Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Hillary Clinton at Orlando HIMSS14 Talks Politics and Putin

According to Twitter reports, Hillary knew she was being tweeted from the HIMSS14 Conference , asked to be photographed on her best side (as if she has a bad one), broke out the political and  geopolitical talk early, and praised the health care community.  "You have continued on a path I made just a few footprints on."

Telling  healthcare professionals that we are on the cusp of extraordinary advances in healthcare due to technology, she encouraged the gathering of evidence and discouraged decision making in "evidence-free zones."  Telling her audience. "We need to leave the blaming, gaming, shaming and point-scoring at the door," she suggested we "fix what doesn't work together"  saying "good data leads to good decisions."

In the Q & A session, the first question was about Russia, Putin, and the situation in Ukraine.  Hillary did not hold back.  Citing Putin's Soviet KGB background, she told the audience that from his perspective the breakup of the Soviet Union was the greatest catastrophe and that his aim is to reconsolidate the union.   Comparing Putin's regime to those of the czars and the communists, she said there is no doubt that he holds absolute authority.  Affirming her support for the people of Ukraine,  she warned that we need to thread the needle carefully in our relationship with Putin.
Some in the audience seemed confused, even disconcerted,  that foreign policy was a point of discussion at a healthcare conference.  We who know Hillary's work well know that she would have no problem drawing the lines of relation between the two.  Others seemed surprised that she works without a teleprompter.  We would simply remind them that this is how it is with somebody who knows her stuff. 

Here are some twitpics from the event.

02-26-14-TW-02 02-26-14-TW-03 02-26-14-TW-04 02-26-14-TW-05 02-26-14-TW-06 02-26-14-TW-07 02-26-14-TW-08 02-26-14-TW-09 02-26-14-TW-10 02-26-14-TW-11 02-26-14-TW-12 02-26-14-TW-13 02-26-14-TW-14