Thursday, May 22, 2008

Hi, Condi

Today Condoleeza Rice came to speak on campus, and I wound up in an overflow room with a huge HD screen that made her look giant and intimidating. She was with the British Foreign Minister, but no one paid him much attention.

It was a softball interview, and Condi answered every question in a way designed to make Googlers happy. Freedom of the Internet? Well, of course the administration supports it. Renewable Energy? We're on it, my darling nerds! I thought she came across pretty well, considering that she is working with some seriously sad material. Apparently we didn't sign Kyoto because China and India didn't either - riiiiiiiiight. There's $50 billion in US investment in alternative energy - and Bush is taking credit for it. Yikes.

Only once did things get any less than pleasant - someone asked her how she would react if an American citizen were waterboarded, and she gave a super wordy answer about always acting in line with U.S. law and international treaties. Dude re-asked his question, she said she had answered it. He said she hadn't, he said she had, and the British Foreign Minister, embracing his role as Pleasantly Accented Provider of Levity, moved on to a charming question about Madeleine Albright and shoes (everyone knows that Condi's mentor was Madeleine's dad, right?).

In leaving the building I walked into a press scrum, Condi walked right by me, and I stood there and ogled like the True Patriot that I am.

1 comment:

E said...

kinda like the time dubya came to the fed. i tried not to care, but i couldn't help it. he's a famous person (cringe)! and disappointingly taller in person than i thought he would be.