Speaking to a crowd of 4,000 last night at Gibson Amphitheater
in Universal City, CA, Hillary Clinton called Edward Snowden's
absconding with four laptops containing sensitive information outrageous
and China's decision to allow him to flee detrimental to our complex
relationship with that government.
Delivering
a lecture sponsored by the Whizin Center for Continuing Education,
American Jewish University, she noted that diplomacy would be easy if
the only parties we spoke to were our friends. She cited the challenges
of building relationships with rivals as an area where women leaders
can make a special contribution and that the key is in recognizing and
celebrating our common humanity.
Asked about her decision to run
for president, she responded that she is happy to have made that
contribution. As secretary of state she was estranged from domestic
issues for four years but often used her experience in politics to
prod foreign leaders to trust increased democracy. She noted that the
U.S. needs to exemplify how problems can be solved in bipartisan ways.
The audience waited more than 45 minutes beyond the scheduled
starting time, but according to the tweets that emanated from the
auditorium patience prevailed. Hillary Clinton is always worth the
wait. Here are a few twitpics.