by David Safier
Poor Condi (he wrote, his keyboard dripping with sarcasm). She just can't go out in public these days without getting grief for the way she did her job of the past eight years. First Stanford, now the Jewish Primary Day School in D.C.
At Stanford Condi got into a shouting match with a student. She ended up saying Al Qaeda is worse than the Nazis. Then she made this jaw-dropping claim: Bush said we wouldn't do anything that violated the Convention Against Torture; therefore, if he authorized it, there were no violations. Man, I wish she had been standing in front of a Logic 101 class when she said that (or maybe a judge at a war crimes trial?). The term "tautology" comes to mind.
You'd think she'd be safe talking to a bunch of elementary school students, but a fourth grader at the Jewish Primary Day School asked her to comment on Obama's statements about the interrogation methods used under Bush. She answered with her standard "We had to protect America. Remember 9/11!" response. The fourth grader let it slide. It may have been out of politeness, or it may have been he felt overmatched. After all, he was something like two years old when the towers came down. And besides, Condi got away with that kind of thing in front of Congress.
Soon she'll realize she should just talk, smile and leave. Skip the Q&A, Condi. No one's buying it.