Hillary Rodham Clinton for Secretary of State - thoughts?

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by DGTess

What qualifies her for anything, including Secretary of State? Six years in Senate do not a foreign-policy expert make, by a long shot.

Do we remember the "under sniper fire" story?

Remember, it was Tina Fey who made the Russia comment, and the Africa comment has been shown to be a hoax.

AND, she pilloried Bill Richardson because he dared to let his conscience, rather than party loyalty, be his guide. Mind you, Richardson is another kook, but Her Royal Hillary's treatment of him was atrocious.

Oh - a hawk when convenient, I see?

Life isn't (and shouldn't be) the union hall - seniority is garbage, meritocracy is fundamental. Let's focus less on temporal or ephemeral BS like "experience" and go for some more tangible qualities:

-Her hawkish views on Iraq/Iran (considerably further right than Obama) give a nicely-rounded view on foreign policy to the cabinet, especially when combined with Gates. Since you've shown yourself to be, basically, a far-right Republican, you should appreciate this sort of ideal - it's not stacked with "Obamabots," a decision that can only benefit us all.

-Her name/reputation is gold in many parts of the world, an important consideration when rebuilding from literally the lowest point in the history of America in terms of foreign reputation.

-She does indeed have substantive foreign diplomacy experience, although accrued as First Lady - you can argue that it was done for political gain, and we can point out her exaggerations, but that doesn't change the actual experience. Sure, her baggy ass didn't get shot at in Serbia, but she has visited 80+ nations, set up discussions and negotiations in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India (which Bush rejected, btw), etc. It's still there, even if we accept that her job is mostly to fly and wave.

-The angle she brings (more interested in human/woman's rights than any previous SOS) has genuine utility - far more so than, say, John Kerry's corpse (but he has EXPERIENCE!).

-Additionally, of all the major candidates save McCain, HRC showed the best preparation and ability to discuss and adapt to foreign policy concerns during the primary season - she's a wonk.

You can argue for intangibles, or argue that she sucks, or argue that you don't like her, but I doubt you can really rebut that she's uniquely qualified for the position. That doesn't mean she's necessarily best-qualified . . .

[a.e.B.O.T.]

Originally Posted by DGTess

What qualifies her for anything, including Secretary of State? Six years in Senate do not a foreign-policy expert make, by a long shot.

Do we remember the "under sniper fire" story?

Remember, it was Tina Fey who made the Russia comment, and the Africa comment has been shown to be a hoax.

AND, she pilloried Bill Richardson because he dared to let his conscience, rather than party loyalty, be his guide. Mind you, Richardson is another kook, but Her Royal Hillary's treatment of him was atrocious.

Right, Tina Fey said the words, "I can see Russia from my house"... but Palin still said she had FP experience because Russia is Alaska's neighbors///

The under sniper fire was the story I was alluding to about Clinton...

-Additionally, of all the major candidates save McCain, HRC showed the best preparation and ability to discuss and adapt to foreign policy concerns during the primary season - she's a wonk.

BULLSHIT! How?

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

You can argue for intangibles, or argue that she sucks, or argue that you don't like her, but I doubt you can really rebut that she's uniquely qualified for the position. That doesn't mean she's necessarily best-qualified . . .

Plus the fact that she's pretty darn intelligent (Wellesley undergrad, Yale law). I'm not her biggest fan, by any means, and I think this is a high risk pick for Obama, but saying she's not qualified for "anything" is going a bit too far.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by a.e.B.O.T.

BULLSHIT! How?

Umm . . . did you watch any of the debates? Anything at all? This isn't just my opinion, by the way - it was basically the consensus among pundits that HRC was the best-prepared during foreign policy debates (other than McCain), in spite of her somewhat hawkish stance, and she is known for being pedantic and constantly on-point in her briefing, preparation and talking points, which has real value for the Obama campaign. She might exaggerate, but she won't be caught with her pants down because she didn't do her homework (see: which papers does she read?).

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by Maat

but for whatever reason Obama wants her...

I think it is pretty easy to see why Obama picked HRC for Secretary of State. He is simply planning ahead.

A senator can take a year or two off from his/ her work obligations to run for President. Heck, we might not even notice if they aren't doing their job for weeks and weeks on end.

Secretary of State can't exactly do that, now can she?? She can't even utter a word in public to criticize the President she serves!

By selecting her for this position, I think Obama effectively elimnates HRC's option of running for president in 2012 AND does a great job of shutting her mouth to disagreement for 4 years. Pretty smart move, when you think about it!

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by thetalady

By selecting her for this position, I think Obama effectively elimnates HRC's option of running for president in 2012 AND does a great job of shutting her mouth to disagreement for 4 years. Pretty smart move, when you think about it!

This really just doesn't happen. The incumbent very rarely faces serious reelection pressure, and there's almost no way HRC would run against him unless things had fallen through the floor (in which case Obama is screwed anyway).

[33girl]

Originally Posted by thetalady

Secretary of State can't exactly do that, now can she?? She can't even utter a word in public to criticize the President she serves!

I certainly wouldn't say that.

[b_estes19]

even though rice did a good job, i always wondered how the middle east muslams thought of it having a woman instead of a man to deal with. i wonder also about all of husband bills bagage.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by b_estes19

even though rice did a good job, i always wondered how the middle east muslams thought of it having a woman instead of a man to deal with. i wonder also about all of husband bills bagage.

Tom, I don't think Bill has any baggage overseas. As KSigRC noted, the Clinton reputation (however overrated it has become here) has popularity in other parts of the world.