Rice, Rice, Baby

All the papers are reporting that Bush will appoint Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State very soon. No real surprises here, and it falls into the pattern of solid but predictable appointments by the Bush administration. Beginning with his selection of Dick Cheney as Vice President in 2000, Bush has valued loyalty above novelty and solidity above political appeal. Largely, this is a good thing: effective people are chosen for important jobs. However, it also leads to a certain inbredness in the administration, which could become palpably more acute with the departure of Powell, a centrist and statesman powerful enough in his own right to stand up to his boss and others, privately if not publically. Rice, however, was a professor before Bush picked her up, and won't have the political freedom to bring a second opinion to administration policies.

Rice replacing Powell is an unmitigated victory for the neo-conservatives; it remains to be seen how severe a defeat it will be for the United States.