Condi & her critics

Brendan Miniter had an excellent piece on Secretary of State-designate, Condoleezza Rice, in yesterday's OpinionJournal (the Wall Street Journal's online editorial page):

Ms. Rice has been loyal to Mr. Bush, but she is an intellectual power in her own right. She has the president's ear and has been deeply immersed in the movement to halt the spread of tyranny by waging a war of ideas since long before Ronald Reagan consigned the Soviet Union to the ash heap of history. This is the year Ms. Rice steps onto the public stage; a year her influence and her intellect is no longer confined to the quiet rooms of power. Her rise deserves to be celebrated.

That it isn't--and that Senate Democrats instead are delaying her confirmation--says more about the Bush administration's opponents than it does about her.

Emphasis added. Now, read the whole thing!