WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON - 4/25/10.

By Frank Marafiote

From The Village Blog

 

 What Hillary Clinton Didn't Say

By Marjorie Arons-Barron

The premise is important � the idea that, if troubled nations abide by the rule of law and have dynamic economies, they can ameliorate the conditions that terrorists can exploit to advance their causes. Everywhere you turn, even where military action is on-going, the success of United States outcomes depends on how we help others develop their governance and human infrastructure.

This was the theme again and again at the annual State Department briefing held Monday in Washington with a group of editorialists from the National Conference of Editorial Writers.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the point person to help Obama make the case for these initiatives in the FY2011 federal budget. Convincing editorial writers from around the country should matter. But, in contrast to her predecessors who for years have shown up annually to field questions and advance their agendas, Madame Secretary stiffed the National Conference of Editorial Writers (including this year's Pulitzer Prize-winning Dallas Morning News) without explanation, failing for the second time to show up as scheduled. In doing so, she turned her back on an important opportunity to get the word out about what United States diplomacy is trying to achieve and what�s at stake.

Marjorie Arons-Barron Blog 04/20/10

It�s Not Just the Usual Suspects Taking Potshots at Israel

By Clifford D. May

The cruelest cut in recent days was made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called on Israel to �continue building momentum toward a comprehensive peace by demonstrating respect for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, stopping settlement activity, and addressing the humanitarian needs in Gaza.� She implored Israeli leaders �to refrain from unilateral statements and actions that could undermine trust or risk prejudicing the outcome of talks.�

When Clinton was a U.S. senator representing the state of New York, she seemed to appreciate the existential threat Israel faces day after day. When she was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, she seemed to grasp that, as a matter of both principle and policy, the United States needs to stand up to its enemies and stand up for its allies.

But as President Obama�s secretary of state, Clinton has conducted Middle East diplomacy in a way that can be described as, at best, lacking coherence. At worst � borrowing a phrase from scholar Bernard Lewis � she is helping make America appear �harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend.� How can any good come of that?

National Review Online 04/22/10

Hillary Clinton again says she's tired

By Laura Rozen

Hillary Clinton has said several times that while she loves the job, she cannot imagine being Secretary of State beyond one term. Now, she tells Esquire again that she is worn out by the grueling travel schedule of the top envoy job,

"It wears you out," Clinton told Esquire. "The jet lag, the dry air on planes, the whole 'If it's Tuesday, I must be in...' kind of thing."

While there have been periodic rumors that Clinton would do everything from run as Obama's Veep, to head the World Bank to be nominated for SCOTUS, to run for New York governor, if you take her at her word, she may be looking to do what she cares about in promoting women's and children's opportunities from private life, perhaps similar to her husband's role at the Clinton Foundation.

Politico 04/22/10

Obama�s Bad Cop

By Michael Hirsh

Clinton's played the heavy with Iran, Russia, and even Israel�and her sometimes hawkish views are finding favor with the president.

Clinton is now influencing policy more than she ever has, especially in close partnership with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Subtly yet unmistakably, her somewhat greater hawkishness is beginning to show up in policy. While Obama's no slouch at showing displeasure himself, he's depended on Clinton to hammer Iran (which is becoming a "military dictatorship," she recently declared, setting the administration's new tough tone), and to harangue Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his defiance of U.S. demands for a settlement freeze. She also criticized the Russians in their own backyard over Moscow's work on an Iranian nuclear-power plant. Clinton politely plays down her role as Obama's bad cop. "I don't think there's anything as formal as that," she says. "With every tough message that I deliver, it is embedded in a much broader context. It's not, 'You're with us or against us.' It is, 'We have a lot of business to do.'?"

Newsweek Online 04/23/10

Hillary Clinton: She stoops to conquer

By Rupert Cornwell

One day, of course, Hillary will no longer be Secretary of State. So what then? The surprising answer may be: not a great deal. Political disclaimers should normally be taken with a generous pinch of salt. But in Hillary's case there is no reason to disbelieve her when she insists she will not run for president again � and when she says she does not see herself sticking in her present job beyond the end Obama's first term.

By the time election day 2016 rolls around, she will be 69; only Ronald Reagan was as old when he took office. She maintains that she plans a future of writing and teaching. Enoch Powell once said all political careers end in failure. But in Hillary Clinton's case the observation is true only in that she failed to crack America's ultimate glass ceiling. As for the rest: high-powered lawyer, First Lady, senator, Secretary of State � if that's failure, who needs success?

The Independent 04/25/10

 

 

Embark on a rewarding online casino journey.

Check out these exclusive designs from the
Hillary Clinton Quarterly.

---

"I think, therefore I blog"
apparel and gifts -- perfect for the special blogger in your life -- or for yourself! Visit
Rake's I-Blogger store.