Yesterday, day three of an already bizarre convention snubbed by all
but one of the living past nominees and other big GOP names, played out
in a way most Hollywood producers would reject as too crazy a concept.
The
runner-up, Ted Cruz, gave a speech in which everyone expected him to
endorse the candidate, but he did not. Instead he urged his fellow
Republicans to vote their consciences. Hillary Clinton liked that line.
Trump entered the room just as Cruz was wrapping up his remarks, and Cruz was booed off stage in Showtime at the Apollo fashion. Newt Gingrich then came on and tried to twist Cruz's words or lack of them like a pretzel.
-The
incoherent statement from a Trump advisor calling Hillary "the Jane
Fonda of the Viet Nam" and calling for her execution for treason. This
the morning after Chris Christie roused chants of "lock her up" from
conventioneers. The advisor is under Secret Service investigation.
-An evening that began with a live band serenading delegates with Sweet Caroline.
Never really thought that the decay in democracy would happen to the music of Neil Diamond. #SweetCaroline#RNCinCLE
-The
detritus in the aftermath of Melania Trump's Tuesday night speech. I
haven't mentioned the purloined paragraphs here. Until yesterday, there
was a mist around how the passages came to appear on Mrs. Trump's
teleprompter. Finally, Meredith McIver, a Trump organization staff
writer, owned up to writing the piece based on ideas Melania read to her
from Michelle Obama's 2008 speech during a phone call. Aside from the
obvious: the accusations of plagiarism (it was - no attribution was
included), the denial (at first it was not clear that she knew she was
reading someone else's words), the equivocation (she said she wrote it
herself with as little help as possible), there is the small matter of
Ms. McIver's employer. She offered to resign and the resignation was
rejected, but resign from where? Ms. McIver is not employed by the
campaign and therein may lie an FEC violation.
CLEVELAND ― The revelation that Donald Trump’s
business staff writer Meredith McIver wrote the partly plagiarized
speech given by Melania Trump on Monday night raises questions about
whether his campaign is illegally commingling corporate and campaign
resources.
McIver does not appear to have any official role in the
presidential campaign. Her letter acknowledging her role in the speech
debacle appeared on corporate letterhead from the Trump Organization.
And she is not listed as being paid by the Trump campaign on any
available reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Corporations
are banned from donating directly or through in-kind services to
political campaigns. McIver could have volunteered her services, but her
offer to resign from the Trump Organization suggests that she was
acting within her job responsibilities. (Donald Trump rejected that
offer.) Read more >>>>
Meanwhile,
hardly a speaker takes the stage in Cleveland without bashing Hillary.
One of the memes is that laws do not apply to her the same way that
they do to everyone else, the reverse of James Comey's statement before the House Oversight Committee. Actually, that meme befits Trump and his
campaign more accurately.
Hillary Clinton wrapped up a marathon week at UNGA in New York City
this afternoon with every bit as much grace, grit, good humor, and
glamor as when she began. Her Smart Power Doctrine did double-duty
through most of the week as the president spent just 24 hours in town,
long enough to drop by for an appearance on The View and deliver his
address to the General Assembly. His regular meetings and events for
the rest of the week were covered by Her Excellency (along with her own
scheduled events) as Acting Chief Executive of the U.S. at her last UNGA
as Secretary of State. She did a spectacular job and has won praise
from some unlikely sources.
Newt Gingrich offered some praise of the Secretary of State on Fox News last night:
Hillary Clinton is a serious person, Barack Obama is an ambitious person. They’re very different personalities.
Hillary Clinton actually gets up every day, thinking about public
policy; Barack Obama gets up every day, thinking about Barack Obama.
They’re very different approaches to life.
Mayor Mike chimed in on his radio show as the New York Postreports.
With
speculation brewing about a possible Hillary Clinton run for the
presidency in 2016, Mayor Bloomberg today praised her as a shining light
in the Obama Administration and called himself a "big fan" of her work
as Secretary of State.
"She has worked as hard as anybody can work," the mayor observed on his weekly WOR radio show.
"I'm
not sure I agree with all her policies-- some yes, some no. But Hillary
Clinton is a class act and has worked over and above what you could ask
for somebody to represent the Obama Administration."
9/28/2012 11:36 AM ET
(RTTNews) - Hillary Clinton may have lost the Democratic primary to
Barack Obama back in 2008, but this week in New York, she was Secretary
of State and Commander-in-Chief all rolled into one as she acted as the
president's surrogate at the United Nations General Assembly.
Clinton, who arguably has closer ties with many of the world's top leaders than the president, took over many of the tasks usually left to the president during this week.
President
Obama only spent 24-hours in the city, choosing to eschew formal
meetings with world leaders to return to his campaign schedule. He was
the first president in over 20 years not to meet with a foreign leader at the conference.
Finally, Jezebeldoes
a great takedown of a snarky article in the Daily Mail when a
photographer caught a shot of doodles on the top page of Mme.
President's prepared remarks at a Security Council meeting.
Birds
do it. Bees do it. Secretaries of State hearing UN pleas do it.
Yesterday, a photographer caught Hillary Clinton aimlessly drawing on
her speech notes during a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East
peace process. The situation is grim, shooting, suffering etc., but all
of that starts to run together after awhile. Let's get to the more
interesting water cooler conversation-y stuff that doesn't bum everyone
out: what do Hillary Clinton's doodles tell us about her personality?
As breathlessly reported by The Daily Mail
(which helpfully included an unflattering picture of Hillary Clinton's
face contorting mid-wink with their coverage, you know, for added
clarity), Clinton appeared to space out during remarks given by other
diplomats, drawing an organized series of interlocking circles and a
star on a copy of her prepared speech.
WASHINGTON--President
Barack Obama decided not to do face-to-face meetings with global
leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly this week,
outside of courtesy calls to UN officials. The lack of in-person
meetings drew fire from Mitt Romney and other GOP critics. Obama
delivered a major speech to the UN on Tuesday. While it may be just too
close to the election for Obama one-on-ones, Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton held 25 meetings with leaders from around the world, a
State Department spokesman said Friday.
Mike
Hammer, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, recapping
Clinton's week told reporters Friday, "since arriving last Sunday and
starting her meetings then, held 25 bilateral and trilateral meetings.
"And
that is in addition to events that covered every region of the world.
For example, you saw the U.N. secretary-general's meeting on the Sahel.
We had a trans-Atlantic dinner with EU and NATO foreign ministers. We
had a Central American ministerial. We had an ASEAN foreign ministers
meeting.
Madame President, thank you, always, for your tireless and cheerful efforts. We wish you, as my dear friend Robyn always says, a peaceful and restful weekend. Job superlatively done!
