Degrees of __________

[cbertsch]

So if Condoleeza Rice becomes Secretary of State, should I feel good about the fact that I was once part of a hiring committee in which she was one of the candidates who didn't get the position or acknowledge, more soberly, that the Friends of Ron, Pete, and a plethora of Georges on that committee were ever so close to finding a way to maneuver her into the job? Somewhere, I still have her resumé. It was pretty damned impressive back in 1996, the operative word being "damned." But that was nothing compared to the circles of flame it has passed through since she left Stanford.