Catching Up with Condi: Sunday

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice waves next to Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, as she arrives to a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, not seen, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007. The U.S. and Israel have agreed ahead of a three-way meeting with the Palestinians to shun any new Palestinian government that does not renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing peace agreements, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

It can be hard to keep track of Condi on a weekend when she's busy, busy, busy and I'm just not paying attention. Luckily, this trip has been helpfully color-coded, so when I see the lavender suit in the enormous mountain of pointless wire service Condirazzi snapshots, I know it's Sunday. While we're at it, here's the color key: Saturday was grey, Sunday was lavender, and today, Monday, was thrillingly burgundy! Thanks, State Department, for this helpful key to sorting it all out.

But anyway, as you can see, Sunday started with an immediate peril to Condi's hairdo in the form of water falling from the sky, a threat which was thoroughly countered by her Palestinian hosts' surprising knowledge of the Christian gadget we all know as the umbrella. I, for one, was impressed by the gallant display, this classy acknowledgment that, after all, an important coiffure was afoot.

And next? She talked to people, you know, about stuff... in matching armchairs, of course! And since this was an Arab thing, the photo-op naturally featured their traditional, presumably lucrative Kleenex product placement:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pause during their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007. The U.S. and Israel have agreed ahead of a three-way meeting with the Palestinians to shun any new Palestinian government that does not renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing peace agreements, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Now, if we've learned anything here at the Pink Pony (and don't think I'm not continuously learning with you), it is that the matching armchairs photo-op can be a competitive sport, so think of a little airplane on a map following a very short dotted line over to this photo-op, and see how easy it was for the Israelis to outclass the above example:

In this photo released by the Government Press Office, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, right, shakes hand with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during their meeting in Jerusalem Sunday, Feb.18, 2007. Israel and the U.S. agreed ahead of a Mideast summit to shun any new Palestinian government that does not renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing peace agreements, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday. (AP Photo/GPO, Amos Ben-Gershom, HO)

That's right, all they had to do was cater their photo-op to win this little race. Good show! That's one for the Jews!

So anyway, that's what Sunday was all about. Today, Monday, she brought all these krazy kids together! And she wore burgundy! To be continued!