was pundit and reporter speculation yesterday that Condi Rice would indeed be on the fast track to power, influence and stardom by Rummy leaving and the pragmatic paternal Bush sensibility taking over. If she can make it work, of course -- but that her opportunity to be all she can be has arrived.

What do you think of that, Liza? I admit she interests me as a puzzle to solve, sort of, because she isn't all out there on the surface and seems generally to know a lot and to think deeply about dealing with different cultures. And that she's not a lawyer but a scholar. Also I like that she's a classical pianist and skater because it seems tied to the discipline she mustered to be a woman on her own rather than attached to a husband . . .is she like some skinny, cerebral Oprah maybe?