Would the Real Secretary of State Clinton Please Stand Up?

It’s been a rough few months for Hillary Clinton. The secretary of State has been trotting across the globe, carrying the diplomatic message of a man she accused of being unprepared for big decisions during the presidential primaries.

And yet, despite her loyalty to the cause, she is continuously upstaged. First it was Vice President Joe Biden in the Middle East and beyond. Then it was her worst professional nightmare — her own husband.

When Pyongyang let it be known they wanted to negotiate the release of two American hostages who inadvertently crossed into North Korean territory with the former president, Foggy Bottom shook with the cry, “Anyone but Bill!”

Poor Hillary. Her frustrations are understandable. When her aides heralded an upcoming policy speech earlier this summer as a major reflection of the Clinton Doctrine (HRC-style!), she didn’t exactly clear the bar. Weeks later, North Korea jabbed a stick (hey, it’s all they have left in that country) at her diplomacy skills, hurling international insults and calling her a “primary schoolgirl” and someone who looks like a “pensioner going shopping.”

The secretary’s ship appears to be taking on water even from this side of the globe, and within her own camp. The Daily Beast’s left-leaning editor, Tina Brown, called Clinton “Obama’s other wife” and remarked, “It’s time for Barack Obama to let Hillary Clinton take off her burqa.” Even The Washington Post piled on. Columnist Anne Applebaum wrote, “[I]t is up to her to tell us what she thinks is important, and why. If she hasn’t done so yet, that isn’t the president’s fault.”

Any mere mortal would have taken the month of August off with the fat cats in Congress after a verbal stoning of the dimensions she’s received. Treading onward, however, this week she found herself speaking at a university in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). But it didn’t take long to light her admittedly short fuse. When a student asked what “Mr. Clinton” thought about impending financial contracts between the DRC and China, Clinton lost it. “My husband is not the secretary of State, I am,” she told the student, who was clearly embarrassed. “I will you tell you my opinion; I’m not going to be channeling my husband.”

If you haven’t seen the video, folks, she wasn’t smiling when she said that. Aides quickly came to her defense today, blaming the bristled response on a “translation miscue.” Sure, and was it the same translator who told the Russians Mrs. Clinton wanted to push the “reset button”?

The point here is her husband — and even President Obama, for that matter — isn’t the problem. She is. When Mrs. Clinton wanted the fame and notoriety Bill Clinton brought when she was running for president, she gladly accepted it. Now he’s in her way, along with everyone else who wants to practice foreign policy. But it’s a big world, and Secretary Clinton clearly needs some help. She should embrace that, because ultimately it will reflect positively on her legacy.

The Reagan adage rings true. There’s no limit to what a person can accomplish if they don’t mind who gets the credit.

Williams can be heard nightly from 8 to 10 p.m. EST on Sirius/XM Power 169.

Visit www.armstrongwilliams.com .