Finally, there’s some HOPE in the World!- The Clintons go about building bridges with countries formerly insulted and snubbed by the Bush Administration!
It’s about damn time this country started making progress rather than the disfunctionality of a country caught in a turn of the century time warp.
Former president, Bill Clinton attending the World Economic Forum this week embraced the occasion for private talks with former president, Vladimir Putin. Apparently, President Clinton’s status works hand in glove in an atmosphere of friendship where he “will continue to be an active figure on the international stage.”
President Clinton’s arrival in Davos was well received by foreign leaders resulting in an intense late night discussion with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The two met at a Sheraton Hotel where Putin reciprocated holding a private party after an early evening reception at a local museum hosted by President Clinton.
After the two men met privately behind closed doors for 90 minutes, walking out together, they greeted party goers and stood for remembrances of their meeting. Clinton quipped at Putin’s remarks implying his supporting free markets. Joking, “I hope it works for him.”
Hillary breaks through the gridlock we’ve faced with Foreign Countries for 8 years with style, substance, charm and above all, a friendly invitation to all countries to resolve our differences and start building a united coalition for the benefit of mankind.
Just today, Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton met at the State Department with fourteen prominent Afghan women judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys. These jurists were in Washington to participate in a training program arranged by the Department’s Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan. Secretary Clinton told them: “Your American friends greatly admire your bravery and courage. It is your work in the tough environment of Afghanistan for women lawyers that will bring real reform and the rule of law to the Afghan people. As President Obama made clear yesterday in his first foreign policy announcement, we are committed to supporting your efforts to bring security and stability to your country.”
Hillary has done more in her first week on the job than Condi Rice did in eight years.
“Special envoys have been named for South Asia, the Middle East, and climate change, and George Mitchell, the Middle East envoy, is already on a listening tour in the region. She’s put in calls to more than three dozen leaders as part of an effort to reassure the world that the U.S. is committed to repairing damaged relations.
She’s made impressive development announcements, with an initial State Department commitment of $125 million this year to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and a pledge on behalf of the administration to work with other countries to halve global hunger and poverty by 2015.
Heres hoping Governor Paterson isn’t foolish enough to risk the anger and revenge of New Yorkers IF he appoints Caroline to Hillary’s seat!
It’s not like Caroline, if she intends to involve herself in politics, would snub an offer of an Ambassadorship to England, would she? There would be a certain historical symmetry to Kennedy becoming Ambassador to the Court of St James’s (the official title of the US ambassador to the UK). Her grandfather Joe was ambassador from 1938 to 1940, though he hardly covered himself with glory.
A successful stint in London by Caroline – and she seems admirably well-equipped for the job – would help remove the tarnish from that part of the Kennedy legacy. (Some insist Joe Kennedy was a Nazi sympathizer. I am not supporting the claim. Just stating it exists.) Plus Caroline is living with the fact, it’s not just herspotty voting record. I have read that she has been very parsimonious in giving financial backing or any kind of public support to fellow NY democrats running for office over the years.
For one who has shunned the public eye and shunned politics, who has no experience of actually running for office in any capacity, and who has done nothing for the State of New York (this is a Statewide office, not a New York City position) to presume that the job should be handed to her on a platter because she was born a Kennedy is not only ludicrous but insulting to those NY politicians who have labored for years for the party and the State.
Let her go to London. At least she can do no harm. I am sure that she is qualified to host dinners and order flower arrangements and preside over affairs of state and lost X-Pats Passports without much trouble. Caroline can make a run at the NY Seat next year, that is if she’s really interested in representing the state’s electorate.
I have to add, don’t you just love the fact that she has now dropped her married name? I guess Schlossburg doesn’t quite have the same cachet. If London isn’t quite good enough for Caroline, she should consult Joe (the former plumber) the War correspondent. He seems to have found the formula for winning over people simply because he can speak Truth to Power and really mean it.
Marist College released a poll showing 40 percent of voters back Cuomo to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton. Kennedy was favored by 25 percent; Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, 6 percent, and Reps. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) and Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan), each 5 percent.
Cuomo’s support has surged since a Marist poll last month showing Kennedy and him tied. In the new poll, 62 percent said Cuomo would do an excellent or good job as senator, while only 41 percent said the same of Kennedy. Poll Link
A key U.S. Senate committee has approved the nomination of Hillary Clinton as the next secretary of state.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-1 in favor of Clinton. The full Senate is expected to confirm the appointment shortly after President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Clinton Backs Six-Party Talks for Ending North Korean Nuclear Program
At her Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton expressed support for the Chinese-led six-party negotiations aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program. But she told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the negotiating process championed by the Bush administration is being reviewed.
