Hillary Did The Right Thing… Really!
By Steve_in_KC on July 15, 2010 at 9:30 PM in Bill Clinton, Current Affairs
One year ago , as this administration took hold and Hillary became Secretary of State, I got writer’s block. I just couldn’t figure out what to write about. Without a point of view to share, there didn’t seem much point in writing diaries for this blog. But then, I’ve always been more inclined to make introspective comments on the passing parade than to try to sell a point of view. And Ceiling Cat had the better view anyway.
About the time I faded from these pages last summer, there were two camps of loyal Hillary fans:
Those who wanted her to shun the Obama administration, and those who were happy she became Secretary of State. One group didn’t want her anywhere near this administration because they rightfully saw it as an endorsement of He Whose Middle Name Must Not Be Spoken, and even as a betrayal of those who worked so hard for her to become The First Female POTUS… only to have her turn traitor to our cause. I understand that point of view with a lot of empathy.
On the other hand, I ultimately think she did the most admirable thing by agreeing to serve her country as Secretary of State, regardless of who was President. Accepting the position of SOS comprised the most politically expedient, the most patriotic, and the most noble things she could do, given the cards she was dealt. So I guess that puts me in the other group. Do I sound wishy-washy? I am. But I’m just being an Independent Moderate, as always. Like Bill Clinton, I see myself as adhering to the Third Way, his famous philosophy of middle-of-the-road compromise, letting both sides win a little something.
From what I’ve heard since the summer of ’08, Hillary was not eager to serve in this administration, but agreed to become SOS after multiple requests from the “president-elect.” It’s quite easy for me to imagine a lot of soul-searching on her part, as evidenced by her last few campaign speeches, as she asked the crowd what she should do, what her followers would want her to do, after ceding the nomination fight. Perhaps she should have spent her political capital in one big binge, overtly working to expose the Obama campaign’s illegalities. If she had done anything like that, she’d have ruined her reputation. A too-high price to pay for what most would interpret as a pity party, serving up sour grapes.
My friends, I am 100% convinced that’s how it would have been portrayed, had she protested as much as we wanted her to. Behaving ungraciously would have been unthinkable. Others would have to expose Obama. She couldn’t, Bill couldn’t, and even her most rabid followers shouldn’t (maybe especially them!). She did the right thing, the only thing she could do. Fortunately she was wise enough to know that acting honorably was her only choice, despite being cheated not only of the Presidency, but the simple right to hear her delegates counted at the Convention, like all her predecessors had enjoyed. For her to face that much disrespect from the DNC, Obama, and his handlers, and still put on the eye-popping patriotic performance she did at the Convention, well, it just completely blew me away! I had to laugh because I knew that deep down in her heart she was on the level ABOVE the High Road! And yet she made it very clear that the voters had blown it!!
I guess she could have graciously turned him down and recused herself to her humble duties as a Senator, perhaps retiring from public life when her term expired. Hmmm. Let me think… obscurity, or traveling the world to engage with heads of state and be treated like royalty. And even have many opportunities to influence the destiny of the world. Hmmm. Such tough choices!
I know a lot of people here wanted her to be in this administration, especially as Secretary of State, to enhance her clout and to serve (save?) her country, as I have always thought she should. In fact, many indignantly insisted that she MUST be offered a major position at the highest federal level. It was owed to her, since she wasn’t offered the VP slot, but then “The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm spit, ” according to John Nance Garner (vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt). So other than being a federal judge, even a Supreme, which sounds boring and depressing to me, I think the role of SOS fits her best, plays to her strengths, and balloons her prestige throughout the whole world.
The main reason she didn’t get elected, according to many opinions I have heard, and I believe it to be true: she was still married to Bill. This may keep her out of serious contention for the near future, I fear. Morbid as it sounds, I think she will have a much stronger chance to win… as a widow. I hope that day doesn’t come soon. I love Bill Clinton, for all his flaws and foibles. I hope he’s around a good long time to come.
I’ll have more about Bill and his impact and influences on Hillary when next I climb down from the attic. Soon, I hope. The heat up here is unbearable, and this nosy cat is driving me crazy!



















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