Here she goes again!

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) poses with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,R-FL, before testifying to the committee on assessing US foreign policy priorities and needs March 1, 2011 in the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Clinton on Tuesday warned Republicans to reverse plans to cut the US foreign aid budget or undermine US efforts to stabilize a North Africa and Middle East in turmoil. Clinton also told Republican lawmakers that their proposed cuts for 2012 would hurt US efforts to roll back the insurgency in Afghanistan, build a stable, democratic Iraq and contain Iran's nuclear ambitions. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The picture above was taken last March 1 on the occasion of Secretary Clinton's testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  She had just flown in from Geneva where she was meeting with the Libya contact group on events unfolding there.  The woman with Mme. Secretary, Florida's Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, became chair of that committee when then majority Republican Congress was seated in January.  In her new position only weeks, Ileana had the brilliant idea of involving the public in congressional hearings via the internet.  Days before the hearing she solicited questions from the public via electronic communications. These questions would be read by committee members to the secretary for her to answer.

If you were around here then, you might also remember that discourse found and shared a Rachel Maddow clip of the result of this 21st century legislature endeavor.  What you do not hear here are the awkward struggles of the committee members reading questions that appeared to have been handed to them,  hastily and at random,  moments before the hearing.  What you do see, beginning around 4:00, is Secretary Clinton being repeatedly interrupted by Mrs. Ros-Lehtinen who requested additional responses in writing.  Hillary Clinton, as always,  maintained grace and good humor, but the entire operation was a poorly managed fiasco.
 


So!  What is Mrs. Ros-Lehtinen planning for Secretary Clinton's testimony on Thursday?   Right you are!

Ros-Lehtinen invites public questions for Clinton

By Pete Kasperowicz - 10/24/11 01:49 PM ET

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) on Monday invited the public to submit questions for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which could be asked by members of the committee when the secretary testifies Thursday on issues surrounding U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"I would like to encourage members of the public to visit our Committee website and utilize our 'You Ask a Question' feature, so that they can suggest questions for our Members to ask Secretary Clinton," Ros-Lehtinen said. "We want to know what's on your mind, and what’s important to you."
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Suggestion, Mme. Chairwoman:  Why not forward the chosen questions to Mme. Secretary's staff so they can begin their essay assignments early?  She has enough tech staff with blackberries to zip the answers to the committee's website.  Matter of fact,  why bother dragging the secretary to the Hill at all?  Why not just do it like an online class?  (It was never explained how the people who sent the questions were informed of the secretary's answers last time around - if they were.)