President Barack Obama is facing opposition from Republicans over his choice of who will replace current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

The Secretary of State, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the highest ranking appointed executive branch official both in the presidential line of succession and the order of precedence.

The Secretary of State is one of four senior officials in the federal government that are considered the most important cabinet members.

The Department of State, headed by the Secretary of State, is principally concerned with foreign affairs.

The position was modeled to be the United States equivalent of a foreign minister.

The current Secretary of State is Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 67th person to hold the office since its creation in 1789, and the third woman to hold the post.

Hillary Clinton’s exit at the end of Obama’s first term as Secretary of State has caused lots of controversy in Washington in the past weeks.

The first rumored official to potentially head this position was John Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, who seemed to be the legislature’s favorite for the new Secretary of State.

Kerry, who has 27 years of experience working on the Foreign Relations Committee, knows every global player, is personable and professional.

For example, when Afghan President Hamid Karzai flew into a dither and refused to sanction a presidential runoff election, Obama dispatched the Democratic senator from Massachusetts to help.

Kerry patiently walked Karzai around his Kabul residence for hours and won his acquiescence.

Some political experts speculate that part of the enthusiasm for Kerry could be that his departure would trigger a special election in Massachusetts, where recently defeated Republican Scott Brown could run again and give the Grand Old Party another seat in the Senate.

While Senator Kerry seems like the obvious choice, the Obama administration has had their eyes on someone else to take the job: United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice.

Rice is an American diplomat, former Brookings Institution fellow, and is also the first African-American woman to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

Rice served on the staff of the National Security Council and as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during President Bill Clinton’s second term.

Rice was confirmed as UN Ambassador by the U.S. Senate unanimously in 2009.

Her credentials are impressive, but many Republican legislators are unconvinced.

It seems puzzling why the Senate that gave her unanimous consent is all of the sudden changing their mind when it comes to her run for Secretary of State.

Most of the opposition points stem from Rice’s appearance on the major “Sunday Shows” on Sunday, Sept. 16, where she discussed the attack on the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

As Americans found out later, the attack was more complicated than the intelligence community first believed.

Rice’s opponents claim that she did not provide correct information during the interviews and was covering the Obama administration’s tracks with false rhetoric and conjecture.

On this point, Republicans are being hypocritical.

Senator John McCain, who has been one of the ring leaders in the fight against Rice, has vowed not to approve anyone to hold the office of Secretary of State.

This is strange, considering that Senator McCain has been on the “Sunday Shows” himself 20 times this year alone.

In the past, Senator McCain has frequently said things that were untrue on the “Sunday Shows” and no one stopped him from being a politician.

Why all of the sudden does he have the right to hold others to a higher standard than himself?

It seems that The Grand Old Party just can’t seem to give up on this pre-election plan to create a scandal out of a tragedy.

The anti-Rice crusade and the attempt to make the Benghazi attack look like a scandal is just another example of the Grand Old Party shooting themselves in the foot.

Americans have the real story now and it is time to stop attacking President Obama, White House staff and Ambassador Rice.
Americans elected President Obama, and by electing him, they gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Americans have entrusted him to make decisions that would be best for the nation.

That’s what Americans do when they elect someone.

It is it time for Americans to let President Obama do his job and not stand in his way.

Most people have had the opportunity to work in a group that was less than agreeable and difficult to work with.

It’s often uncomfortable, unproductive and hard to trust others to get the job done right, let alone in a timely manner.

When President Obama picks his cabinet, he picks the people he believes he can best work with.

He chooses those who will do the best job possible. For the president, trust is a very important factor in his decision to appoint Rice as Secretary of State.

This is not an easy position to fill, especially when it is such a powerful position in our Federal Government.

Whether President Obama will appoint Susan Rice or John Kerry, Americans and elected officials should support his decision.

This is his cabinet, his staff and his choice: Americans have to believe he will make the best choice for the people of the United States of America.