JUST A LITTLE IS TOO MUCH SILLY SUSAN RICE

DATELINE: Sillyville, Feb 25 – Susan Rice caused another dust-up in her appearance on NBC’s Meet The Press the other day. When asked about her Benghazi Sunday talk show tour de farce in September 2012, she said she had no regrets.

Her response has upset a lot of people, but the fact is, this time at least, she’s telling the truth. After all, her performance five days after the massacre earned her a hefty promotion to National Security Advisor. Regrets? I guess not.

But, Silly Susan made at least one statement on Sunday about the current situation in the Ukraine that should upset people. When the moderator asked her if Russian President Vladimir Putin views the conflict as a return to the Cold War, she replied:

“He may. But if he does, that’s a pretty dated perspective that doesn’t reflect where the people of Ukraine are coming from.”

Dated perspective? Not where the people are coming from? Later in the interview, Rice, without any elaboration, referred to the Cold War “Construct” as long out of date and inconsistent with 21st Century realities.

The best that Rice supporters can say about her response to the Cold War question is that it was a non-answer. She just wandered into pop babble fantasyland. But, pop babble nonsense is not the insightful observations that we expect from our National Security Advisor.

Putin grew up during the height of the Cold War. He is the former head of the KGB. He is a stronger presence on the world stage than our current President is ever likely to be. It is Putin, not the Ukrainian people, who will determine whether the region has returned to chillier days. However events play out in the Ukraine, Putin will be the one calling the shots.

No one is asking Susan to be that straightforward, of course. But, how about an intelligent historical assessment of the region? Educate her audience on the basic issues motivating the uprising. Put the situation in the larger context of competing world interests. Say something that makes people believe she actually knows where in the world the Ukraine is.

Listening to Rice makes me long for a good Hillary Clinton interview. Don’t get me wrong. Hillary is far from my fav list. But, regardless of your political views, you have to admit she is one smart lady. When she responds to an interviewer, she raises the IQ level in the room markedly.

But, competent politicians are the exception these days. We’ve simply become too accustomed to, and accepting of, lesser minds, which brings Susan to mind. That woman speaks with the too placid expression of a dullard. Or maybe it’s just the unnatural look of someone who has practiced fibbing too often in front of the mirror. Whatever, when the sound comes out, brains spasm from sea to shining sea.