Make new friends ... keep the old ... one is silver ... other is gold

I could use a couple like that: friends that could be trusted to say "you are so cooooool, Nina! Yeah! you know those chumps who call you a lazy bum? What do they know? You want to stay in bed all day and skip class? Go for it! You want to kick ass and call your neighbors pigs? Yeah!" no matter what I did, they'd be there breaking champagne bottles over my chosen path, no matter what, no matter when. Mmmmmm... old friends. Friends that can be counted on to never question my superior knowledge of the world and my fanciful behavior. Gonzalez-type friends. Rice-type friends.

Half-listening to NBC news, I hear the usual about Condoleezza Rice’s nomination to the position of Secretary of State (all emphases in post are my own):

[She is] America’s face to the world. … Chosen to serve the president. …
She is charged with cleaning out the moderates … [She has] a chance to build on what [Bush has] already done…

And then on the Lehrer News hour I hear her shower GWB with praise. Did you know that under his leadership, "we have widen[ed] the circle of prosperity in every corner of the world" ?

Meanwhile, I read (here) this letter posted by her former colleague at Stanford back in 2002 (he received no response):

Dear Condi,
I'm 99.99% sure that my writing this letter will have no effect, but my conscience tells me to write it anyway. Danziger's cartoon has pushed me out of my lethargy. [His cartoon shows her banging on a grand piano, saying "War! War! War!"]

When I knew you at Stanford I had the greatest admiration for your abilities and good sense. (And I was disappointed that we never were able to get together to play four-hands music.) But now I cannot help but express to you my chagrin that the warm feelings I once had have basically evaporated. I hope you can pause to try to understand why this might be the case.

Fundamentally I don't see how the government of my country has done anything whatsoever to address and correct the root causes of international terrorism. Quite the contrary; every action I can see seems almost designed to have the opposite effect --- as if orchestrated to maximize the finances of those who make armaments, by maximizing the number of people who now hate me personally for actions that I do not personally condone.
...
And worst of all, I find that my leaders, including you, are calling for war against a sovereign nation that we suspect to be corrupt, thereby (even if our suspicions are correct) undermining all precedents against unilateral action by other countries who might in future decide that our own policies are wrong. If we peremptorily strike country X, why shouldn't country X have a right to do the same to us, and to our children and grandchildren in future years?

On my trips to Europe all I can do is hope that my friends there can help their governments try to make somebody in my own government act responsibly.

Sincerely,
Don Knuth

P.S. This is the second time in my life that I have written a letter to a U.S. government official. The first time was during the Vietnam war.

Now Knuth, notable and respected author that he is (eg. The Art of Computer Programming) -- he's no friend. He's more like my band of friends, ready to speak up whenever I misbehave. What fun is that??