Race, Gender Cards Played in Defense of Susan Rice, as Predicted

I won’t break my arm patting myself on the back for predicting something that anyone with any sense saw coming.

A dozen female members of the House have staunchly defended U.N. ambassador Susan Rice against Republican criticism over her remarks on the deadly Sept. 11 Libya attack, suggesting the lawmakers’ comments were racist and sexist.

The women, a majority of them African-American, lashed out Friday at GOP Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham for saying Rice was untrustworthy. The pair also said they would block Rice’s nomination if President Barack Obama chooses her to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin railed against “these men” for attacking Rice. And Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio said that anytime anything goes wrong, some lawmakers decide to pick on women and minorities.

And with those comments ends the idea of accountable government.

That’s a feature, not a bug. Up until today I’d never heard of Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio. It turns out that she is buddy buddies with some guy named Castro, and spent her first official visit as a member of Congress in 2009 visiting him.

Warrensville Heights Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge returned today from a five-day Congressional Black Caucus trip to Cuba, where she smoked cigars with Cuban President Raul Castro and met with a wide variety of Cuban government officials.

“He is really a very intelligent, a very engaging, entertaining guy, actually,” Fudge said of the Cuban leader, who told childhood stories about his exploits with brother, Fidel, during a meeting that stretched into dinner.

It was Raul Castro’s first face-to-face meeting with U.S. leaders since he took office.

The trip was organized by Black Caucus Chair Barbara Lee of California, who said she organized it to explore lifting the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Fidel Castro met with Lee, along with Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush and California Rep. Laura Richardson.

Upon her return, Fudge claimed that she went to Cuba to “talk to the people.” She’s a laugh riot.

Today’s comments show that Rice was chosen to deliver the Obama White House’s false talking points on September 16 for three reasons: She didn’t know enough about Benghazi to be tripped up, she was auditioning to succeed Hillary at State, and because her race and gender would be useful in future disputes about what she said.

Yes, Democrats really are that cynical.