Thanks to President-elect Barack Obama, the Clintons now have the spotlight for the foreseeable future. We aren’t objecting, since the Clintons are a national pastime unto themselves. Before an all-smiles rollout, expected to take place next week, let’s take a moment to consider the bold choice of Hillary Rodham Clinton for secretary of State.
Sure, Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) is qualified, has the gravitas, studies hard and will do a good job in her duties at State. But will we never see a story about Bill Clinton stepping over the line? Not a chance. Will foreign leaders meeting with Hillary be thinking of Barack? Perhaps, but they will be considering Hillary and Bill as well. Every time.
This is No Drama Obama’s choice, one he made with eyes wide open. Any, and every, iota of coverage about any Clinton soap operas connected to her service in his administration is something he asked for and something he knew would come. Hillary offers Obama something so special it was worth all the baggage she carries onboard.
Who else could apply for this most prestigious and critical job having not read the National Intelligence Estimate before voting to approve the use of force in Iraq? Who else would be chosen for this job who is literally, politically unfireable? Who else could be considered for such a post after fictionalizing, or fantasizing, about sniper fire in Bosnia?
In December of 2007, The New York Times published a story that included the following two paragraphs that quickly became Obama campaign talking points:
“But during those two terms in the White House, Mrs. Clinton did not hold a security clearance. She did not attend National Security Council meetings. She was not given a copy of the president’s daily intelligence briefing. She did not assert herself on the crises in Somalia, Haiti and Rwanda.
“And during one of President Bill Clinton’s major tests on terrorism, whether to bomb Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998, Mrs. Clinton was barely speaking to her husband, let alone advising him, as the Lewinsky scandal sizzled.”
That was a long time ago, of course — 11 whole months. Ancient history. But consider the Texas two-step Hillary Clinton’s team engaged in recently. According to The Washington Times , Clinton continued campaigning for delegates after she endorsed Obama in June, allowing her to transfer $6.4 million from her indebted presidential campaign to her Senate campaign. According to the Times, this falls outside of the legal deadline for such activity, but her campaign treasurer told the Federal Election Commission that “the committee continued to actively contest for delegates at the state and local delegate-selection events during the month of June … Nothing in Senator Clinton’s remarks indicated she was withdrawing from the race.”
Recall those weeping women at the National Building Museum — or Bill fighting back tears as he watched Hillary tell the crowd that “we must elect Barack Obama our president. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him” — apparently they were NOT watching Hillary withdraw from the race that morning.
Breathtaking, really. To fully grasp this explanation you might have to be the kind of person who asks what the meaning of “is” is, as only a Clinton can. Don’t worry about whether it makes sense; Obama thinks it does.
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