During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sarah Palin was asked to
articulate the Bush Doctrine. She was unable to. If Hillary Rodham
Clinton is ever in a similar situation, she will have no problem citing
intricacies of doctrines established by the Obama administration because
they will be her own.
In 2009 she rolled out her "smart power"
plan as resting on the tripod of the "3 Ds," defense, diplomacy, and
development. Her excellent relationship with then Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates permitted her to include defense as part of a plan that
fact prefers the use of soft power - diplomacy and development -
whenever possible, to drive U.S. leadership in the 21st century global
village. When she initially introduced the 3 Ds they were called the
"Obama-Clinton Doctrine" but soon Obama was dropped, and it has become
signature Clinton Doctrine.
Taking a page from her colleague and
friend Gates, she also established, early in her tenure as SOS, her
Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) aimed at assessing
services across DOS, USAID and other departments and agencies in order
to reducer replication of services and integrate services provided among
the agencies. The amazing aspect of this seemingly herculean task was
that when the QDDR was unveiled in December 2010 the most difficult
task, the actual integration of agencies and departments had already
been effected, as Anne-Marie Slaughter announced in an almost off-handed response to a question from a staffer. Secretary Clinton had, for all practical purposes, commandeered
agencies within other departments and was CEO of a new State Department -
one that had tentacles throughout the cabinet. Even more amazingly,
nobody was crying "foul" or complaining that she had stepped on any
toes! On the contrary, this overhaul was apparently simply accepted.
This
past Spring, she made several speeches on the economy. In every one
she referred somewhat cryptically to a "bigger speech on the economy"
that she would be making in the Fall. There has been a great deal of
speculation about this upcoming speech. When would she make it? And
where? UNGA has come and gone, and it was not there. Finally, today, a
breakthrough. Laura Rozen for The Envoy gets credit for the scoop as we get a glimpse of what is in the offing.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Sept. 26, 2011. (David Karp/AP)
As
a practical matter, the complex work of managing American relations
with China--the leading creditor of the United States--falls only in
part to America's top diplomat, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Witness Senate Democrats' vow to take up legislation
this week that could sanction China for allegedly undervaluing the
yuan--at the cost, according to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), of American
jobs. But if Clinton has her way, she'd have more of a say.
If
the fight against terrorism dominated American foreign policy in the
decade after 9/11, the decade ahead could well be defined by efforts to
manage the U.S. role in the global economy.
And in many ways,
Hillary Clinton's diplomatic portfolio is increasingly dominated by
global economic challenges. Trade issues obviously have a direct impact
on America's efforts to emerge from the present economic downturn--from
the battles over the national debt to the need to stimulate job growth.
But economic issues also shape other less-noted features of the American
foreign-policy agenda, be it the effort to contain fallout from
Europe's debt crisis, to managing the rise of G20 economic powers such
as Brazil, Turkey and India—all of whom come bearing their own foreign
policy ambitions. As a result, diplomats say, economic and foreign
policy are growing ever more intertwined. Read more>>>>
So
there is to be yet another doctrine established within this
administration and by the same member. At the end of the day, it
seems, the only doctrine of this administration that will still have
Obama's name on it is "Leadership from Behind" ... from behind this woman.
This morning CSPAN rebroadcast Tuesday's "Conversation with Secretaries Clinton and Panetta" at the National Defense University. There was a point at which Frank Sesno, the moderator, was driving hard at Secretary Clinton on the issue of Telling Hafez Al Assad he had to go. Here is the exchange:
MR. SESNO: A couple other issues in the time remaining. Syria – is it time for the United States to clearly, emphatically, unequivocally state that President Asad has to go, should step down? There’s been talk that that is going to be forthcoming from the Administration. It has not been yet. Is today the day?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Frank, I’m not a big believer in arbitrary deadlines when you’re trying to manage difficult situations. And what we see happening in Syria is galvanizing international opinion against the Asad regime. And that is a far better landscape for us to be operating in than if it were just the United States, if it were just maybe a few European countries.
Just think of what’s happened in the last two weeks. You’ve had the Arab League reverse position. You’ve had King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia make a very strong statement and the Gulf Coordinating Council also making a strong statement. You had Turkey desperately trying to use its influence, which is considerable within Syria, to convince the Asad regime to quit shelling its own people, withdraw its troops from the cities, return them to barracks, begin a process of real transition. And yesterday, the foreign minister made it clear that the Asad regime is not following through on that.
So I happen to think where we are is where we need to be, where it is a growing international chorus of condemnation. The United States has been instrumental in orchestrating that. And we are pushing for stronger sanctions that we hope will be joined by other countries that have far bigger stakes economically than we do.
