Charlie Rose

Cali  03/25/2009 03:25 AM Report

Authorizing torture and misleading the US into a war will NOT look better with time... all the Bust admins can say about their horrible mistakes is "wait and see what history says in 50 years" - how lame. We deserve better leaders.

esantoro  03/24/2009 12:55 PM Report

Does Rice truly believe everything she says, or does she simply recognize the need constantly to spin the details?

She thinks that saying "History has a long tail" is very clever. In fifty years, things might certainly have changed for the better in the Middle East, but they may have changed for the better without U.S.military involvement anyway.

I used to think that intelligent, sincere people gravitated to positions of power and influence, but it seems to me that the intellectual level of discourse rarely rises above that of a three-year-old(with apologies to three-year-olds). "I don't care what you say. I'm right and you're wrong. Na-na-na-na-na." This may be because the American people don't really demand more from their leaders.

Most public figures don't simply sit down and talk sincerely about serious matters (I suppose the ones that do aren't in the public light for long). They are always salespersons selling their wares. I'd like to see a video or read an article or book on the type of training such people receive in how to talk to the public without really saying much. Or is that what law school is for?

hrc  03/24/2009 12:28 AM Report

Pure evil lady with pearls, go write your silly books, far away, illuminate us non-being of states.

jacksonyuan  03/22/2009 12:10 PM Report

In my view Ms. Rice is try to justify Bush Administration's action. In the new media age today i don't believe gov can pass out false information as it were the truth. I believe people like her is in the wrong side of history.

So many life has lost

So much hate has create by this administration's action

So much money has taken away from the people

So many people has made rich by this administration's policy

The history tell us maybe war with red Russia and China is not necessary, maybe it is better for people like Nixon and Mao sit down solve nation's problem on the lunch table then on the battle field.

History tells us other nation don't like other people telling then how to govern their country and what weapon they can or can't have not even when the country is the most powerful and rich.

History also tells us great empires like Chinese, Roman, English, and Russia they all go down when they misused it's power abuse people's trust and disregard other country's feeling.

I do not understand people who like Ms. Rice who seems to be smart, well educated, who is both a student and teacher of history can just go around telling other what her boss want's her to say i thought people with her intellect and her background would have advice bush to take better action not other way around every thing she said is filed in history and one day when people once again try to understand what this war is about and why so many life is lost her files will be one of the reason why.

I hope she will not teach this attitude that

( if you don't do what we said we are going to teach you a lesson, and the lesson is we are bigger and stronger than you are so we can do what we want and you have to do what we said if you don't we are going to make your life bad if you do what we said we will allow you a better life you can only have weapon and wealth when we said O.K because we have right to have it, you don't because we are good you are bad and we are right you are wrong.)

i hope she will not teach that kind of attitude in school......

AdamKhan  03/21/2009 07:12 PM Report

Deft, consistent, heartfelt, and unfailingly sexy.

esantoro  03/21/2009 06:32 PM Report

I was surprised Charlie asked some of the questions he did ask. He didn't press the matter much, but at least he asked, and in the future he can say so.

That said, the next time Charlie asks "Why didn't anyone see this crisis coming?" we need to send him 20,000 pocket mirrors. On the list of top five reasons for "Why Few People See a Serious Societal Problem Looming" is that our presumed best journalists don't hold decision makers accountable, and they don't hold them accountable because the directly fear a lightening of the bank account. That fear is well placed and warranted, but a coward it makes, nonetheless.

trimtrim22  03/20/2009 02:40 PM Report

Charlie Rose is the best interview show on television. But shame on Charlie Rose for the fluff interview with Ms. Rice. While she deserves credit for her service to our country, she also deserves to be asked real questions regarding her actions as NSA and Secretary of State. Where was the question on torture? Why didn't Charlie ask her the obvious question: do you believe torture is a viable intelligence option? Explain your role in the decision-making that led up to our torturing suspected terrorists. They spent more time talking about sports at Stanford than this critical issue. Oppportunity lost for a great interview.

ElDiablo  03/20/2009 02:41 AM Report

Rice is clearly lying and Rose is letting her get away with it. Rachel Maddow delineated the way the administration made overt and covert links between Iraq/Saddam and 9/11/Al Qaeda-- thus proving Ms. Rice is lying. Further, Rose should have been both informed and courageous enough to do the very thing Ms. Maddow did and show how Rice was wrong and lying.

