perhaps those 13 Democrats should go have a talk with her. Perhaps Clinton, Obama, Reid, Biden, Feinstein, Rockefeller, all Democrats who say they really oppose torture (but who voted with the GOP to confirm her), should lead the delegation.

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