Rice

Re "Rice out as Obama pick for Cabinet," Dec. 14 The bullying of Susan Rice by the Republicans to withdraw her name from consideration as secretary of State is infuriating. The president says Rice's withdrawal demonstrates her strength of character. It only demonstrates a weakness of character from the White House. Rice should stand and fight if she is qualified. Dennis Grossman Woodland Hills ALSO: Letters: Atheists and Christmas Letters: Torture on the big screen Letters: Inside the mind of Justice Scalia

It's no secret that Senate Republicans, led by John McCain, took aim at Susan Rice. The only question is, why? It wasn't primarily her views on foreign policy; Rice and McCain actually aren't that far apart on many issues. (They both pressed for U.S. intervention in Libya's civil war, for example.) Officially, the GOP crusade against Rice was over her statements on what Washington calls simply "Benghazi," the Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. consulate that left four Americans dead. But the controversy over Rice's recitation of White House talking points on Sunday television shows was flimsy at best.

Four thoughts about Susan Rice's decision to withdraw as a possible nominee for secretary of State: 1) Rice should not have been disqualified because of her now-notorious talk-show comments about the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. As The Times observed in an editorial, her comments “faithfully tracked 'talking points' that were assembled by intelligence officials and only slightly edited by the White House and State Department.”  The excision of references to a possible Al Qaeda connection were apparently made by intelligence officials, not the White House, and while Rice has been criticized for saying in one interview that Al Qaeda had been decimated, she also said: “Whether they were Al Qaeda affiliates, whether they were Libyan-based extremists or Al Qaeda itself, I think is one of the things we'll have to determine.

WASHINGTON - Susan Rice, who came under heavy criticism for her defense of the Obama administration after armed militants killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, withdrew her name from consideration for secretary of State on Thursday as the president began to narrow his choices for key Cabinet positions. “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 one-page letter to President Obama.

Trader Joe's is facing yet another recall, this time affecting nearly 5,000 pounds of its store brand Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice, which may be contaminated with listeria bacteria. The producer of the product, Canadian company Aliya's Foods Limited, issued a voluntary recall of 4,865 pounds of the frozen food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Though 19 cartons of the 12.5-ounce boxes were placed on hold at the distribution center, 240 cartons were shipped from Canada to various Trader Joe's stores in the U.S., according to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Re "The Rice choice ...," Opinion, Nov. 29 Whether or not they won reelection or were even running, Republican senators who lined up to oppose U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's potential nomination as secretary of State look increasingly like lame ducks. Regardless of their stated reasons - which run the gamut from describing Rice as insufficiently candid in her description of the attack in Benghazi, Libya, to the contradictory opinion that she was too blunt on other occasions - it all comes down to obstructive behavior.

WASHINGTON -- Speaking on Sunday's TV talk shows, Republicans sharpened their attacks on Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a potential nominee for the next secretary of State.   Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Rice "didn't do herself much good" during her visits to Capitol Hill last week.   He added: "I find her lacking when it comes to being the best choice for being secretary of State. "   Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.)

With the 2012 presidential election over, attention nows turns to the inevitable shuffling of personnel in the Obama administration. Chief among the vacancies will be at the helm of the State Department, where Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has indicated her intent to retire. After heavy media coverage speculating on the appointment of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, rumors have more recently coalesced around U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice for the position. Rice's qualifications are difficult to contest.

Is U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice an appropriate choice as President Obama's second-term secretary of State? Nearly 100 House Republicans have come out against Rice, joining several prominent GOP senators. Meetings on Capitol Hill this week appear not to have helped her cause with them. They consider her either untrustworthy or incompetent, insinuating that she is too much of a partisan to represent the country as a whole on the world stage. But the Republicans should relent in their opposition.