Why are we relying on MsNBC and its commercial middle-brow programming to do the hard-hitting investigative reporting vis-a-vis politics? I thought PBS and Mr. Rose would be the apotheosis of such muck-raking. I thought wrong I suspect...

fairobserver  03/19/2009 11:19 PM Report

Ms. Rice is continuing the bold face lies and disinformation of the Bush Administration by claiming on this show that she and the Bush Administration did not link Saddam Hussein and Al Qaida at the beginning of the Iraq conflict. That claim is contrary to the public statements of Bush, Cheney, Rice herself, and others in 2003. When is someone going to tell her and the other Bush apologists to their faces that they are damn liars?

REMant  03/19/2009 05:10 PM Report

It is revealing I think that she should hold up the example of Truman and the Democrats above Eisenhower's opinion of them. This interview, however, made me reflect that I am very happy we no longer have to listen to this kind of twisted and evasive discourse anymore, which, strangely, she seems to have shared with the rest of the Bush admin. She was educated at Denver most likely by one of my family's closest friends, who, BTW, served a year in Iran, and who is now probably turning over in his grave. It is a deeply disturbing thought that as long as the world has places like Stanford, and people like Rice and Bernanke, we will likely never have another moment's real peace in this world. I might add that the Bush admin's economic policies (still with us, of course, in the form of Bernanke) did more to undermine self-esteem and self-reliance than No Child Left Behind has done to restore it. She should perhaps reread Tocqueville's Democracy in America Vol II next in particular Bk IV, Chap VI on that point. This interview incidentally was a virtual clone of one a month or so ago by, I believe, Gewn Ifil.

fjgajewski  03/19/2009 04:32 PM Report

Curious, isn't it, that discussions of nuclear proliferation in the world never touch upon the United States's problems in this regard. And yes, Ms. Rice, eight years is a long time.

doodahdaze  03/19/2009 02:22 PM Report

If Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has one character flaw, it would be that she is too humble. This country (and the rest of the world for that matter) owes her a great debt of gratitude for her "leadership" role in untangling and pulling out the knots between the political to military relationship that changed the course in Iraq and made it possible to look forward to success against terrorism. Hopefully Hillary Clinton can build on the hard work (42:00-43:00) PROGRESS that Condoleezza Rice set in place.

If we survive as a nation, her image will grace the currency of my great grandchildren. And the incredible STUPIDITY of her critics will be just as dead their brains already are, just like all those "patriots" in the "financial services" board rooms will be... (dead)...

Not a sermon, just a thought. nyot nyot nyahh...

tartufe  03/19/2009 02:15 PM Report

Too bad Condi's timing and ideology were on the wrong side of history. It would have been surreal to have, say, Pres Obama, Condi SoS, and throw in Gwen Ifil as SoD, Colin Powell as Joint Chief of Staff et al. A black renaissance of sorts.

But, alas, Condi drank (quaffed actually) CB(Cheney-Bush) Kool Aid. A recipe of 80% fear, 20% greed and corruption initially, then flipped to 20 - 80 later. Spawning ground for the venality, whoredom and corruption we're now experiencing. Halliburton, Black Water, yadda yadda paved the way. The pols decided 'it was good.' Got in line. Palms up to the lobbyists. Enabling legislation for a song and dance and a few million here and there and - yes, we'll override states usury laws, make it harder declare bankruptcy. Anything else Citigroup? AIG? Name it. We're here to please. While we're at it would you like Mr Paulson to come over with a few 18 wheelers of cash?

The results of Iraq preemption? Other than 100s of thousand deaths, there is no longer a Sunni buffer to Shia Iran. Tribal sectarianism's awaiting to reignite - when our payments to the insurgents are discontinued. Not all bad. The M-I oligarchs can use that cover to go BACK in, and keep the conflict sustained.

Somolia - a wet dream a coming - for the slaughter-for-profit boys. Bin Laden's latest present. Swear he's on the board of directors of Raytheon and Northrup-Grumman et al.

We now have three (count em three) extortionate relationships bleeding our already hemorrhaging treasury. Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Somalia slobbering in the wings. We will gleefully respond. Our arrogance and M-I blood-suckers damn near demand it. Inexorable as a law of nature. Which it may be - human nature.

