Our black girl can be secretary of state, but yours can't

House GOP keeps focused on Susan Rice

By Ed O’Keefe, WashPost, Published: November 20

The House of Representatives usually plays little formal role in foreign affairs, but a sizable group of House Republicans has launched a campaign against a high-ranking State Department official over the Sept. 11 attack in Libya.

The fresh GOP criticism of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice has angered many Democrats, who say Republicans are making her a scapegoat for the administration’s response to the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

House Democrat James E. Clyburn (S.C.) — the highest-ranking black lawmaker in Congress — has also questioned whether Republicans are singling out Rice, a potential nominee for secretary of state, because she is black.

Building on doubts first raised by senior GOP senators, 97 House Republicans co-signed a letter this week warning President Obama that Rice’s public comments after the attack on the mission in Benghazi “caused irreparable damage to her credibility both at home and around the world.”

(More here.)