Under normal circumstances, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice would make a superb addition to any board. Stanford-educated, with an extensive business and political background, there is little doubt that  Rice is smart and well-equipped to serve on any major board. Rice was also awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and in 1990 earned a doctoral degree from Oxford University in England.

Deception and duplicity started early …

In her Oxford dissertation, she portrayed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as a “pragmatic, intelligent, sensible, gentle, balanced man” in possession of much “patience and restraint.” Mugabe was in actuality a genocidal dictator guilty of unspeakable atrocities, yet the dissertation was honored as the U.K.’s most distinguished in international relations. <Source >

Do you remember Benghazi …

On the Sunday following the 9/11 terrorist attack in Benghazi – when the facts and perpetrators were known to the Obama Administration – Rice appeared on all five major News/Talk programs and told the world that the “spontaneous” attack was precipitated by a little-known and little-watched video.

It was later revealed that the deception was deliberate and orchestrated by White House Deputy Strategic Communications Adviser Ben Rhodes whose email concerning the preparation of Rice for her television appearances proved to be damning.

The Rhodes email was sent on sent on Friday, September 14, 2012, at 8:09 p.m. with the subject line:  “RE: PREP CALL with Susan, Saturday at 4:00 pm ET.”  The documents show that the “prep” was for Amb. Rice’s Sunday news show appearances to discuss the Benghazi attack.

The document lists as a “Goal”: “To underscore that these protests are rooted in and Internet video, and not a broader failure or policy.”

Rhodes returns to the “Internet video” scenario later in the email, the first point in a section labeled “Top-lines”:

[W]e’ve made our views on this video crystal clear. The United States government had nothing to do with it. We reject its message and its contents. We find it disgusting and reprehensible. But there is absolutely no justification at all for responding to this movie with violence. And we are working to make sure that people around the globe hear that message. <Source>

Not only did the Administration have real-time reporting, on-scene drone coverage, and a rescue plan being discussed at the time of the attack, it appears that President Obama was not in the Oval Office, the Situation Room, or dealing with the unfolding crisis. It has been suggested but never confirmed, that he was preparing for a major fundraiser to be held the next day. The policy failure was that our facility was the only remaining official government installation in the country, additional protection had been denied by Hillary Clinton’s office leaving the facility to be guarded by foreign sovereigns who abandoned their posts when the fighting commenced. It appears that the Ambassador’s presence and the facilities purpose were to facilitate a joint CIA/State Department operation involving arms transfers unknown and unapproved by Congress.

The purpose of the entire exercise was to provide President Obama, in the days before his reelection vote, with political cover. I can understand why Rice, who was widely regarded by President Obama as the sister he never had, would place her personal integrity and reputation at risk, but it makes her unreliable as a board member of an iconic company such as Netflix.

Spying, Unmasking, More Lying …

On April 3, 2017, Eli Lake reported in Bloomberg View that as National Security Advisor, Rice had requested that the identities of some Americans mentioned in intelligence reports related to the campaign and presidential transition of Donald Trump be unmasked. Any request for an American's identity to be unmasked required approval by the National Security Agency; NSA Director Michael Rogers said the NSA evaluated each request to determine "Is there a valid need to know in the course of the execution of their official duties?" and "Is the identification necessary to truly understand the context of the intelligence value that the report is designed to generate?" Rice said that she asked for identities of U.S. persons to be revealed to provide context to the intelligence reports, and not for political purposes.  <Source>

When asked directly about the unmasking

Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, asserted in March that he had seen evidence that some of the Trump transition team's communications with foreign actors were surveilled by the Obama administration.

"What I've read seems to be some level of surveillance activity, perhaps legal, but I don't know that it's right and I don't know if the American people would be comfortable with what I've read," Nunes said.

On "PBS NewsHour" on March 22, Judy Woodruff asked Rice about Nunes' claims.

"I know nothing about this," Rice responded at the time. "I was surprised to see reports from Chairman Nunes on that count today."

"So, today, I really don't know to what Chairman Nunes was referring, but he said that whatever he was referring to was a legal, lawful surveillance, and that it was potentially incidental collection on American citizens," added Rice, who went on to criticize Trump for his accusation that Obama wiretapped him during the presidential campaign. <Source>

Susan Rice appears to be a serial liar and may be guilty of unlawful activity in the “unmasking” of American citizens as part of the Obama Administrations program of spying on American citizens and especially political opponents. Something yet to be adjudicated in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Bottom line …

“We are delighted to welcome Ambassador Rice to the Netflix board,” said Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings. “For decades, she has tackled difficult, complex global issues with intelligence, integrity and insight and we look forward to benefiting from her experience and wisdom.”

“I am thrilled to be joining the board of directors of Netflix, a cutting-edge company whose leadership, high-quality productions, and unique culture I deeply admire,” said Rice. <Source>

Since the Board has a fiduciary duty to the shareholders, can one really believe that Susan Rice is an ethical, honest representative or a shill willing to lie for Netflix’s benefit? This is the question that needs to be asked and answered.

-- steve