MR. SESNO: I get all of that. But you know that your critics are saying leading means being out in front, that you condemn from the White House the heinous acts of the Asad regime, but –
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, look, we have condemned it, and we will continue to condemn it.
MR. SESNO:So tell him to leave.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I have to say I am a big believer in results over rhetoric, and I think what we’re doing is putting together a very careful set of actions and statements that will make our views very clear, and to have other voices, particularly from the region, as part of that is essential for there to be any impact within Syria. I mean, it’s not news that the United States is not a friend of Syria’s. That is not news to anybody. But it is, I think, important that we send an ambassador back there. I’m very proud of what Ambassador Ford has done, representing the best values of our country. So I think we have done what we needed to do to establish the credibility and, frankly, the universality of the condemnation that may actually make a difference.
Watching this again this morning, I wondered who Sesno thought he was talking to. It seemed to me that he was assigning to the secretary of state a responsibility that is the purview of the White House. There was a point in this exchange at which Hillary Clinton shrugged her pretty shoulders, took a deep breath,and almost seemed to swallow the words that wanted to come out - words to the effect that the decision to tell Assad to go was not hers to make. That she, in fact, is not the president.
The announcement, of course, was made Thursday morning on camera by the secretary of state. It was the only thing on her public schedule.
All of last week her public schedule was light and full of gaps. As pretty and well-groomed as she always looks, it would be easy to suppose that in those empty hours she was getting her mani/pedi, having her highlights refreshed, visiting Georgette Klinger's for a facial. But the fact of the announcement on Thursday implies that things were very busy at the State Department during the week with the SOS spending long hours on the phone with our partners, her counterparts in the region, to effect the international agreement that made the announcement possible, all of which leads me to the first article in today's review.
Sarah Palin, appearing with Greta Van Susteren this week, said what Frank Sesno appeared to be thinking as he questioned the secretary of state, that she projects such a powerfully presidential image that it is hard to remember that she is not the president. I know. I know. This is Newsmax. I know. But it is short and simply reports what Palin said.
Sarah Palin said Thursday — after hearing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announce the United States is demanding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go — that she wondered whether Democrats wish they had chosen Clinton as presidential nominee in 2008 instead of President Barack Obama.
You can see the exchange here in this video from Team Hillary Clinton, and it is not just Sarah who thinks our girl looks presidential, either. Greta said she felt like she was watching the president.
Lynn Forester de Rothschild rang in this week in an interview at Salon. While she does not hold any hope of a Hillary run, she certainly pulls no punches when it comes to Obama's performance.
A lot of people know you as a prominent Hillary supporter in 2008. Going from Hillary to Huntsman -- have you changed ideologically?
You know, if I were able to pick the president, it would be Hillary Clinton. I still consider myself a Clinton Democrat. But the Democratic Party has been so cowardly in standing for the things that Bill Clinton did that made the country so strong in the 1990s, that I have no time for the Democratic Party anymore.
Political observers of a certain age will remember the night of March 31, 1968. At the very end of a long speech about the Vietnam War, President Johnson shocked the nation with his announcement that “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
Don’t be surprised if Obama makes a similar announcement.
Since the moment I heard Hillary Clinton say, "I'm in it to win it," I have been inspired by the idea of this woman in charge ... of her taking charge. She said, "Let the conversation begin," and we told her our concerns, our hopes, and dreams. She laid out plans. There was a lot that was broken in our country in 2007 and 2008. There is a lot more that is broken now.
If you are a single-issue voter, and I do not really think that most Americans are, it is easy to think that Obama is not fighting for you. Those with a commitment to Israel think he is not fighting hard enough for Israel. But if you look at the bigger picture, you will notice that neither do the supporters of Palestine think he is fighting enough for them, either. Many are worried about the jobs crisis, and none more than the African American community that helped sweep Obama into the Oval Office.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), responding to the high unemployment rates in the black community, said that African-Americans feel President Barack Obama "needs to fight, and fight harder."
The wheels are off the Obama bus. It's up on the cinder blocks on some rental property in Martha's Vineyard this weekend. It is the end of the summer of discontent for a president who's clearly in over his head and whose wallowing is most unbecoming.
So perhaps Mr. Obama should take Russell Halley's suggestion, execute an LBJ, and get out of the way so a real fighter can legitimately and without rancor get into the ring. You know the one. She looked so presidential on Tuesday and Thursday that Frank Sesno, Sarah Palin, and Greta Van Susteren along with millions of American TV viewers had the impression that the lady with the big blue eyes, easy smile, and quick, thorough responses already was the president. She might as well be. The cockpit is unmanned.
