The global economic depression ( Bush calls it a recession, so you know it is a depression) is not affecting the quality of Rice's Christmas bonuses from her Arabs friends.Recently, she played piano for the Queen of England. Rice wants her exit to be stylish....
WASHINGTON December 22, 2008, 09:24 pm ET · President George W. Bush's foreign policies may be unpopular in the Middle East, but Arab leaders showered his top diplomat with jewelry worth far more than a quarter of a million dollars last year. While Bush himself didn't fare nearly as well, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raked in at least $316,000 in gem-encrusted baubles from the kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia alone, making her one of top recipients among U.S. officials of gifts from foreign heads of state and government and their aides in 2007.
In January, Jordan's King Abdullah II gave Rice an emerald and diamond necklace, ring, bracelet and earrings estimated to be worth $147,000, according to the State Department's annual inventory of such items released Monday just in time for Christmas.
The king and his wife, Queen Rania, also gave Rice a less expensive necklace and earrings along with a jewelry box valued at $4,630, the document shows.
Not to be outdone, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia presented Rice with a ruby and diamond necklace with matching earrings, bracelet and ring worth $165,000 in July. The inventory also includes a $170,000 flower petal motif necklace the Saudi monarch gave to Rice in 2005, which the department says was not previously disclosed.
From the same Arab leaders, Bush received just over $100,000 in gifts in 2007, the list shows.Other gifts include an $85,000 sapphire and diamond jewelry set and $10,000 piece of artwork depicting a desert scene of bedouins, camels and a tent made of gold given to first lady Laura Bush by Saudi King Abdullah.
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Showing posts with label Secretary of State. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Secretary of State. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Buzz: Hillary now a no-go?
Secretary of State Buzz continued Tuesday about the possibility that Hillary Rodham Clinton will be Barack Obama’s secretary of state — though Clinton insiders also told Politico that the New York senator might reject the job.
There are also concerns about the idea in some precincts of Obamaland. From his supporters in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party to campaign aides of the soon-to-be president, there’s a sense of ambivalence about giving a political plum to a woman they spent 18 months hammering as the compromised standard-bearer of an era that deserves to be forgotten.
“These are people who believe in this stuff more than Barack himself does,” said a Democrat close to Obama’s campaign. “These guys didn’t put together a campaign in order to turn the government over to the Clintons.”
— Ben Smith
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There are also concerns about the idea in some precincts of Obamaland. From his supporters in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party to campaign aides of the soon-to-be president, there’s a sense of ambivalence about giving a political plum to a woman they spent 18 months hammering as the compromised standard-bearer of an era that deserves to be forgotten.
“These are people who believe in this stuff more than Barack himself does,” said a Democrat close to Obama’s campaign. “These guys didn’t put together a campaign in order to turn the government over to the Clintons.”
— Ben Smith
read more digg story
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