[The Westerner]

It was that very incident that made me queasy on Condi. In an interview she gave shortly thereafter, she smiled and almost giggled as though she had made a triumph of it.

Packing the pieces of the plane in boxes, sending a bill for the mess (which was paid if not in full) and keeping Americans hostage were acts of thuggery. I don't see how Bush and Co. came across as strong throughout that debacle. Certainly not Condolezza Rice. She is a compromiser, whatever postures she takes for Chinese dictators or Palestinian terrorists.

[Orion]

Ask yourself...
If Condi Rice was not black and female, would she have been NSA? Wouldn't an ex-mil officer have more experience in the field?

It just smacks of tokenism. Based on GWB's amnesty program, we know he thinks that way.