Ms. Rice should know better than to lie to children, it sets a bad example.

And to ides_of_march's comment; go fuck yourself.

Didn't say anything was wrong, just wondering. It would be wrong for the parents to use the kids to ask a question that was inappropriate.

What's wrong with "some prompting" by the parents? They're supposed to be involved in their kids education. If the parents have been helping the kids understand basic stuff in politics and the kid seems interested, that is great.

"A 4th grader from a D.C. school asked her what she thought about the Obama administration's criticism of Bush-era methods"

Really? Not prompted by parents at ALL?

Why not? I've read news papers (my brothers and I would fight for them) from an early age. Anything I didn't understand, I asked.

I don't know, 10 years old seems awfully young to ask a question like that. It's possible of course. If all kids were smart enough to ask these questions it would be great!

"More than a few terror plots were foiled due to this type of interrogation."

Baloney. Pure baloney.

So Politburo, it appears your name isn't ironic.

Rice is a public figure deeply involved in torture under the Bush administration, so that question was entirely appropriate. It was phrased well, timely, provocative but not as harsh as lots of other people would have made it.

And there should be controversy in schools -- teaching the kids to look for answers and push hard, rather than being polite sheeple.

I hope this issue follows that Bush and his crowd around whenever they appear in public.

I'm not saying the question shouldn't be asked. If you read my comment, you'll notice that I said that I thought this wasn't the right venue for the question.

Kids can be taught to 'look for answers and push hard' without getting into complex political questions that, imo, may not necessarily be appropriate for 9-10 year olds.

PS - My 'name' is an online nickname. Attempting to derive any meaning from it is folly.

I'm surprised Rice didn't answer the kid with her own question, like "Why do you hate America?"

Hell yes.

Glad it was asked, disappointed it wasn't answered. I love how she noted that indeed, "after September 11, we wanted to protect the country," because they sure didn't give a fuck about it before September 11.

Awesome :)

Smart kid.

She goes down in history as a failure as will her boss.

Yeah, and she's just as much in denial about it as her former boss is. Colin Powell at least finally admitted he was wrong, and most people still haven't regained respect for him. There's no way history will treat her kindly if she keeps parroting the party line for the rest of her life.

I think a lot of people regained respect for Powell when he endorsed Obama, and during his endorsement, repudiated the Bush administration and the GOP as a whole. I know I did.

Inappropriate question for the venue, imo.

No major attacks on US soil between 9-11 and the end of the Bush presidency speaks for itself. More than a few terror plots were foiled due to this type of interrogation.

Anyway, waterboarding was probably the only time in their lives some of these terrorist scumbags ever bathed.

It's a pity there's not a fraction as much anger when some jihadist slices off somebody's head with a rusty knife while they scream for mercy then dances around with the severed head singing Allah Akbar.

Why bother attacking on US soil when there are so many American targets in Iraq and Afghanistan? Also, you forgot to mention there have been no attacks during the first 100 days of Obama administration.

"No major attacks on US soil between 9-11 and the end of the Bush presidency"

He should have been guarding us before 9/11. Not just after.

I'm going to be in charge of protecting your house. When burglars break in and steal everything you own, I am going to stay in charge and 9 years later say, "WELL no one broke in SINCE that big break-in! Yay me!"