President-elect Barack Obama said during the campaign that he was willing to try face-to-face diplomacy with leaders of adversary countries, like North Korea, if it would help resolve key problems.
But in her Senate testimony, his Secretary of State-designate said both she and the incoming President believe the six-party process, underway since 2004, has merit both as a negotiating vehicle and as a channel for bilateral dialogue with Pyongyang.
Hillary Clinton told the confirmation hearing that she and outgoing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have had several long conversations on the six-party process as part what she said is an “aggressive review” of North Korea policy by the Obama team.
Clinton Says US Should Use ‘Smart Power’ With Diplomacy in Lead
Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton told senators Tuesday that the Obama administration will exercise “smart power” in international affairs with diplomacy taking the lead.
Clinton made no direct criticism of the outgoing Bush administration, but she clearly suggested that it was overly-ideological and relied too much on military power, rather than diplomacy, to project U.S. influence.
In an opening statement at the Foreign Relations Committee hearing, the secretary-designate said the Obama administration will seek a world “with more partners and fewer adversaries.”
Clinton said she and President-elect Obama believe that foreign policy must be based on a blend of principles and pragmatism, and not rigid ideology, emotions or prejudice.
“I believe that American leadership has been wanting, but is still wanted. We must use what has been called smart power, the full range of tools at our disposal – diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural, picking the right tool or combination of tools for each situation. With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of our foreign policy. This is not a radical idea. The ancient Roman poet Terrence declared that in every endeavor, the seemly course for wise men is to try persuasion first. The same truth binds wise women as well,” she said.
Clinton signaled that she intends to build up the U.S. diplomatic corps, noting that Defense Secretary Robert Gates – who will be a Republican holdover in the new administration – has said the State Department and other U.S. civilian agencies abroad have been under-funded and under-manned for too long.
The secretary-designate outlined the general principles of the incoming administration but offered few specifics, saying key issues such as the idea of opening a U.S. diplomatic post in Iran, remain under review.
She did stress a continuing U.S. commitment to seeking peace between Israel and the Palestinians, pointedly expressing concern about civilian casualties on both sides resulting from the current conflict in Gaza.
FAIR AND BALANCED MEDIA COVERAGE? YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
At least Tina Fey’s mimicking of Sarah Palin was in good fun with Sarah Palin included in the joke. The unabashed ridiculing of Sarah Palin by the Media particularly Katie Couric was for what good reason?
Reporting the news as it was happening in a fair and balanced way? The unjustified cutting insults thrown at her family was for what good reason? Presenting a warped image of Sarah Palin’s personal life? To embarrass and humiliate her casting her as a less than capable intelligent contender for the VP slot?
Sarah Palin taking the bull by the horns… Good on her!
“I’ve been interested to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled and if she will be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope. … It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out and I think that as we watch that we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus, say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be.”
Turning the tables on the media has it’s benefits. It will be on Sarah Plain’s terms not theirs. Their questions will be without notice. Responsible for answers that will be analyzed, scrutinized and dissected by the public.
Dean remained silent during the sexist and misogynistic attacks against Hillary and Palin during the election season. Only after the election did Dean finally speak up in outrage. But the outrage was feigned. Good riddance to Howard Dean.
If Gov. Rob Blagojevich is guilty of trying to sell a Senate seat in Illinois, then Caroline Kennedy is guilty of trying to buy one in New York.
It is time to lay the Camelot myth to rest, and it is time for Caroline to stop using the name Kennedy to get an appointment that she doesn’t deserve and instead use the name Schlossberg to apply for the many jobs she is eminently qualified for.
If Gov. Paterson appoints Caroline Kennedy to the United States Senate, it will be (to use the words that were said of the gifted attorney Sir Thomas Inskip when he was appointed England’s Minister for the Coordination of Defense in 1939, a job he was not qualified for) “the most cynical appointment since Caligula made his horse a consul.”
WASHINGTON — Even before taking office, Hillary Rodham Clinton is seeking to build a more powerful State Department, with a bigger budget, high-profile special envoys to trouble spots and an expanded role in dealing with global economic issues at a time of crisis.
Mrs. Clinton is recruiting Jacob J. Lew, the budget director under President Bill Clinton, as one of two deputies, according to people close to the Obama transition team. Mr. Lew’s focus, they said, will be on increasing the share of financing that goes to the diplomatic corps. He and James B. Steinberg, a deputy national security adviser in the Clinton administration, are to be Mrs. Clinton’s chief lieutenants.
Nominations of deputy secretaries, like Mrs. Clinton’s, would be subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The incoming administration is also likely to name several envoys, officials said, reviving a practice of the Clinton administration, when Richard C. Holbrooke, Dennis Ross and other diplomats played a central role in mediating disputes in the Balkans and the Middle East.
