Rice Bows Out: Media Unable to Save Her

NBC News reports that US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from consideration as Secretary of State:  

“If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama, saying she’s saddened by the partisan politics surrounding her prospects. “That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country…Therefore, I respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time,” she wrote in the letter obtained by NBC News.”

Of course, the reason the confirmation process would be so contentious is Amb. Rice’s own astounding performance on the network Sunday News shows the week after the deadly terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.  The misinformation Amb. Rice regurgitated on behalf of the Obama Administration in the middle of a contentious re-election campaign became a dominant issue on the internet, as new media outlets fisked and eviscerated her statements line by line.  

As the obvious truth was slowly revealed by the administration (that the attacks on the consulate were not, as Amb. Rice claimed, “a spontaneous reaction to an offensive video” on YouTube) her standing as an heir apparent to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton became more and more tenuous.  

New media, led by Breitbart News, continued to uncover more damning information about the attacks. Rice’s role in the post-attack messaging became a tangible excuse for Republican senators to challenge the notion that a “Secretary Rice” was a fait acompli.  

Prominent senators like John McCain and Lindsay Graham began to voice their strong opposition causing Democrats surrounding the president to do what they often do, cry “racism.”  Of course, main-stream outlets gave credence to the false charges, but it was the new media that kept up the pressure.  Thankfully, new media outlets have grown accustomed to false charges of racism over the past four years and have already grown a tough enough skin to endure the barrage.  

Which leads us to today.  Amb. Rice recognized the charges of racism haven’t worked and decided she hadn’t the stomach for a protracted confirmation process.  No doubt administration officials helped Amb. Rice reach this conclusion.  

The new media can rightly take a victory lap for this, the first scalp of the second Obama Administration.  Hunker down and prepare for the next round of name calling and condemnation.  And expect David Gregory and George Stephanopolous to piously agree with the “harsh tone” and “troubling racial underpinnings” of the opposition to Amb. Rice.  After four years of this, we’ve come to expect all of it.  In fact, it’s a clear sign we’re on the right track.