Hillary can have Secretary of State. She'd be the third woman in that office (Albright and Rice having worked their way up the hard way), so I won't have to hear Hillary babbling about having "made history" (though I'm sure she'll find a way to claim it's historic anyway). It would be galling to see a true historic first claimed by a woman who rode her husband's coattails. Give her State to get her out of the way so another Democrat can have her Senate seat, then try to get the media focus on the women senators and governors who actually worked hard all their lives to get where they are. It would be nice to see Salon write more articles about women political figures other than Hillary (I like McCaskill and Duckworth).

The Senate will probably be delighted to see her go. Apparently, she's not happy about their rules of seniority and feels she should be fast-forwarded into plum committee chairs ahead of those who've served longer. Also, it'll get her to stop nagging Kennedy to let her screw up health care again.

I don't think I hate Hillary, I hate the "Emperor's New Clothes" dissonance. Usually, when discussing a potential Cabinet pick, people reel off a list of education and previous positions that prepared them for the Cabinet seat. With Hillary, no matter what position is discussed, they instead say, she's "clearly qualified" or "no one can question her experience". A Republican even said this week that she can always turn to her husband for foreign policy advice.

There are good women politicians out there who deserve attention and respect for what they've actually done, the experience and achievements in their own right they can rightly claim. The unquestioning support of Hillary just makes it seem as though all women need the bar lowered and the opportunity to claim their husband's achievements as their own.

Good, nobody can claim it's historic for her to be the third female Secretary of State. Funny to watch Salon try though. Hillary doesn't deserve to have any firsts, those will belong to Pelosi, McCaskill, Granholm, Duckworth, and other women who've worked hard rather than married well.

Obama knows what he's doing. It is not a kindness to give someone a job they're unqualified for. Now she and her husband have enough rope with which to hang her political career. Obama is brilliant.

Hillary Clinton has the resume, name rec and clout to do this job.

In other words, she's taken her husband's resume, scribbled out any unpopular decisions, and changed William to Hillary at the top. I have far more respect for women who build their resumes and clout themselves (and preferably use their own names as well).

This gets Hillary out of her Senate seat and gives her enough rope to hang herself. She'll be somewhere between mediocre and a disaster. As a bonus, she'll be so tied to this administration that when Obama's pick runs in 2016, it will be impossible for Hillary to run against him/her. If Hillary says good things about the administration, people will just take it as support for Obama's pick, if Hillary says bad things they'll laugh because she was part of it. This move gives Obama more power, because when he goes into his second term he won't be a lame duck, he'll be a king/queenmaker. That'll keep many Democrats in line.

Besides, after she serves as SoS, Claire Fontaine -- one of the Nanciannes here -- won't be able to say that she accomplished nothing, unless the silly fool is prepared to say that Hillary is really Bill in drag. By the way, Nancianne is my newly coined word for women who denigrate women who make progress. Don't you think we need a word that is the feminist equivalent to Uncle Tom? --AKA Smith

I don't denigrate women who make progress, I express my dislike for cheaters. Hillary rode her husband's coattails into a Senate seat. That seat would have been held by a woman anyway. Nita Lowey had worked her way up in New York politics and was finally going to run for Senate. The Clintons used Bill's political power to get her to step aside. So Hillary started off her political career by depriving another woman of a hard-earned opportunity.

I'd very much like to see a woman become president, but I want it to be one I can be proud to tell my future daughters about. In my first post in this thread I mentioned several prominent women who would make superb presidents, who earned every achievement themselves. The media, including Salon, spends so much time covering Hillary that other women don't get the attention they deserve. It's a vicious circle because it makes it seem as though she's the most important woman politician in the country (Pelosi is, but how much attention does Salon give her?) and our only chance at the presidency. Challenge: Salon, give us an article about Democratic women politicians under forty, the rising stars.

Let's see how Hillary does at State. Personally, I think Obama has offered her a path strewn with banana peels and she's been egotistical enough to go running down it.