Update: Tacking on this one, posted by Jennifer. Ed Morrissey at Hot Airalso thinks Obama could reneg on a rerun and Hillary could walk in.
posted at 10:20 am on August 21, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
If unemployment starts rising and growth remains low in the next few months, Democrats may insist on Obama finding a graceful exit before the primaries. And guess who that leaves with an open path to the Democratic nomination? Hillary Clinton. She can step into the void with promises to return America to the economic policies of her husband.
One of the Team Hillary Clinton teammates dreamt this yesterday. Before 12 hours had elapsed, another very talented teammate had turned it into this video. Before 24 hours had elapsed, we realized that it IS our response to the Sarah Palin video. So GO TEAM! And GO HILLARY!
If this is where your heart is, please see the sidebar and join us.
(Note to Blogger/Blogspot: "dreamt" is a perfectly good English word. Expand your lexicon!)
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
.
I loved Robert Frost. When I was a kid, he read a poem for JFK's inauguration, and I cried because the sun and wind kept giving him a hard time. He could not read well in the bright sunlight, and the wind kept ruffling the papers. I have always loved this poem.
Thursday, our Hillary made this appearance
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce dinner honoring Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's of China, in Washington. September 10, 2009.
Here is a picture of her with Chairman Wu.
Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's of China, greets U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she spoke at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dinner honoring Wu in Washington September 10, 2009.
If I remember correctly, one of Sarah Palin's noticeable shortcomings in the General Election was her knowledge of Foreign Policy. But I see here her successor reaching out to a representative of a foreign power. These stopovers in Alaska on trips to and from Asia are routine. Did Sarah Palin ever avail herself of this unique geographical advantage her state held for her to gather some clout on the international stage? I simply do not know. Perhaps my new friend SJR at The Pink Flamingo, a Palin supporter, can shed a little light on this issue.
Here are her remarks at the dinner honoring chairman Wu.
Remarks
At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Dinner Honoring His Excellency Wu
Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress of the People's Republic of China
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Washington, DC
September 10, 2009
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Thank you very much. And it is a real pleasure to join you this evening
in welcoming Chairman Wu here to Washington. Mr. Chairman, I hope you
feel as welcome in our capital city as I did in Beijing earlier this
year on my first overseas trip as Secretary of State.
I want to
thank Tom and the Chamber and all of the sponsors for hosting this
dinner. The range of people and organizations represented here tonight
is a testament to the scope and scale of the relationship between China
and the United States and its enduring impact across industries,
institutions, and borders. We are joined by representatives of business
community, the non-profit world, cultural organizations, think tanks, as
well as the Congress and the Administration. And I’m delighted to be
here with my colleague, the Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke.
The
relationship between our two countries has the potential to chart a
brighter course, not just for our own nations and peoples, but indeed
for the entire world. We are two of the world’s three largest economies,
two of the world’s largest populations, two of the world’s largest
militaries, the world’s largest consumers of energy and producers of
carbon emissions. For these reasons and so many more, our respective
priorities and policies have a global impact, and therefore we have a
responsibility to ourselves and others to work as effectively as we can
to meet the threats and seize the opportunities of the 21st century.
As
Tom said, we have begun a groundbreaking Strategic and Economic
Dialogue between our two countries. This is an effort to seek new
avenues for collaboration, to find solutions together to common problems
we face. Secretary Geithner and I were honored to co-host the first
round here in Washington a little over a month ago, and the results
exceeded our expectations. This was the largest gathering ever of top
leaders from our two countries. Most of my colleagues in the Cabinet met
with their counterparts in the Chinese Government. We got to know each
other better through hours spent in consultation and negotiations. We
had very productive exchanges on issues ranging from the global economic
crisis to climate change to poverty and disease to the security threats
that confront us. And already, we are seeing the results of those
meetings.
President Obama and I believe we are entering a new era in
China-U.S. relations. Building a strong relationship with China is a
central goal of the Obama Administration and a personal priority of
mine. We embraced the idea of an expanded dialogue with China early in
the Administration because we wanted to build upon it as much as
possible in the months and years ahead, to yield the most meaningful
results and to build an even stronger foundation for future cooperation.
I am very pleased that President Obama will be visiting China in
November. We know that together we bear heavy responsibilities on our
shoulders. We have to work to forge a new global architecture of
cooperation. We have to deepen and broaden our partnership, mutual
respect and shared responsibility.
We believe that through more open
and honest discussion, we can strengthen not only our economic ties and
accelerate the global recovery, but we can do more to strengthen that
intangible of trust and of confidence that must exist between our two
great countries and their leaders. (Applause.)
