Commander-in-Chief, or Chef?

On his local talk radio show this evening, Dom Giordano (1210AM, 6pm show) reported the results of a New York Times poll that stated that 33% of all men would not consider voting for a woman for President, from either party. Not Hillary Clinton. Not Condaleeza Rice. Certainly not Geena Davis. No one who wears a bra, who has or once had a monthly period cycle, who was capable of bearing children. No one with long hair, who wears perfume, who may wear a skirt, etc. No woman. None. Nay, say never. No how, no way. Hmmm. I know we still have the element who thinks women are better off barefoot and pregnant, who see women more as the 'chef' than the 'chief', but it's still hard to believe that we remain such neanderthals. What would such men do if presented with the dilemma as put forth in a new book by Dick Morris that pits Condi vs. Hillary in a theoretical 2008 Presidential matchup? My guess is that we would be back to a good old-fashioned ideological battle, and the sexism would be tossed right out the window. But my concern as a conservative would be our strong base in the South. Could the good ol' boys really vote for a black woman for President of the United States? My guess would be that in the end, the answer would be "yes". I would just love to see them placed in that predicament, where they actually had to confront that part of themselves, and finally get over it. You go girls!

Introducing Condi Rice

The Italian musical term is “con doleeza”, a direction for one to play “with sweetness”. I am quite sure that when her parents so named her, they did not envision that she would have to develop many qualities exactly the opposite of that direction as her life’s work advanced.

Condoleezza Rice was recently nominated by President George W. Bush to become the new Secretary of State. This is one of the most key positions in any Presidential administration, yet so few people know very much about “Condi”, as her friends call her.

Condi was born on November 14th, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama as the only child of John Wesley Rice, Jr and Angelena Rice, both of whom were Jamaican immigrants and both of whom became university professors.

Her father was a high school athletic director and assistant football coach who later became a minister. Her mother was a music teacher, and the family had dreams of her becoming a musician. Thus the influence on the choice of her name.

Born and raised during the time of segregation in America, Condi stated that she always felt the need to be “twice as good” as non-minorities. She was just nine years old when racism reared it’s ugly head in her life, when a schoolmate became one of four young girls killed in the bombing of a Baptist church by white supremacists.

She dreamed at first of becoming a concert pianist, and was able to read musical notes before she could even read words, but after enrolling in classes at the University of Denver at the young age of just 15 (she skipped both 1st and 7th grades), she took a course being taught by Josef Korbel, a Czech refugee and former diplomat, on international politics. This man would change the course of her life.