Condi Rice Can't Really Name Any Obama Foreign Policy Failures, Except Maybe Bowing

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is quite certain that Mitt Romney would be a much better foreign policy president than that Barack Obama guy. On CBS's Morning Show yesterday, host Norah O'Donnell asked Rice to identify specific foreign policy things that Obama had failed at, but she politely dodged the question and said she would rather talk about how a Romney foreign policy would be better, because it would be different in many important regards, somehow, which she also could not quite specify. Except that maybe Obama has had the "mute" button on America's foreign policy voice, because Obama forgot to watch for the end of the commercial and the show came back on:

O’DONNELL: Can you be specific about somewhere where you think President Obama has failed on foreign policy?

RICE: What we should do tonight, is talk about what a President Romney would mean for America. It’s not a time to look back, it’s a time to look forward. We have real challenges out there, in the Middle East, in Asia, in Europe, with our allies.

O’DONNELL: But if President Obama isn’t doing anything wrong, then why change things?

RICE: It’s a question of what a President Romney would do and there is no doubt that the United States’ voice has been muted and when the United States’ voice is muted the world is a more dangerous place.

Rice then went on to explain that a Romney administration would be just as hamstrung by the Syrian crisis as the Obama administration has been, because what can you do when the Russians and Chinese are blocking every effort in the UN? But Romney would probably be more resolute, somehow. Also, no bowing, and even if he holds hands with the Saudi King, Romney would definitely not let him get to second base, probably.

Fortunately, by the time of her actual speech at the RNC Convention, Rice had in fact discovered an enormous foreign-policy shortcoming on Obama's part:

In the last years, the United States has ratified three trade agreements, all negotiated in the Bush Administration. If you are concerned about China’s rise – consider this fact – China has signed 15 Free Trade Agreements and is negotiating 20 more. Sadly we are abandoning the playing field of free trade – and it will come back to haunt us.

We certainly hope that wingnut bloggers will note how Condoleezza Rice is calling on America to be more like Communist China. 

Also, too, it's always somewhat suspenseful to hear Condi Rice talking on the Teevee, because of that little quavery thing in her voice where, when she tries to make a really serious point, she sounds like she is just on the verge of bursting into tears. What is that about, anyway?

[ ThinkProgress / Politico ]