There I was reading news when I saw a post on Firstread about Clinton attempting to "set the record straight" on the Kazakhstan story.
Clinton responds on Kazak issue - Firstread
Well this should be interesting.
Updated Title: From Cookiesandmilk - IOKICDI (It's OK If Cheney Did It!)
In an odd response to a follow-up question about her husband praising the Kazakh leader, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, who has led the country for 19 years, and suggesting he could lead an international election-monitoring organization, despite her coming out against his anti-Democratic government, Clinton noted that Dick Cheney had also gone to the country to praise its regime.
Wow, that's a striking comparison. Does everyone remember this?
Cheney's Oily Interests
Wondering why Vice-President Dick Cheney recently played footsie with Kazakhstan's autocratic leader--an oil-rich president with an awful human rights record whose recent re-election was fraudulent?
So Clinton's position is that Bill's surprising praise of a hated dictator is normal, pretty much politics-as-usual, as evidenced by Cheney's praise of the same hated dictator. Fascinating! Let's she what she had to add to that:
She went on to explain that she believed in using carrots and sticks in diplomacy and said these difficult issues required "seasoned leadership", especially in dealing with a region where the United States has many interests, from natural resources to fighting extremism.
Ah, seasoned leadership. Cheney had it. Bill had it. Their praise of dictators may SEEM immoral to the untrained eye, but a seasoned Washington operator can justify nearly anything in service to our "many interests".
Thanks for clearing this one up Senator.