As Mrs. Clinton puts together her senior team, officials said, she is also trying to carve out a bigger role for the State Department in economic affairs, where the Treasury has dominated during the Bush years. She has sought advice from Laura D’Andrea Tyson, an economist who headed Mr. Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers.
The steps seem intended to strengthen the role of diplomacy after a long stretch, particularly under Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in which the Pentagon, the vice president’s office and even the intelligence agencies held considerable sway over American foreign policy.
No one has forgotten Powell’s plea for the rush to War at the UN while holding up a vial of faux yellow-cake for the camera. Showmanship has always been a Powell strength mainly used for residual credibility for the public’s consumption. Powell is the Forrest Gumperism of the Bush dynasty. Take him out of moth balls and you don’t know what to expect.
Given Mrs. Clinton’s prominence, expanding the department’s portfolio could bring on conflict with other powerful cabinet members.
Mrs. Clinton and President-elect Barack Obama have not settled on specific envoys or missions, although Mr. Ross’s name has been mentioned as a possible Middle East envoy, as have those of Mr. Holbrooke and Martin Indyk, a former United States ambassador to Israel.
The Bush administration has made relatively little use of special envoys. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has personally handled most peacemaking initiatives, which has meant a punishing schedule of Middle East missions, often with meager results.
“There’s no question that there is a reinvention of the wheel here,” said Aaron David Miller, a public policy analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “But it’s geared not so much as a reaction to Bush as to a fairly astute analysis of what’s going to work in foreign policy.”
Hardly- No one is reinventing the wheel here. What Mrs Clinton mission is, is replacing the wheels fallen off and left by the wayside since 2000.
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, JFK’s only surviving child, has spent a lifetime on one podium or another, but has never sought elected office, a gap in her resume that is leading some fellow Democrats to ridicule the notion of naming her as Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s replacement in the U.S. Senate. As noted in this scathing article “Caroline, The Red Queen.”
But others say the Manhattan attorney, author and head of the Kennedy Library Foundation may hold even more valuable qualifications as the keeper all these years of the Camelot flame.
Through the decades, as male kin made headlines about drug use and scandals involving women and alcohol, Caroline was quietly attending Harvard University, raising a family, and leading educational reform projects and charitable endeavors that exemplified that Democratic dynasty’s creed of public service as the highest calling.
“Any time a Kennedy is on the list, they’re always at the top of the list,” said state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli last week, calling her “an outstanding choice” for the Senate.
Just because Caroline acted responsibly like we all do when we are goal oriented. Has nothing whatsoever to do with her worthiness as the Best choice for the vacating senate seat of NY Senator, Hillary Clinton. The question is this :
“Who is Best suited to represent NY in the years ahead?”
But the idea has stirred resentment in career political circles, and little enthusiasm among Clinton loyalists when Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama for president this year.
“She has not made the case that her record matches the other prospects,” said Democratic national committeeman Robert Zimmerman of Great Neck, a top Clinton fundraiser. As many of us voiced our opinions that “Nepotism IS ALIVE and WELL” amongst the Kennedys’, Cuomos’ and Bidens’. We are in full agreement with Zimmerman.
Kennedy’s most significant personal achievement may be her part in the movement to reform and upgrade New York City’s public schools. She served two years as chief executive of the Office of Strategic Partnerships, raising more than $65 million in private funds for city schools. She is vice chair of the Fund for Public Schools and on the board of New Visions for Public Schools, a longtime school-reform nonprofit.
In a NutShell… Fund Raising is a far cry from the skills necessary for working towards passage of legislative issues concerning the Public Welfare. Or crafting legislation in terms your colleges will support. Having the knowledge and the expertise convincing those Senate colleges who object to the legislation, persuading them in strategic terms within your senatorial quiver agreeable to both parties in the Art of the Deal. Has nothing whatsoever to do with Fund Raising experience.
Caroline has NEVER had to compromise or settle for less than she originally requested. For all intents and purposes; Caroline choosing Obama over Hillary is a strong indication to Senate colleges, LOYALTY and TRUST are not two of Caroline’s strong suits.
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President’s Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence. History On January 10, 1780, the Second ... Continue reading →
It’s about damn time this country started making progress rather than the disfunctionality of a country caught in a turn of the century time warp.
WASHINGTON — Even before taking office, Hillary Rodham Clinton is seeking to build a more powerful State Department, with a bigger budget, high-profile special envoys to trouble spots and an expanded role in dealing with global economic issues at a time of crisis.
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Hillary Unleashed 