Rice announcement follows month of partisan attacks

>>> susan rice announcement toad comes after months of republy scan attacks.

>> select committee . if appointed, clears you of any wrong doing. besides not being very bright because it was obvious that this was not a " flash mob ."

>> how could we -- where we are right now -- be able to place our trust in her.

>> i don't trust her. and the reason i don't trust her is because i think she knew better. and if she didn't know better, she shouldn't be the voice of america .

>> not very bright? didn't trust her? these attacks were ugh ri and openly partisan. in our letter to president obama , ambassador rice addressed her critics saying, "the position of secretary of state should never be politicized. i am saddened that we have reach reached this point even before you've decided who to nominate. we cannot afford such an irresponsible distraction from the most pressing issues facing the american people . with but these republicans didn't care about distractions. they were simply playing politics. joining me now is congresswoman gwen moore , democrat from wisconsin. she was a staunch supporter of rice amid the republican criticism. and joan walsh , editor at large of salon.com and an msnbc political analyst . thank you both for being here tonight.

>> thank you, reverend.

>> thank you, reverend sharpton.

>> congresswoman, what is your reaction to ambassador rice's announcement?

>> i can tell you, i'm saddened. i'm enraged. this was always a fabricated, trumped up allegation. this, you know, not very briegt, there's not enough time on this program to walk through her tremendous accomplishments over the last 20 years in public service . i think that the republicans see an opportunity to have senator kerry appointed as secretary of state. and be able to rup a special election off cycle to be able to -- to win john kerry 's seet in massachusetts. as you might remember, president obama sort of blew romney away in massachusetts. 60% to about 39%. and it was a little bit closer with the elizabeth, warren brown race. 63% to maybe about 43%. so all throughout these trumped up charges of her not being very bright and trustworthy, they always ep ended every sentence with but you know, senator kerry would be a, you know, confirmed without a hitch. so this is about his partisan as we have seen republicans.

>> now, joan, the congresswoman raises the politics of it, which i want to raise. but it was very personal. a source close tells us this week that it has been vicious, says rice lawless who spoke on the condition of anonimty. there is a strain of sexism in these attacks. and when you look at them saying she's not very bright, look at her background. 2009 until now, u.s. ambassador to the u.n. 2004 , foreign policy advisors to the john kerry campaign . 1993 to 2001 in the clinton administration . she's a road scholar. a ph.d. from oxford yumpbts. i mean, to say she's not bright is just absolutely outrageous.

>> no, i mean, reverend al, the body language when they talked about her, lindsey graham say k i don't trust her. it's so personal. it's very deep. it's very, very disturbing. and it's also deeply political, you know. john mccain is a terribly sore loser. susan rice said some things in 2008 defending her candidate for president. he's never forgiven her. lindsey graham , all the man cares about is fighting off a tea party challenger. he gets to go back to south carolina and he gets to say i thwarted the president, the newly-reelected president, and i took down a wonderful african american woman. i have to say i don't know that they're deliberately putting race in the equation, but maybe there's something unconscious about it. but a lot of the people who have been targeted in the situation have been african americans . i don't know how it works out that way. but it has. it's a sad day. susan rice will be fine. she's going to go on and do great things for the country. but we've lost a public servant. and the president has been thwarted. and i think this boeds terribly for the supposed, new bipartisan cooperation that we're all supposed to hope for.

>> congresswoman, we've also seen a blatant double standard . in november, matt lowe, he con fronted mccane about why he stood up for condolisa rice after a mass of intelligence failure in 2005 . let me show you both the question and the response and get you to give me your view on this.

>> you said opponents were expressing sour grapes after an election loss. why is this different?

>> because every intelligence agency in the world, including the british, believe iraq had weapons of mass destruction . that was an entirely different situation.

>> so when the intelligence believed there were weapons of mass destruction that were not there, it was fine because they believed it. but when they give susan rice talking points that they believe to be true, all of the sudden, she's not bright. she can't be trusted. she can't be the secretary of state. what kind of nonsense is this, congresswoman?

>> it's nonsense. i mean, what kind of answer is that, reverend sharpton? you're absolutely right. the intelligence community stands behind susan rice one hundred percent for the intelligence they had at that time. and, of course, i would have to agree with joan walsh . her analysis is painfully, painfully accurate. it's aparnts they have not learned one thing as they continue to isolate women, isolate people of color, their chances of ever being a legitimate party, a significant party to be able to take over the white house , again, beyond their jer manderring is really in jeopardy.

>> congresswoman gwen moore , joan walsh , thank you both for your time.

>> i've read your book, joan. it's brilliant.

>> thank you, congresswoman moore. i really appreciate that.

>> breaking news. tonight, speaker boehner and president obama meeting at the white house . happening right now. plus, the stunning injustice of the central park five. young men con viktsed of a horrible assault in new york city . the story shocked the nation. be ready to be shocked again. my powerful