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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
I really hate it when readers make ad feminam attacks on Joan Walsh for her supposed personal responsibility for some of the crap published on Salon, but this here takes the biscuit and it is from her own keyboard, is it not?
Like this: she had an international portfolio as first lady. The primary campaign showed pretty conclusively that Hillary had no substantive role in foreign policy as First Lady, since the best she could come up with was that she had been sent to an airbase in Serbia where it was too dangerous for the president to travel, even though he had been there in person two months earlier and survived.
According to Joan the foreign policy differences between Hillary C. and Obama, like the invasion of Iraq and having diplomatic contacts with certain "rogue" nations was overplayed for the purposes of making a good debate in the primaries.
This is BS. These fundamental differences on foreign policy were what the whole debate was about and part of the reason Clinton lost was that the electorate wanted change, and because her claims to eight years of substantive foreign policy as First Lady were shown to be a complete sham when the Bosnia episode and some wildly exaggerated claims about her role in the Northern Ireland peace settlement were the best she could offer.
If Obama offers her the Secretary of State position, it will be as a symbolic gesture towards her wing of the Democratic Party and as a type of affirmative action for women by having at least one in a very high office.
In my opinion Hillary C. would be unwise to turn down the post if offered. She turned 61 years old in October, and has succeeded in parlaying her status as First Lady into an independent political career as the junior senator from New York and has run for the presidential nomination. Four years, or maybe eight as Secretary of State would be a fine conclusion to her late-blooming political career and if she is successful in negotiating the shark-infested foreign policy waters of the present era, the nation will be very grateful and her name will be firmly written down in the history books.
Rather have Hillary in a position that has an end-date and that she can be fired from, instead of a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.
Ahh I think Hillary is a smart and great pick! I am on the edge of my seat to see how this turns out. Christopher Hitchens? Isn't he always sounds drunk? He certainly sounds as if he is drunk. He certainly does hate the Clintons. If Hillary does become Secretary of State, wow! What an interesting choice. I remember he speech in China. She will be a terrific advocate for women around the globe. I am sick of hearing all the people on TV saying she will undermine him, she will have policies of her own, blah blah blah.....
Hillary Clinton has proven herself to be a loyal member of the democratic party and she is a great advocate for democratic policies, as is her husband. She has proven to be nothing like the things people say about her. She works hard. She is smart. They will work well together, she will work well with the whole cabinet, which seems like it will be made up of excellent women and men. I am just impressed. Can't wait to see what this administration does.
Thank you Joan for this sensible argument. I was a stauch Obama supporter throughout the primaries, but Hillary Clinton's potential appointment as SoS is nothing short of masterful. Talk about the impression this will have on world leaders - by uniting the already powerful Obama brand with the legendary Clinton brand you truly have a triple threat! It's like a super hero coalition of Democrats.
I think Bill and Hillary have been nothing short of gracious since she lost the primary, and they have shown through their words and actions that they are willing to do what is necessary to assist Barack Obama in any way possible. They campaigned vigorously and selflessly for him, and now it seems that Bill (Bill!) is happily jumping through all sorts of vetting hoops to get his wife the job. That shows class, humility and a willingness to serve. And it allows Obama to look like he is the one calling the shots (which he is, lest anyone forget).
In the line of succession?
Maybe the reason why some of us, who came to support Obama later in the season, are more trusting of this selection than the true-believers is that we came to him on rational grounds, which include trusting his judgement, whereas the earlier supports came to him on emotional grounds.
Operating under the assumption that you're asking seriously, the Secretary of State is foruth in the line of succession, after the VP, Speaker of the House, and President pro tempore of the Senate.
Nobody in msm or the blogosphere seems to have addressed the question as to what is it in the State secretary position for Clinton to outweigh her Senate role. I mean what foreign policy goals can she possibly achieve to ensure a place in world history. Has Obama already set some policy goals for Clinton? For Iraq? For Afghanistan? How comfortable or competent would she be in pursuing those goals?
Christians give up all personal responsibility by believing in a mythical "God", they stop critical thinking and do what the church tells them.
"I only think so if Barack Obama thinks so"
"Obama is smarter than us"
"We should just trust Obama"
Same pathology as the Obama supporters.
Must be nice to live in a world free of decisions and responsibilities.
We don't need any more professional politicians ...... however "qualified" they may be.
Obama's message of change should mean bringing in new people with a fresh perspective outside the "inbred" phenomena that Washington has become.
If it is simply a political appointment to appease members of the party, what makes him any different than anyone else?
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
