Rice, Rice, baby...

No surprises here... this has been in the works for quite a while.

Not to say that it isn't disappointing... I am sure that she is a smart cookie in most respects, but she has sure sucked as the NSD (and this opinion is not just limited to those on the left.) However, as many have said before me, in this administration competance without politics will get you fired and politics without competance will get you promoted (see Gonzales, Alberto).

Atrios thinks that Condi won't be able to do as much damage as SoS... why? She was so bad as NSD in large part because she was unable to mediate intra-agency fighting. And now her flawed and incapable hands will be put in charge of even greater negotiations with larger stakes. Greaaaaaaaaat...

Finally, lots of folks are dickering over whether or not Rice and Gonzales represent moderations of the administration, but Josh Marshall hits upon a key point that we should keep in mind: this is about power consolidation, not moderation or competancy. I happent to think that it establishes a two-fer: a move rightward plus power consolidation.