This isn't the article proper, but an interview with its author, Nicholas Lemann, that will certainly give you a quicker sense of his critical view of Rice than the article will.

The further I got into the article, the stronger my conviction became that Rice is a sort of American version of Kim Campbell. So when do you reckon the reckoning is coming?

Or am I indulging in wishful thinking?

Is it any more distressing that a woman of her background should scoot to a position of power mainly on a talent for intellectual oversimplification and personal fakery than that most men in positions of power got there the same way?

Is there some reason that Kim Campbells get found out in Canada, whereas they rise to positions of great power in the U.S.?

The first, at least, only exacerbated my boredom. A reckoning, you wonder, skdadl... In truth, I doubt it. I suspect Ms Rice will survive the next Deluge. From this account, she can adapt to anything.

I don't think Kim Campbell being "found out" was any tribute to our system, only to her relative lack of preparation -- and steely will, too, which if we can believe Lemann, is what powers Ms Rice.