Condi Rocks

I just read Sec. of State Condi Rice's Washington Post piece and I realize how good she is. She shows a respect for history and an understanding of the present. Whether or not she wants to be President is up to her, but I feel pretty darn good she is in Bush's ear.

Consider one example: For the first time since the Peace of Westphalia in
1648, the prospect of violent conflict between great powers is becoming ever
more unthinkable. Major states are increasingly competing in peace, not
preparing for war. To advance this remarkable trend, the United States is
transforming our partnerships with nations such as Japan and Russia, with
the European Union, and especially with China and India. Together we are
building a more lasting and durable form of global stability: a balance of
power that favors freedom.

As Truman once said, "The world is not static, and the status quo is not
sacred." In times of extraordinary change such as ours, when the costs of
inaction outweigh the risks of action, doing nothing is not an option.

After all, who truly believes, after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that
the status quo in the Middle East was stable, beneficial and worth defending?
How could it have been prudent to preserve the state of affairs in a region that
was incubating and exporting terrorism; where the proliferation of deadly
weapons was getting worse, not better; where authoritarian regimes were
projecting their failures onto innocent nations and peoples; where Lebanon
suffered under the boot heel of Syrian occupation; where a corrupt Palestinian
Authority cared more for its own preservation than for its people's aspirations;
and where a tyrant such as Saddam Hussein was free to slaughter his citizens,
destabilize his neighbors and undermine the hope of peace between Israelis and
Palestinians? It is sheer fantasy to assume that the Middle East was just peachy
before America disrupted its alleged stability.


But my favorite quote is now under my blog title for a reason, because it now will resonate from the Sunni Triangle to the southern provinces of China.

"Unlike tyranny, democracy by its very nature is never imposed. Citizens of
conviction must choose it -- and not just in one election. The work of democracy
is a daily process to build the institutions of democracy: the rule of law, an
independent judiciary, free media and property rights, among others"