There is a particular kind of person who floats above the consequences of their own decisions: the career official.
They testify, they pivot, they collect board seats, and the rest of us pay.
Susan Rice is a case study in how Washington insiders survive the wreckage they help create, and why ordinary Americans should care far more than they do.
On a Sunday morning in 2012, Rice went on five networks and blamed a YouTube video for the Benghazi attack.
That was false, and she knew the intelligence said otherwise.
But the lie mattered less than the reflex behind it: protect the narrative, protect the administration, protect the machine.
The same instincts that shaped that moment now shape policy that reaches into your kitchen, your gas tank, and your paycheck.
Rice moved from National Security Advisor to the White House Domestic Policy Council — a strange title for someone whose expertise is drones and diplomacy.
Yet there she was, helping steer spending bills and regulations that treat the economy as a lever for social engineering rather than a place where your family tries to get ahead.
Inflation doesn't care about talking points.
When energy policy treats domestic production as an embarrassment and regulators treat small business as a nuisance, the bill lands on your counter.
The people who write those rules have drivers, security details, and salaries that rise with the cost of living.
A class of officials who never face a food budget, never wait on hold with an insurance company, never wonder if the raise will cover the new rent — and who nonetheless design the rules that decide those outcomes.
Loyalty rewarded, accountability avoided, and the public left holding the bag.
And here's the part that should unsettle you.
Officials rotate between government and corporate boards, between cable news and private equity, and the American family stays stuck in the same spot.
Your grocery receipt tells the story the hearings never will.
So when you hear her name floated again for some new role, remember what the résumé hides.
Remember the talking points, the spin, the careful distance from consequences.
It's a pattern — and you're on the wrong side of it. **Opinion:** We keep treating Washington insiders as neutral experts when they are players with records.
Rice's record is one of narrative over truth and power over accountability.
Final Thoughts
Until voters start judging people by the price at the checkout counter, the carousel will keep spinning.