Tone Deaf

Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw visited his home town, Blackburn, near Liverpool, last week. Dogged by protesters at every step, they ultimately decamped for a location where they wouldn't be bothered by demonstrators: Baghdad. There they have been, depending on to whom you are listening, (a) encouraging the Iraqis to form a government and make democracy real for the Iraqi people or (b) meddling in Iraq's internal affairs.

I liked Secretary Rice's comment about the protests in England: "People have the right to protest - that's what democracy is all about. I have no problem with people exercising their democratic rights." Do you think she recognizes the irony, working as she does for a man who keeps himself far away from anyone who disagrees with him?