Posted on 01/24/2005 11:55:01 AM PST by Mark
Boxer's anti-Rice bombast backfires
By Chris Weinkopf Columnist
Sunday, January 23, 2005 - With an air of resignation, Sen. Barbara Boxer began last week's headline-grabbing outburst at Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearings with an all-too brief nod to reality. "You no doubt will be confirmed," the senator told the secretary of state-designate, thereby conceding that the ensuing performance would serve no practical purpose. Her harangue would be little more than an exercise in self-serving futility, one that would ultimately prove embarrassing - not for Rice, but for Boxer, her party and the state she represents.
Boxer's much-touted "grilling" - which consisted of more than 2,000 words, or nearly four single-spaced pages of written text, and took a full 12 minutes to deliver - didn't include a single question. This wasn't about subjecting a would-be Cabinet secretary to the customary scrutiny. It was about Boxer's attempt to become the public face of the Democratic Party's moonbat wing, an effort that began in earnest a week earlier, when she was the only U.S. senator to vote against certifying President Bush's Electoral College victory.
This was Boxer's moment to shine, or so she thought. That's why her staff hyped the planned attack to the media several days beforehand.
Boxer began her speech by blasting Rice for a remark that the devastating tsunami in South Asia "was a wonderful opportunity for us." No, the senator hectored, "The tsunami was one of the worst tragedies of our lifetime - one of the worst. I was very disappointed in your statement."
Now, no fair-minded person could have possibly concluded that Rice was speaking in favor of tsunamis. Her comment, that America's relief efforts may help to improve the nation's image in that part of the world, came in response to Ohio Sen. George Voinovich's remark that "I think what we're doing in the tsunami right now is wonderful." But Boxer took the phrase grotesquely out of context and assigned it the worst possible meaning - a tactic she would employ throughout the hearings.
So when Boxer accused Rice of saying, in the run-up to the liberation of Iraq, that Saddam Hussein would have nuclear weapons within a year, then later backtracking from that claim, it was up to Rice to politely set the record straight. No, Rice said, she had merely observed that it was possible - although the evidence was sketchy - that he could develop nukes within a year. After all, he had come perilously close once before.
And when Boxer disparaged Rice's credibility for saying al-Qaida's territory had shrunk since the beginning of the War on Terror, even though it now operates in more countries than before, Rice had to explain further: The terrorist network no longer has anywhere to operate freely, as it once did in Afghanistan, as well as in parts of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
All in all, Boxer's assault - her grand plot to demonstrate that Rice's mission "to sell this war overwhelmed (her) respect for the truth" - amounted to little more than a rather petty parsing of words. To make matters worse, when Rice asked Boxer to "refrain from impugning my integrity," Boxer fired back "I'm not" - this after repeatedly portraying the nominee as an unprincipled liar on national TV.
In stark contrast to Boxer's bluster was the genteel statement that fellow California Sen. Dianne Feinstein delivered when introducing Rice to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Feinstein, a Democrat representing the party's civil and responsible wing, acknowledged that she might not agree with Rice on all matters of policy, but could respect her intelligence and sincerity. "The problems we face abroad are complex and sizable," said Feinstein. "If Dr. Rice's past performance is any indication, though, we can rest easy."
Unlike Boxer, Feinstein appreciates that neither side of the aisle has a monopoly on goodwill or decent intentions, and that there's a world of difference between spirited debate and mean-spirited grandstanding.
In the end, among the bipartisan committee's 16 members, Boxer and only one other senator voted against Rice's confirmation. That one other senator, of course, was John Kerry.
This was no banner day for the Democrats. At a time when cooler heads in the party are trying to lay claim to moderation and move away from the Michael Moore crowd, the biggest Moore groupie in all the Senate was stealing the show and the publicity. And it would be hard to dismiss Boxer as the party's black sheep when the very man the party tried to put in the White House just two months earlier was there bah-ing beside her.
But at least Kerry has an excuse. He's embittered, defeated, and still can't figure out whom he needs to be to win. Boxer has no excuse, other than that she hails from a state that's far too tolerant of her foolishness, and where the Republican Party is far too inept to oust her from office.
Chris Weinkopf is the Daily News' editorial-page editor. Write to him by e-mail at chris.weinkopf@dailynews.com.
Byrd and Boxer between the sheets? Now, there's a sight I hope to never have imprinted in my mind! Actually, I really enjoy Boxer's public display of her Tourette's Syndrome.
TOXIC BO(T)OXER...........
We could call this "The Vagina Monologue" ......
Don't spit fire if you don't want to get burnt by the reply.
Boxer is living proof that chemicals are bad for the body and soul.
I heard this crap today. What a joke! She's a victim? I find that laughable. Boxer makes any politician look elegant and statesmenlike by comparison.
LOL - very very funny!
A Black Marine Gunnery Sargent I spoke with said that Boxer's treatment of Rice rang in his ears like, "How dare you turn on the Democratic Party you uppity C*** B****!"
Nope, that was most of california that tossed Davis...he was a loser to people of all parties.
Liberating Iraq was the right thing to do and the world is a better place for Saddam being gone.
That being said, I cannot say that members of the Bush administration were completely upfront with the American people regarding the threat posed by Saddam preceding the war. I think they did see the need to sell this war to the American public and overstated the threat. There is a fine line sometimes between deceiving people and not being upfront. I don't know where on that line they fell - either way it does leave a bad taste in my mouth because I don't fully trust them now.
I can't add anything more.
That threat has been around a long time. Clinton, Clinton's CIA, France, Germany, England, and even John Kerry said the same thing. The war resolution and Bush's speech had many more reasons than mere WMD.
(I hope she continues to show the American people the "moonbat wing" of the Dim party is still in charge of that asylum.)
The USA was way overdue in taking this thug (Saddam) out. It was the right thing to do, and they (Administration) should revel in it.
As far as I am concerned, Syria should be next, and then Iran which will likely collapse internally (with some covert help.) Probably, Israel will take out Syria. It cannot happen soon enough for me.
The North Koreans should also be slammed.
Idiots on the left act as if violence doesn't solve problems. Violence solves everything and we should simply get it over with ASAP.
We are the superpower and we should take advantage of it now before it is too late.
I am not a war monger but it is simply in our best interests and in the interests of posterity to clean up this planet while we still can.
Word to Boxer Shorts, "When you engage in a battle of wits you should have more than an empty head".
Mr. Weinkopf misunderstands Boxer's purpose. She wasn't trying to block Rice's confirmation, she was trying, by making a well-orchestrated gesture at the behest of her superiors, to keep the Democratic Party's far left wing from bailing out en masse and joining the Green Party in disappointment over Kerry's refusal to contest the election.
Yes, but the Republican Party did not try. We are alone out here (northern CA)
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