Senator Clinton is one hawkish-Democrat who lost her White House bid in part because of her Iraq War vote. Despite pressure from her supporters during the primary campaign, she never admitted any regret over that huge mistake in judgment. She did not read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq prior to her vote, which only adds to her unfitness to serve in the capacity of Secretary of State. She doesn't deserve to be rewarded--in fact she should apologize to the troops.
On Friday, Nov. 21, when the major news outlets, who had been focusing on Bill and Hillary Clinton for the past week, began confirming that the leaks coming from the Clinton camp were no longer mere speculation, all I could wonder was, what is Barack thinking?
That afternoon MSNBC's Hardball host Chris Matthews asked his guest NBC political insider, Andrea Mitchell whether the rumor about Hillary Clinton was pure speculation or a done deal. When she emphatically answered, "A done deal," I must admit that my heart sank. A few minutes later I received an email news alert reporting the same fact from the New York Times, and I knew it must be so. This appointment to me makes absolutely no sense at all.
During the long presidential primary campaign, my memory was unfortunately refreshed as to why the Clintons made so many Americans uneasy when it came to putting them back in the White House. That soap opera was not worth a rerun then, and it certainly isn't worth one now. Bill pulled his typical shenanigans as he tried to "help" his wife win the nomination, and they backfired badly. His efforts became a thorn in Hillary's side and many observers even felt he was a contributing factor to her loss. This became apparent when respected civil rights leaders accused him not so subtly of using racist tactics for political gain.
Bill Clinton's current endeavors of philanthropy on a global scale could easily be deemed a conflict of interest if his wife becomes Secretary of State. The Orange County Register reported donations of $46 billion having been sent in support of his good deeds. This doesn't include the exorbitant fees he receives for his speeches. Middle Eastern and South American leaders are known donors and could present insurmountable conflicts for this dynamic duo. And believe me if you get one, you get the other one.
Would Hillary Clinton's own agenda be compatible with President Obamas? It is difficult to imagine that it would be. And given Senator Clinton's overbearing personality and self-centeredness, could Obama keep her within his vision of the party line?
Hillary consistently disagreed and ridiculed the stated foreign policy objectives that Barack Obama campaigned on. She repeatedly stated that he wasn't ready to pick up that 3 a.m. phone call, but Clinton felt that not only was she ready, but so was John McCain. She in fact stated that the both of them (McCain and Clinton) had stepped over the "Commander-in-Chief threshold," while Obama had only given a speech in 2004.
Hillary Clinton's hawkishness is well documented. She favored legislation last year to label Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which is that country's military, a terrorist organization. She also stated that under no circumstances would she want to speak to Iranian leadership, and Obama's willingness to do so was labeled by her as being naïve. She seemed at the time totally into the "bomb Iran" Republican chant that was going on, fitting in better with the right-wingers than she did with the Democrats.
And beyond these obvious obstacles of foreign policy differences and despite her constant claims, Hillary Clinton has no real foreign policy experience. She did in fact take numerous foreign trips as First Lady, but these were mainly to attend social functions and enjoy tea and cookies, although she did give a speech on women's rights in China. But these experiences are not the same as being in on talks with world leaders on serious global issues, despite the fake sniper fire in Bosnia.
I hope I will be proven wrong, but as Hillary, Bill and all their "people" are once again brought into the spotlight by the "done deal" of her being Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of State, I keep thinking to myself, no drama Obama, no more.
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