totally agree....but, Who (OBambi/Shrillary) made the mistake?...whose Legacy?
Posted on 11/22/2008 12:54:47 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
In the office block in downtown Washington where Barack Obama's White House transition team are at work, there is no time for breaks.
Lunch is taken at desks. Staff need a good reason to go out at all.
But a little after lunch on Wednesday two Obama aides went to a local coffee shop to talk. Both were veterans of the campaign, hailed as the best organised and most disciplined in US history, which has made their boss the first black president.
Both had come to believe, in the crucible of the campaign, that Mr Obama's judgment was superior to their own. But when they met on Wednesday they agreed on one thing: "He's making a mistake." As one of the participants told a friend later that night: "She'll do a good job but she'll do it for herself, not for Barack. I can't bear the drama again."
She, of course, is Hillary Clinton, former First Lady, figurehead of Democratic women, presidential candidate with 18 million votes and now would-be Secretary of State.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Hillary looks set to take plum role – but for every plus there is a minus
REALPOLITIK: Trevor Royle
BACK IN 1993 when Bill Clinton was president-elect, he and Hillary stopped to buy petrol on their journey back to Washington. There’s nothing unusual about that, but while the car was being filled up Hillary remarked that years ago the man operating the pump had taken her to the high school prom. Bill’s reaction was to say, hey that’s amazing, you could have been the wife of a garage owner. No, responded Hillary icily, that guy could have been married to the president of the US.
All right, it’s a corny story, but like all political anecdotes it contains a smidgen of truth and no doubt it will do the rounds again this week when Hillary Rodham Clinton accepts Barack Obama’s invitation to become secretary of state. All of a sudden the front-runners - John Kerry, Chuck Hagel and Bill Richardson - have been exposed as tortoises as Hillary breaks through on the outside track.
If the leaks are true we can expect an announcement after this Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday - provided, of course, that her husband survives awkward disclosure issues concerning his international charitable work.
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Obama’s supporters say that she’s getting her grippers on the coveted post because of his desire to unite the Democrats in the wake of the bruising campaign to select a presidential candidate. The choice will also reinforce the president-elect’s reputation as a consolidator who is prepared to reach out and invite talent into his big tent.
However, the party’s greybeards say that it’s going to be one heck of a risk, that Hillary will be a divisive element and that her husband will be pulling all the strings.
There’s a lot to be said for both arguments. While it’s true that Obama won a crushing victory, it should not be forgotten that his earlier win over Hillary Clinton was a close-run thing and that she collected 18 million votes. It also nearly split the party and left a legacy of suspicion and recrimination which is still barely beneath the surface. By taking her on as secretary of state Obama is demonstrating that he entertains no hard feelings - and, more importantly, that he’s savvy enough to bring a big-hitting rival into his team.
Seen in that light the appointment will only attract more kudos - not only will it reinforce his generosity of spirit, but it will connect him to an experienced politician who can do much to put the sparkle back into the country’s tarnished international reputation.
Well, that’s the good news; unfortunately the flipside isn’t so encouraging. When Hillary Clinton arrives at the State Department she’ll be bringing with her an unnecessary amount of baggage. No-one doubts her political skills - she’s tough, feisty and very much her own person - but what does she actually know about world diplomacy?
During her campaign her assertions were at best woolly and at worst wrong-headed. Obama’s team expended a good deal of effort demolishing her foreign policy ideas during the summer, and on just about every count they found that she was opposed to everything their candidate was preaching.
Remember, too, that this is a senator who voted for the US invasion of Iraq - and if that isn’t enough of a black mark, don’t forget her curious memory lapses about coming under fire while visiting US forces in the Balkans.
So, she’s already scoring badly even before her personality and background are taken into account. As was widely observed when Obama toyed with the idea of making Hillary Clinton his running mate, he would be getting two for the price of one - and it wouldn’t be a bargain. That’s still the issue: wherever Hillary goes, Bill follows, and with him he brings his multi-million-dollar international fundraising activities, which are now rightly under scrutiny.
Worse, during the election run-in he made it perfectly clear that he views his wife as a return ticket to the corridors of power. Even if he disobeys every instinct by keeping himself to himself, it’s not straying beyond the bounds of possibility to suggest that the Clintons will view the State Department as a springboard for a renewed challenge in 2012.
Does Obama need that? No, he most certainly does not. Leaving aside the question of where a Clinton appointment will place vice-president Joe Biden, who was appointed for his foreign policy expertise, the sudden rush to get Hillary on board smacks of weakness, populism and compromise. Moreover, it’s the precise opposite of the confident clarion call “No-Drama-Obama” that brought the senator from Illinois to power.
Anyway, given the complexities of the job, good secretaries of state work alongside the president, not against them. With the best will in the world, Hillary Clinton won’t play second fiddle - not when a tilt at the job she really wants is still in the offing.
“In the office block in downtown Washington where Barack Obama’s White House transition team are at work, there is no time for breaks.”
In Obama’s campaign this is a virtuous work ethic. In the business world, it’s illegal.
All at once, I’d think - a straight appointment to the top.
Obama weak?
What choice do you have when the Arkansas Grifters put a gun to your head and make you an offer you can’t refuse?
Hillary gets SoS on her terms, Obama’s choice was that, or blackmail or Arkancide.
OMG....that’s AWFUL!
Great. I bought an Ocean Kayak today.
She may very well destroy the Obama Presidency so she can run again in 2012.
Dopey move Obama!!!
I was discussing the Hillary as SOC in another thread and I think americangirlrising hit it on the head:
It just hit me, and Obama is brilliant. Hillary is going to be a rival working against him in the Senate. Hire her as SOC, set her up, then fire her for poor performance. She leaves disgraced and without power.
Bingo! Not only sack her, but blame the pending “gird your loin” problem Biden warned us about HER mistake. Barry won’t have to fire her then... he’ll do what he always does and let the media do it for him.
Obama’s administration is already a colossal FAIL.
Obama may want to get Bill Clinton snared in the vetting process and bring the Clinton Team crashing down.
Don't worry, in a few months this mistake will seem like a minor misstep.
I have thought of this as well, not to mention if the economy would have tanked before the the convention. She would’ve been Vice President.
“I think this was really smart on O’s part. Let her give up her elected seat, goof it up on the world stage, and get fired. The Sec of State serves at the pleasure of the president. Then he can kick her out of DC once and for all.”
she has a VERY big stick, just in case he tries to pull that off.
No, no it was a stroke of genius. Best of luck to Mrs. Clinton.
Don't think for a moment HDRC hasn't done her version of calculus with the imagined demise of one through three. That comes to her more vividly and facilely than it would've to Don Corleone.
HF
Though Obama did reveal some sense of humor by appointing both Bill Richardson and cackling Hillary. This should liven things up at those dull committee meetings and he can chuckle at the white woman and Hispanic male going at each other.
btw, are there positions for Chelsea and Huma?
I see this as a choice between Trotsky and Stalin...they’re both nauseating choices to run our country.
Ed
As much as I hate to say this, I think she is seeing a two term presidency, and knows she will be too old to run then. Hence, she will try to make her mark as SoS. After all, she has very little seniority in the Senate. It would take years for her to get a lot of clout there.
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