Back to Condi, her talents were overrun by events. A tragedy of timing and history. She could have been so much more.

hardy  03/19/2009 09:20 AM Report

I find it amazing that as the Bush team is now trying to revise history and fact, they don't even pretend to back away from the hard right, neoconservative ideology laid out in the "Project for a New American Century", www.newamericancentury.org written in the late nineties. There is an apology only in that things didn't go as planned and that there is no sense that they did anything wrong. Thats like someone getting in there car, closing thier eyes and driving toward home, then blaming the person who walked in front of the car at a stop sign for being hit. Like in advertising, they are trying to make sure that the product we buy is the tag line spoken at the end of the commercial.

Hopefully we all change the channel before then.

ShalomFreedman  03/19/2009 08:35 AM Report

Condeleeza Rice was impressive as a guest- reasonable, pleasant, logical, decisive. She naturally defended the Bush record twice using the expression 'History has a long tail'. She referred to President Truman leaving the office an unpopular President and that verdict reversed by time. She defended the Bush Administration's intervention in Iraq. I thought that she was also quite good in explaining why the Bush Administration had set certain conditions before engaging with Iran. But she did not say, perhaps because she was not asked, anything about why the Bush Administration did not truly prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear option. Most alarmingly she did not mention the Iranian progress not only towards having a nuclear warhead but towards developing intercontinental missiles which would be able to reach the continental United States.

All in all her personality was far more winning than the Bush record on Iran.

RWillis  03/19/2009 04:01 AM Report

I thought this was a great interview both by Charlie and Secretary Rice.

Regarding Charlie's interviewing style: He interviewed Secretary Rice much like he does his other political guests. He asked long, detailed questions and tended to interrupt at points during her answers. I think he tends to do this for a couple of reasons. One, politicians will give a speech if you allow them. They will try their best to evade the questions and further their agenda. Charlie does his best not to allow that without being abrasive. Sometimes, he is more enthusiastic than other times, but this interview was much like previous interviews I've seen him conduct. Two, he interjects during answers to steer the answer in a different direction. It can be distracting at times, but I think it has the effect of getting the guest to answer a question off the top of his/her head.

Also, it's just a guess, but I think the time away from the pressure cooker has been good for her. She seemed very relaxed and confident. I'm not diminishing her effectiveness while she was serving (I can't imagine how stressful that job must have been during the time she was SoS), but she definitely appeared to be very level headed and thoughtful.

I hope she decides to continue to stay 'in the arena' in some way. She has a lot to offer and I would hate for her to fall away into obscurity.

amilius  03/19/2009 03:32 AM Report

Of course Charlie is a featured stop on the Bush Reivisionist History Mystery Tour. He was such an ardent supporter and distractionist while Bush and War Criminals "R" U.S. were in office, he can't take the chance that they are ever called to account for their deceit and shredding the Constitution. Even so, I don't imagine Charlie relishes the role. It's hard to face someone who will lie to your face.

Hondo  03/19/2009 01:38 AM Report

I absolutely agree with the comments made by Donna47. Charlie Rose was on the defensive throughout and totally not prepared to discuss the questions he asked. His body language showed his frustration, especially during the later stages of the interview. She was able to easily parry all of his attacks with skill and grace. One of the best discussions of the Iraq strategy in many years.

FOXChicago  03/19/2009 01:07 AM Report

All Young Ladies Heroin

Secretary Rice is one of America's most outstanding public servants. Her common language discourse brings intricate details of a complex world into sharp focus for every countryman. Unpartisan views of America's place in the world are her forte.

Donna47  03/19/2009 12:04 AM Report

Condoleeza Rice is articulate, educated and quite a graceful guest. She deserved better than Charlie's amateur interview. He sounded more like the "talking heads" of the networks who are more interested in what they have to say than what the guest has to contribute. Condoleeza was very polite to him but it was easy to see that Charlie was out of his class with this interview. I'd like to hear Condoleeza when she is interviewed by someone more aware of the world and politics and exactly what is going on. By listening (instead of wanting to talk) all of the viewers could have learned more and enjoyed the wealth of information. She said she is going to write a book about her parents. They must definitely be proud of the woman and world expert that she is. It is so easy to see that she is a lady of class and education. I think most people would enjoy visiting with her. Charlie didn't do his homework and he should have been more of a listener than a talker.