Like Sand Through The Hourglass...

Yesterday, Plutonium Page asked for less drama and more facts on Hillary Clinton's nomination to be Secretary of State, but apparently Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times isn't ready to give up on the imaginary soap opera:

Usually, the men and women chosen for top cabinet roles are not well known to the public; if there is drama behind the scenes, most in the audience are blind to it.

That was hardly the case on Monday when President-elect Barack Obama introduced his national security team. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech was no ordinary public-service pledge; for plenty of viewers, it was the moment when Mrs. Clinton finally conceded the election for real.

Stanley, offering no examples of those "plenty of viewers," apparently forgot about Clinton's concession speech, her speech at the Democratic National Convention, or the following night when she moved that Barack Obama be "selected by this convention by acclamation." Apparently in Stanley's mind, none of those very public statements, nor the campaigning Clinton did for Obama, counted.

And, says Stanley, when Clinton "finally conceded the election for real," it was only possible with a ceremony "choreographed to avert awkward moments and camouflage past unpleasantness." Now, to the less discerning eye, it might have appeared to be a standard announcement and press conference, but apparently Stanley knows better. And along with her ability to know the minds of "plenty of viewers," Stanley recognized a:

...fleeting flashback to her primary season gamesmanship when she listed representing New York as a foreign policy credential.

Who knew? When Clinton said:

"You’ve also helped prepare me well for this new role," she told her Senate constituents. "After all, New Yorkers aren’t afraid to speak their minds and do so in every language."

...I simply took it as a rather charming and humorous way to thank and compliment her constituents, but apparently Stanley cracked some code that only she could hear. And not only does Stanley assign her own definition of what words mean, she can do the same thing with expressions. According to Stanley, when Obama was asked about the heated rhetoric during the course of the primary campaign:

Mrs. Clinton had greeted the question somewhat grimly, but as Mr. Obama answered, she slowly unfurled a smile. By the end, she managed to look almost as amused by the question as her new boss was.

Having watched the video, I saw Clinton nodding in agreement and looking genuinely amused when Obama joked with the reporter. Of course I didn't watch it with an agenda of pushing a non-existent drama and trauma story that so many in the media just won't let go of.