Democracy in Action

So, GOP members of Congress are "seething" because the confirmation hearings for Condi Rice weren't a rubber stamp.

Well, let's see. The administration put forth a candidate for secretary of state who played a central role is missing the intelligence that warned of the 9/11 attacks, the screwed up intelligence that proved the rationale for attacking Iraq a total lie, and who has contradicted herself and the president in her statements. When faced with these contradictions her response is, "how dare you question my integrity?" If it's not her integrity, it's her competence. It's hard to tell which is flawed. In any case, the hearings were her opportunity to explain why neither her honesty nor ability should be in question; instead of offering such an explanation, she got petulant.

I think the administration should be thanking its lucky stars that the hearings weren't far, far worse for them. If Democrats had spines, they would have been. Perhaps they should stop getting pissed off at opposition legislators doing their Constitutionally-specified job, and ask their parties leadership why whiny, incompetent Condi Rice - a smart lady who clearly is better suited to being a professor than a Cabinet membe - is the best person they can come up with to be the nation's top diplomat.

Ukraine: How Close is Close?

Can someone explain this to me?

In an election that appears to be clean, Viktor Yushchenko seems to have won the presidency of Ukraine. The vote split appears to be about 52/44, leading the New York Times to observe:

"His victory was clear, but it was not as overwhelming as voter surveys at the polls and early tallies had suggested. With the prime minister receiving more than 44 percent of the total, it was evident that a good part of the country opposed the presumptive future president.

"Moreover, the results showed a deep geographic split, with the south and the east voting for Mr. Yanukovich by wide margins.

"Mr. Yushchenko, facing a polarized electorate, must now select a cabinet and a prime minister and begin trying to forge a new, post-Kuchma identity for the country."

Here in the US, our president was elected in a contest that broke 51/48 - much closer than the Ukrainian election - with similar geographic splits. Mr. Bush views this as a mandate, "political capital" that he is going to spend.

Is Mr. Yushchenko smarter than Mr. Bush overall, or just better at math?