Demagogue

During the first round of her confirmation hearing, Condoleezza Rice took issue with some of Sen. Barbara Boxer's questions and responded

Senator, we can have this discussion in any way that you would like. But I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integrity. Thank you very much.

During yesterday's debate over Rice's confirmation, Sen. Mark Dayton called her a liar and Sen. John McCain responded that

"You disagree with our policy in Iraq," he said in an interview. "I understand why people do it, but to challenge Condoleezza Rice's integrity I think is out of bounds."

Merriam-Webster defines "integrity" as

1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY
2 : an unimpaired condition : SOUNDNESS
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : COMPLETENESS
synonym see HONESTY

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INTEGRITY implies trustworthiness and incorruptibility to a degree that one is incapable of being false to a trust, responsibility, or pledge.

No one in this administration has been honest about anything. They lied about WMD's, they lied about the number of troops the war would require, they lied about Hussein's nuclear program, they lied about ties to al Qaeda - they lied about everything.

And Rice was a central architect of this campaign of lies, yet she and the Republicans have the gall to complain about Democrats impunging her integrity?

Rice has no integrity, nor does anyone else in this administration. The only person who did have some credibility was Colin Powell, which is why they sent him to the UN to make the case against Iraq. Of course, he ended up giving a presentation built entirely on lies and, as a result, lost whatever credibility he had and destroyed his integrity.

The sad fact is that there is a black hole at the center of this administration that destroys any integrity people might have. You may very well come to the White House brimming with integrity - but you certainly won't be leaving with it.