The defense of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice by Rep. James Clyburn and President Obama shows how dumb they think the American public is (“Clyburn defends Rice, who has S.C. roots,” Nov. 16). Does anyone believe that Susan Rice took it upon herself, without orders from her boss, to go on five television talk shows just before the election and proclaim that the Libyan slaughter of four Americans was just a demonstration?

This is not one of the duties of our ambassador to the United Nations. Her defense is based on her receiving “erroneous information.”

I agree with Rep. Clyburn that Ms. Rice is not incompetent. She was a good little girl and did what her boss, President Obama, ordered her to do. Blame President Obama, not Susan Rice.

What does Susan Rice holding a doctorate in international relations, being a Rhodes Scholar and having roots in South Carolina have to do with any of this Democratic mess? And it seems to me that Rep. Clyburn was one of the Democrats who attacked President George W. Bush when he used erroneous intelligence information (weapons of mass destruction) as justification for going into Iraq, in a humanitarian effort to save thousands of lives.

Robert Fulmer

Florence