Quite some people wondered why John Negroponte would take a demotion from Director of National Intelligence to become Condoleezza Rice’s #2 at the State Department. Democrats.com has an interesting possible answer to that question:
There’s a very simple reason: Karl Rove has chosen Condi Rice to run for President, and he needs to line up her replacement so she can resign in March and begin her campaign – before she has to answer subpoenas from Joe Biden.
[…]
Led entirely by discredited angry white men, the GOP is on the brink of extinction, and there is no one who can ride in on a white horse to save them.
[…]
So who can save the GOP? Until 2000, the only Republican with appeal beyond the GOP base was Colin Powell. But he lost all credibility when he sold the full package of Bush-Cheney Iraq War Lies to the world at the U.N. As Bush once said, “Fool me twice … you can’t get fooled again!”There is no one left on the Republican bench. The GOP needs a “Hail Mary” pass.
Hail Condi, the GOP’s great black hope.
The Impolitic has other answers:
I think Booman could be on the right track in analyzing this. It could well be Negroponte is being sent in to rescue Rice, who is obviously in over her head but can’t really be removed since doing so would only emphasize the failed foreign policy of the White House. And perhaps Negroponte will still enjoy the same access to the Oval Office behind the scenes, despite taking second chair to Condi.
However, I also have a darker theory born of my inherent suspicion of Negroponte that has grown out his role in the Iran Contra scandal. Looking back, there was a similar sort of chaos in Nicaragua as there currently is in Iraq. We were actively supporting the Contra insurgents against the Sandinista government. Though he was never charged, it’s widely accepted that Negroponte had an heavy hand in the death squads and other dirty tricks that proved extremely useful in removing the Sandinistas from power.
Now, we’re not that happy with the current Iraqi government but we could hardly overtly support a regime change after installing the new government ourselves. What better way to make a change than by black-ops and who better to lead it than the biggest black-op of all time – Mr. Negroponte?
Correntewire admits having no theories, no answers at all…
Except for this:
Boo waxes eloquently about some cabinet shuffling going on at the White House, and all I can say is that I really don’t have an opinion or theory, because as has been the case so often in the last six years, it’s clear we don’t have “all the information� necessary to make a sound conclusion. Except this: historically, moving high level staff around in the manner of Bush these last few years is a sign of chaos, confusion, rudderlessness and lack of direction. I read a book about Nixon’s last days some time ago, and this story reminded me a bit of that, as well as of Hitler’s last days, in which he would scream at his generals and move invisible armies around the map, demanding that everyone in his cabinet follow through on his plans for “victory.�
Personally, I would love to see Condi v. Hillary, but I am afraid that it’s not going to happen. Condi has been damaged too much.
Then, what’s my answer?
Simple.
I have no idea.
But it is fascinating.
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