With the heat turned up as high as it can get between India and Pakistan, the madness going on in Thailand, the new tough talking Russians, the shaky Status of Forces agreement with the Iraqis and the every trigger ready Israelis poised to pounce on Iran, Syria Hamas and Hezbollah, the far left and the not so far left is left wondering why President elect Barack Obama is hooking up his primary archrival, for arguable the second most important job on the White House staff.
It was our understanding, that during the primaries Sen. Clinton was thoroughly exposed as having accomplished little more than establishing an acceptable reputation with world leaders via her tea sessions, photo opportunities and the occasional gratuitous hand shaking. It was never established that she attended and or participated in any high level cabinet meetings. We can’t recall any major deals done, any treaties signed or any conflicts resolved during her coattail riding as the first lady.
When the Clinton campaign leveled the charge at then Senator Obama for lacking the experience to answer the so called 3:00 AM call to handle a world crisis, she opened herself up to the same criticism for which she failed to adequately quell. With all the possible selections President Obama could have filled this critical post with, we get Sen. Clinton and her track record for being successful at nothing other than being popular.
When reviewing her major decisions, efforts and accomplishments, we see nothing but failures. During her eight years in the White House, she failed to get the Universal Health care off the ground, during her brief stay in the Senate, there where no earth shaking work done on behalf of New Yorkers and her latest disaster of a presidential campaign ended not only in a loss, but was clearly run poorly because of horrid decisions and personnel selections she was ultimately responsible for.
Somehow, this selection just doesn’t smell right on any level. We have an incoming National Security Team that includes a masterfully crafted group of talented, respected, and smart individuals with a near perfect blend of competence and experience. So why, we wonder is said team being offset with the symbolic selection of Hillary Clinton. For a reason or reasons, that at least for now will remain unknown, we can only speculate.
This nation has had to endure the ineffectiveness of incompetent Condoleezza Rice ever since she eased into Colin Powell’s seat nearly four years ago and not a damn thing has been accomplished for her meager efforts.
The fact of the matter is this country has had no accomplished leadership in the State Department since James Baker and Madeline Albright. Since these two left their positions at the State Department, we have had a flunky (Colin Powell) and an asshole (Condoleezza Rice) providing weak negotiating and diplomatic skills.
While we doubt the Indians and the Pakistanis are ready to go nuclear on each other any time soon, we have to worry about the two countries squaring off on their borders, thereby leaving the border of Afghanistan wide open. Even the tepid support and weak intelligence we were getting from the Pakistanis is far better than what we can expect if they feel they are forced to focus their attentions elsewhere. Without adequate boots on the ground to help deal with the Taliban and the growing threat of Al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan, the pentagon will be forced to reevaluate how the troop drawdown in Iraq will go down.
These are tumultuous times in the hottest region in the world right now and our strategic interest and national security are very much at risk as a result. We scarcely need a glad-handing teetotaler in a position where a hardcore deal making negotiator is called for. This weekend the word was out that perhaps Bill Clinton could serve as a mediator between Pakistan and India and oddly enough, we agree. Big Bill maybe able to provide significant assistance in this vain. But if this is the case, why didn’t they just not just consider Big Bill for the Secretary of State Gig and call it a complete winning team with no weak links.
In our opinion, this is one of those mysteries like what really happened to Jimmy Hoffa or who really shot JFK. We may never really know what possessed Barack Obama to pick Hillary Clinton for his Secretary of State.
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