Susan Rice: Libya? Sorry, I've Got A Real Crisis On My Hands...

At great personal risk to himself and his family, Libya’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Dabbashi, pushed the UN Security Council to take up the violence in his home country. Dabbashi said he could no longer support the regime of his boss Moammar Gadhafi and stepped out to condemn what he called “a genocide”. The dramatic event prompted the first UN meeting of the 15 member Security Council on the uprisings sweeping across the region since the beginning of Tunisia’s revolution, Egypt’s violence and the developing protests in Bahrain, Yemen, Palestine and Iran.

...at which point our Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, stepped up and showed the world what American values were made of by offering strong words of support for Dabbashi's bravery, and extending to him, and maybe even the Libyan people, the protection of the United States, in order to perhaps forge a new beginning in the Middle East.

Nah. Just kidding. Never happened. Susan Rice had more important things to do than deal with a real-time crisis that could remake the world:

The Obama administration’s appointed ambassador, Susan Rice, skipped the Libya meeting and instead flew to South Africa to attend a UN panel discussion on global sustainability.

A panel on what?

On 9 August 2010, the Secretary-General launched the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP) that brings together renowned world figures to formulate a new blueprint for a sustainable future on a planet under increasing stress resulting from human activities.

...the Panel seeks to explore approaches for building a low-carbon, green and resilient economy that can eradicate poverty and ensure a dignified life for all.

It seems as if the Obama administration will not let reality intrude on their fantasy world. Egypt falls, blame Israeli settlements. Libya implodes, send key diplomats off to discuss green initiatives. Gas prices skyrocket, maintain an illegal moratorium on offshore drilling.

Well, Susan Rice is an idiot, so perhaps it is best she is as far away as possible when there is trouble brewing (still - couldn't they do this via teleconference, as opposed to spilling millions of tons of jet fuel?). But what will this nation - and the world - look like in two years, when Obama is gone and the dream-cloud is lifted?

I'm afraid to even think that far ahead, actually...