Condoleezza Rice

With Bluewater Comics quickly gaining a reputation as the Biography Channel of the comics industry, it is fortunate that as its brand-name recognition and sales have increased, so has the quality of its biographical books. "Condoleezza Rice" is a case in point. Not only did Bluewater luck out by having its subject making headlines again regarding Afghanistan around the time the book hit shelves, but the company also was fortunate to have chosen writer Chris Ward to chronicle the life story of our first female African-American secretary of state.

President-elect Bush's new foreign-policy team was on view this week in Washington, and it was a fascinating show. Whether or not you agree with their views, Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell and upcoming national security adviser Condoleezza Rice certainly grab your attention. Both are highly talented, disciplined, charismatic and very skilled public performers, with the kind of star quality one expects more from political candidates than from appointed officials.

George W. Bush warned potential enemies yesterday not to mistake this nation's unresolved presidential election for an opportunity to act against America. "I would warn them not to," Bush told reporters here. "I have all the confidence in the world that the Clinton administration and the next administration, which I hope is the Bush administration, will do whatever it takes to send a chilling signal to terrorists that we'll protect our property and our people. " Bush spoke as cameras rolled during his visit with Condoleezza Rice, whom he is expected to appoint as his national security adviser.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who once dreamed of becoming a concert pianist, has been performing in public since age 4. Now she is preparing for the role of a lifetime. The soft-spoken foreign-policy expert will serve as President Bush's chief defender Thursday in a televised appearance before the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Her mission is to rebut allegations that Bush failed to deal with the terrorist threat before Sept. 11, but her own reputation is also on the line.

9 p.m. HISTORY Top Bush administration officials weigh in on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, including Condoleezza Rice (right), national security adviser at the time, who recalls a heated phone conversation with President Bush after the first attacks.

Condoleezza Rice won endorsement as secretary of state from a Senate panel yesterday, assuring skeptical Democrats that she welcomed debate about the nation's foreign- policy course and wouldn't sugarcoat advice to President Bush. In her second day of testimony, Rice acknowledged for the first time that the Bush administration made some bad decisions in Iraq, but insisted that removing Saddam Hussein from power was the best chance to open a new, more peaceful chapter in the Middle East.

IT'S AMAZING! The Iraqi government releases video of Saddam being interrogated. I can only assume that this interrogation happened a looooong time ago because, the last time I checked, we had invented sound to go along with moving images. Now I knew Saddam was old, but not THAT old! Even more amazing? No one has asked why there wasn't any sound! I've yet to read an explanation as to why, in this day and age, they decide to put out a "Silent Saddam Movie. " Oh, but he's rundown, he's wringing his hands, he's worried, etc. - but apparently he said something that someone didn't like.

So it turns out that Erwin Chemerinsky is going west, after all. Last week, citing the Duke professor's "controversial" public positions, the University of California, Irvine, withdrew an offer to make him dean of its new law school. But it reinstated the offer after a firestorm of protest, including a letter signed by hundreds of faculty members. That's exactly as it should be. As the letter noted, "unacceptable ideological considerations" clearly caused the university to break its initial deal with the left-leaning Chemerinsky.

Condoleezza Rice starts her new job today as secretary of state, after critics of her role in the Iraq war mounted the strongest Senate opposition to a nominee for the job in 180 years. Rice was sworn in last night, hours after the Senate voted, 85-13, to confirm her as the first African- American woman to serve in the position first held by Thomas Jefferson. Her confirmation came over the objections of Democrats who assailed her role as an architect of the war in Iraq and the global anti-terrorism campaign during the four years she served as national security adviser to President Bush.

Condoleezza Rice should testify, in public and under oath, before the commission reviewing the Sept. 11 attacks. Reasonable arguments line each side of the debate over whether the national security adviser should do so. But because of that horrible day's singular nature and this commission's singular mission, President Bush should allow Rice to testify. Executive privilege should not be dismissed lightly. A president needs advisers who feel free to offer candid, complete opinions, without worrying about future subpoenas.

