On Monday, a group of Republican members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama suggesting that Susan Rice, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, would be an unfit choice for secretary of State. It is widely speculated that Obama will appoint her to this position during his second term. The concerned GOP representatives attacked Ambassador Rice after she appeared, as a surrogate for Secretary Hillary Clinton, on various news programs to discuss the September tragedy in Benghazi.
Their letter declared that these interviews “caused irreparable damage to her credibility both at home and around the world” and that Rice is widely viewed as “having either willfully or incompetently misled the American public in the Benghazi matter.”
Conveniently, the signatories failed to include specifics–such as who now finds Rice to be less credible, other than themselves. Did Rice lose so much credibility that her decades of dedication, experience and excellence are now void? Of this partisan group of legislators raising objections, none holds a particularly prominent leadership position, it might be pointed out.
The ambassador did not speak out of carefully crafted deception or incompetence, she spoke honestly and dutifully from the remarks prepared by the CIA regarding a situation that was, and is, ever-evolving.
Despite the release of these talking points, whose purpose now appears justified, and a statement from the president maintaining that Ambassador Rice was not to blame, many Republicans continue their unwarranted attack. Isn’t there a looming fiscal cliff that Congress should be focusing on? An economy in peril that is hindering the goals and standards of living for all Americans?
It seems clear that such efforts to derail a woman in the midst of a decorated career are time-wasting. It would be unwise for Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham to filibuster her potential nomination. These attacks are purely political and unproductive, meant to slam President Obama. The election is over, and we must now be unified on foreign policy, especially following these tragic events in Libya.