There are so many
issues that we have to address. I just want to mention a couple. One is
climate change. When I was in Beijing last winter, I visited a
geothermal plant that brought together U.S. and Chinese businesses and
scientists in partnership to provide clean energy and green jobs. We
believe that this is the kind of investment and collaboration that is
good for China, it’s good for America, and it is good for our planet. So
we are cooperating more closely on other clean energy initiatives as
well, including the agreement you signed this week, Mr. Chairman, with
the Arizona company First Solar to develop the largest solar farm in the
world. In July, during our Strategic and Economic Dialogue, our nations
completed a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance our cooperation on
climate change, energy, and the environment. We believe that this is
essential to establishing a very positive tone leading in to the
Copenhagen conference in December.
We are also committed to working
with China and other partners to bring peace and stability to the
world’s hot spots. Our envoy to North Korea, Steven Bosworth, just
returned from China, where he met with Chinese leaders to work on
increasing stability in Northeast Asia by resuming the Six-Party Talks
and implementing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874. We
seek to work with China to urge Iran to live up to its international
obligations. And there are many other urgent global threats that demand
our joint attention, from nonproliferation to pandemic disease,
particularly the H1N1 virus, to reducing poverty – and I have said
publicly and privately about China and to Chinese leaders, we admire the
extraordinary progress that China has made in the last 30 years in
reducing poverty in China and giving tens of millions of Chinese people
the chance to have a better future. And I am pleased to announce that
the United States and China will be conducting joint talks on
counterterrorism this fall.
Now, we will not see eye-to-eye on every
issue. We have different histories, different experiences, different
perspectives. But we must seek to talk honestly and openly even when
agreement is not possible. And we are committed to doing so. In July, we
had a very full and frank discussion about human rights, and we agreed
to hold the next round of our Human Rights Dialogue before the end of
the year, and to reconvene the U.S.-China Legal Experts Dialogue. We
know that this is an important part of our engagement with China.
Now,
Chairman Wu is China’s chief lawmaker. I am a former lawmaker. We both
know that governments are essential to solving global problems. But
there is a limit to what governments can accomplish on their own. That’s
why we need partnerships beyond government that stretch across sectors,
that engage the full range of talent in our countries – from the
expertise of our scholars and scientists to the creative energy of our
young people and the adventurous spirit of our entrepreneurs.
Business
and industry will continue to play a critical role in building a
stronger U.S.-China relationship. Individual joint ventures, purchase
agreements, and two-way investments have increased bilateral trade by
more than 400 percent just in the past decade alone. And I could not
stand before any audience of this importance without mentioning the U.S.
pavilion at the Shanghai Expo. (Applause.) Now, some of you know that
this is a particular passion of mine, and it’s not only because I want
to go back to Shanghai to open it, but it’s because this pavilion will
showcase American innovation and culture to the more than 70 million
visitors that China expects to welcome to the Expo. I want to thank Tom
and the Chamber for the help that you have provided as we have raised
the money to have a first-class pavilion that will showcase our country.
It is not too late to contribute. (Laughter and applause.)
So we
will be moving forward with our partnership at all levels. But the most
telling measures of our progress may be less tangible than a geothermal
plant or even a pavilion. We are not merely looking to address current
concerns. We intend to lay the groundwork for a new pattern of
cooperation, a new forum for discussion, a new structure for engagement
that will allow us to work together far into the future.
This is an
issue that really goes to the heart of why any of us are here tonight.
Yes, those in business have to plan to be successful, to be profitable,
to make sure that the products stand the test of time. Those of in
government, we need to produce results for the people we represent.
Chairman Wu and I know that even though we have very different political
systems, at the end of the day, we are judged in the same way. Have we
made life better for the people that we represent and serve?
I like
to think, as I told State Councilor Dai during a wonderful dinner we had
at the very beginning of our Strategic and Economic Dialogue, that in
any important relationship, in any endeavor that holds promise for the
future, we should think about the children whom we love, our own
children, and in State Councilor Dai’s case, a very new grandchild, and
almost have the pictures of those children in front of us and ask
ourselves: Are we making the decisions that will give each of them a
better future, a more peaceful, prosperous, secure world, a world where
our children can breathe the air and drink the water, where they can
pursue their own futures if they are well educated and healthy, where
they have a chance to really make the most of their own lives?
That
is what is at the core of our relationship between China and the United
State – a hope and a commitment to that kind of future. Thank you all
very much, and thank you, Chairman Wu. (Applause.)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Sept. 26, 2011. (David Karp/AP)