9 p.m. HISTORY Top Bush administration officials weigh in on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, including Condoleezza Rice (right), national security adviser at the time, who recalls a heated phone conversation with President Bush after the first attacks.

It began like almost any other orchestra summer idyll, with Leonard Bernstein's Candide Overture . And then, with the middle movement of a Mozart piano concerto, Tuesday night's Philadelphia Orchestra concert at the Mann Center suddenly took on rare auras of celebrity, politics, and the general idea that history of a sort was in the making. The source of the extra-musical messaging was the soloist: Condoleezza Rice, former national security advisor, 66th U.S. secretary of state and public face of the Bush 43 administration.

With Bluewater Comics quickly gaining a reputation as the Biography Channel of the comics industry, it is fortunate that as its brand-name recognition and sales have increased, so has the quality of its biographical books. "Condoleezza Rice" is a case in point. Not only did Bluewater luck out by having its subject making headlines again regarding Afghanistan around the time the book hit shelves, but the company also was fortunate to have chosen writer Chris Ward to chronicle the life story of our first female African-American secretary of state.

One of the more revealing dramas of the World Economic Forum was the major speech by Condoleezza Rice. When she took the podium, looking elegant in a black suit and silver choker, the applause was tepid. This was an audience made up of 1,000 of the world's top CEOs and many top government leaders, along with top media leaders, scientists and academics. Many were reeling from the wild gyrations of the market this week in response to a U.S. bank and mortgage crisis they feared would infect the global economy.

So it turns out that Erwin Chemerinsky is going west, after all. Last week, citing the Duke professor's "controversial" public positions, the University of California, Irvine, withdrew an offer to make him dean of its new law school. But it reinstated the offer after a firestorm of protest, including a letter signed by hundreds of faculty members. That's exactly as it should be. As the letter noted, "unacceptable ideological considerations" clearly caused the university to break its initial deal with the left-leaning Chemerinsky.

IT'S AMAZING! The Iraqi government releases video of Saddam being interrogated. I can only assume that this interrogation happened a looooong time ago because, the last time I checked, we had invented sound to go along with moving images. Now I knew Saddam was old, but not THAT old! Even more amazing? No one has asked why there wasn't any sound! I've yet to read an explanation as to why, in this day and age, they decide to put out a "Silent Saddam Movie. " Oh, but he's rundown, he's wringing his hands, he's worried, etc. - but apparently he said something that someone didn't like.

The United States accused Syria yesterday of playing a role in last week's deadly suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, Israel, as the Bush administration, backed by France, sought to increase pressure on Damascus on multiple fronts. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the assertion on the sidelines at an international conference in London to help the Palestinian leaders prepare for statehood. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who convened the one-day session, said: "This is a moment of opportunity.

When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited world leaders in 10 cities in eight days, the media covered it in breathless detail - right down to her shoes, silhouette and softness. The following is not made up. PARIS - On her first foreign trip as President Bush's chief diplomat, Rice is displaying a sophisticated style right at home on the streets and in the salons of taste-making capitals such as Rome and Paris. Her custom-made suits have included a black boucle number with gold brocade that probably cost more than your first car. (Associated Press, Feb. 9.)

In the last week, she has visited nine countries and one territory, given 18 TV and newspaper interviews, held 13 news conferences, and said - umpteen times - that it was the United States' urgent mission to spread freedom around the globe. Secretary of state for little more than two weeks, Condoleezza Rice is clearly a woman in a hurry to change the world. Her predecessor, Colin L. Powell, and his deputy, Richard Armitage, tended to deal with the unruly world of geopolitics as it was, managing crises and moving ahead cautiously.

Germany, which helped lead European opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday that it was ready to expand its role in rebuilding the country after last Sunday's largely successful elections. The pledge from German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder came on the first day of Rice's whirlwind trip through Europe to patch up the worst transatlantic rift since World War II. Rice, who spent a frenetic day hopping from London to Berlin, was received warmly in both capitals, suggesting that Europeans, too, were interested in a diplomatic cease-fire.