Well, having registered, in my last two posts, my rage at the rate information leaks out of the State Department's Bureau of Public Affairs, I have decided that if I am to continue maintaining blogs highlighting the activities of the Secretary of State, I have no recourse but to pick up the loose ends at the end of the week. So, no thanks to P.J. Crowley and his crew of sloths who have not posted any FlickR pictures since UNGA and the G-20 and who, as an afterthought, it seems, tweeted via Dipnote the Secretary's safe return to U.S. soil nearly 24 hours after she landed, here a a few events from the past week that were not covered on this blog.Pick up your Sunday paper: Secretary Clinton will be featured in an article by Leslie Gelb in Parade Magazine tomorrow. The article is online along with an extensive slideshow of 21 great pictures of our beautiful Secretary of State. I did refer to this article yesterday in a post at The Department of Homegirl Security, but have not announced it here. Althought the article is online, I know I'll want my keepsake hard copy.
Mid-East Peace Process fails to hit first gear: On September 22, 2009, addressing the UN Security Council, President Obama announced that he would request a report in one month from Secretary Clinton on the progress of the peace process in the Middle East. She delivered that report this week, and according to two sources the process remains in neutral. The New York Times reports:
That deadline arrived Thursday, and Mrs. Clinton went to the White House with what several administration officials acknowledge was a meager report: a little progress has been made, they said, but in some respects the atmosphere for talks is actually worse now than it was a month ago.
AFP reports:
Clinton gives downbeat report on Middle East to Obama
(AFP) – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered President Barack Obama a downbeat report on Thursday on his administration's so-far frustrated efforts to forge Middle East peace.
Clinton met the president in the Oval Office to deliver a keenly anticipated progress update on the Obama team's efforts to entice Palestinians and Israelis to overcome issues preventing a return to deadlocked peace talks.
According to AFP, Secretary Clinton did not mention the Goldstone Report which accused both sides of war crimes. Flip-flopping by Abbas and the Security Council and intransigence on the part of Israel regarding this report are central to the stall.
Secretary Clinton will travel to Pakistan soon: The announcement was made by P.J. Crowley at a press briefing yesterday prior to his introduction of Special Envoy to the AfPak Region, Richard Holbrooke. For security reasons, the dates are not being revealed.
Joan Walsh likes The Clinton Tapes, slams the anti-Clinton media, and likes Hillary in the kitchen: At Salon.com, Joan Walsh completed her review of The Clinton Tapes. She mentions portions of the book when Hillary is sitting in the White House kitchen having a glass of wine, helping Chelsea with homework, or other things - and she liked those parts.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Hillary Clinton Katie spotlighted Hillary and her amazing approval rating on Friday. Katie is glad to see Hillary getting the respect she deserves and so are all of Hillary's loyalists!
UPDATED 7:20 EDT 10-24-09
Kerry playing a greater role in Afghanistan with Clinton’s support: This is a real feel-good story. John Kerry, who expected to be named Secretary of State in the Obama administration, and ended up, as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, presiding over Hillary's hearing for the post instead, hands our girl a lovely compliment.
“We have an immense amount at stake in Afghanistan, and I felt ‘when you see a moment, move,’” Kerry told Politico earlier this week.He further confirmed that his working relationship with Secretary Clinton was “terrific”, and added that “I reached out to her, she gave me her confidence, she was completely supportive.”In truth, the two former Senate colleagues seem more settled these days in their parallel, post-presidential-candidate lives.
"She gave me confidence...." *SIGH* That's a HUGE compliment from Senator Kerry. Of course, I know Hillary gives confidence to a lot of people. For someone like Senator Kerry to say that, who was senior to her in the Senate and the chair of her confirmation hearing, that is a WOW! H/T to Sen. Kerry! (Nice work in Afghanistan, Senator!)
