I Wonder What Huey Newton Would Say About This.

Speaking of Condoleezza Rice, Maggie sent me this yesterday but I'm just getting around to posting it. Seems as if the Secretary is making an altogether different impression on Russia than Minister Lavrov would think. From le Figaro comes this. Please, consider the source:

Russians Applaud Arrival of 'The Black Panther'

American Secretary of State Condoleezza   Rice arrived yesterday in Moscow. She said that it was her clear intention   to discuss nuclear safety and the respect of democracy. A bomb scare at   the hotel she was to visit forced a change in her schedule.

In Russia, she is called the "Black Panther."    Recently, the Muscovite newspapers discovered that in the United States, Condoleezza   Rice is called the "Steel Magnolia" because this variety of tulip   symbolizes the Southern States. The press likes to compare the chief of U.S.   diplomacy to the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Ioulia Timochenko. In this comparison,   Condi, whose astonishing avant-garde clothing is the constant butt of jokes,   clearly outdistances the dames of the "Orange Revolution."

Ioulia Timochenko was planning to visit Moscow   from April 16 to 17, but she pulled out due to a "schedule conflict."   At least that was the officially called-upon pretext. The Russians laughed.   They cannot even imagine the American secretary of state exhibiting such "frivolous"   behavior. For them [Russians], Condoleezza Rice is a prototype of the professional   political woman. All the daily newspapers yesterday devoted a significant place   to Condy's first official visit to Russia, recalling that she was a famous Sovietologist   and that she speaks Russian perfectly.

Okay, I suppose I could believe the "Black Panther" seeing that this is a French story of a Russian event. But since when is Rice called the "Steel Magnolia?" Who is she, Sally Field? Somebody at the editor's desk has had a little too much vin rouge, if you ask me.

I have no doubt that the Russian press is making much of Rice's visit in light of Yulia Tymoshenko's recent cancellation of her own scheduled visit. But then again, nobody in the Russian government is calling for Rice's arrest.

The article is, I suppose, complimentary though in a, well, French way:

In Moscow, Condy [sic] Rice will meet with Vladimir   Putin and her counterpart Serguei Lavrov. The talks will relate first of all, to George W. Bush's next visit on May 9, for the 60^th anniversary celebration of the victory over Nazi Germany. For an ordinary secretary of state, preparing for the American president's upcoming visit would have been enough.  But Condy is no sherpa.

Indeed.

So I leave it for the reader to decide.

Yulia?                                                                                                  Or Condi?

 

Comments

[Maggie]

They BOTH put Hillary and Pelosi to shame...and not just looks but brains!

[Robert Mayer]

I remember the official reasoning being something to do with agriculture and planting. But to note, there is still a warrant for her arrest in Russia. What happened was that a "dumb bureaucrat", who is actually the Prosecutor-General in Russia, said that Yulia could have immunity while she was there but the warrant would stand. I guess that ticked her off.

Ohh, and Yulia, but I have a feeling I'd vote for Condi first.