It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but I’m already feeling thankful. I’m humbly thanking God it’s impossible to overdose on Alka-Seltzer. The latest rumored addition to the Obama administration has me reeling in nauseous delirium.
Be seated. Compose yourself. Remove all food and drink from the vicinity of your esophagus: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
We know Obama had to throw some chum to the Clintons. Like it or not, they’ve got enough clout to seriously undermine him if he doesn’t. Those are the rules of the game. We accept that. But Secretary of State?
What, exactly, qualifies her to be Secretary of State? Was it her endorsement of the Iraq invasion, or eight years of presiding over the annual White House Easter Egg Roll? Was it standing silently by Bill when he incinerated a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, thereby ridding the world of a potentially dangerous janitor? Was it a sickly combination of all three?
Come to think of it, I really don’t want to know the answer. I suspect that passive compliance in the face of senseless killing is, in fact, a top qualification for the job. I guess her stoic resolution has finally paid off.
Couldn’t he have just appointed her to something like, oh, I don’t know, Ambassador to Luxembourg? Hell, just create some phony position and call her a Czar or, in this case, Czarina. Adult Literacy Czar. Infant Nutrition Czar. Czar of the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission to Study the Reconstruction of Third World Pharmaceutical Plants. I don’t know. Think of something. You’re the president, man! Did you have to give her the juiciest appoinment of all?
We have a million choices of gum, toothpaste, and (thankfully) antacids. But when it comes to political leadership we get two flavors: rancid and bittersweet.
I have no real objection to this appointment, if it is ultimately confirmed. As a cabinet secretary it will be her job to follow the president's policy, not to set her own.
Whereas in the senate she can remain as militant as she likes, in the state department she would by definition be concerned with diplomacy.
Posted by: Mahakal on November 21, 2008 6:56 PMI think after years of Repubs campaign against the Clintons, even liberals are brainwashed by their constant bashing of them. Why the hatre for Clintons? are they so different than other centrist Democrats? remember that Hillary Clinton made Universal Healthcare her single most important crusade.
Posted by: my2pennies on November 22, 2008 2:45 AMI agree with OHollern here, this is nauseating. Sure, Hillary will have to follow the President's policy, but her appointment proves there is not a dime's worth of difference between them on foreign policy. Obama may have opposed the Iraq war early on, but that could have been a strategic political move rather than an indication that he espoused a fundamental change in US foreign policy. Apparently he does not - the era of American exceptionalism is not over.
Liberals are not "brainwashed" by the Repubs against the Clintons, we were appalled by the policies of the Clinton administration: NAFTA, the destruction of the social safety net, the relentless bombing of Iraq, etc., etc. We also remember that when given the opportunity to bring universal health care to the nation, Hillary Clinton made a devil's bargain with the insurance companies and corporate bloodsuckers to construct a Rube Goldberg proposal that her husband didn't waste any precious political capital to enact.
Where's that Alka-Seltzer?
Posted by: Charles on November 22, 2008 9:06 AMI can't help thinking that this is not the most effective use of Hilary Clinton. I also can't help thinking that if you're gonna make a Clinton Secretary of State, it oughta be Bill.
But that's just me.
Posted by: Roddy McCorley on November 22, 2008 3:43 PMAgree. It should be Bill.
Think about how much effort the Repubs have spent in demonizing the Clintons. I'd say you can dislike the policies, but it seems we bought into to Repubs propaganda so much that there seems to be a constant bashing/ hatre for the Clintons from the left. That's just irrational. Now Obama will be making policies, SOS will just carry it out, will "nausating" apply to Obamam too?!!
Posted by: myth on November 22, 2008 5:10 PMIsn't this special. The flatulent twaddle about "hatred" for the Clintons and the junk psychology insight of "brainwashing" belong in the lower end wingnut forums. They're cretinous and deeply shameful.
It's no wonder Democrats can only win elections when Republicans have all but destroyed the country. A substantial bloc of their supporters is determined to erase the differences between the two parties. They make the Clintons' anti-liberal agenda superfluous.
Posted by: Jim on November 22, 2008 9:23 PMI don't care for Sen. Clinton's foreign policy positions either but for pity's goddamned sake I don't see wtf the White House Easter Egg Roll has to do with the matter. Is OHollern irritated at her because she's a woman or because she supported the Iraq invasion? The issues can and should be separated.
Posted by: Martha Bridegam on November 23, 2008 1:44 AMWell, it's inevitable, I guess. I guess I'll join in the Hallelujah chorus. HRC may not be so bad. If Hillary accepts, to paraphrase what Harry Belafonte said of Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War,
Clinton will be the best Secretary of State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .that Barack Obama has.
Posted by: Vigilante on November 23, 2008 11:23 AMIt's difficult to understand why people who call themselves Democrats are so enchanted by candidates with overtly anti-Democratic (big D) policies. Perhaps the left is no better than the right with respect to voting for the person they like? Most voters ignore policy issues because they aren't explained on teevee. Which is why we get Presidents like Clinton, who say Democratic words and act Republican every time it counts.
It's also difficult to understand why people are surprised that the ultra-centrist, dare I say Broderist, president-elect is choosing DLC people and Republicans. It's what he said he'd do, then he does it, and his supporters are shocked. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
As long as Democrats are crediting Hillary for her grotesque failure on health care, we can expect the corporations to continue to deny it to us. Oh, for a true Democrat!!
Posted by: Chuck Dupree on November 23, 2008 5:34 PM