HILLARY GETS A PASS ON MTP

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the exclusive guest on Meet The Press this morning. As expected, moderator and DNC favorite David Gregory conducted a softball interview that failed to ask a difficult or probing question even once. It was more like a casual conversation between two friends than a legitimate political interview. In fact, only the first twenty five minutes were relevant to Mrs. Clinton’s current position, with the rest devoted to her relationship to President Obama in light of the past campaign, health care, and several other items not germane to the chief of Foggy Bottom. Hillary was supremely unqualified to take the post, and her performance since doing so is a direct reflection of her complete inexperience in foreign policy matters. Of course, Gregory’s introduction of her was glowing, saying she had travelled over “100,000 miles” already, had “confronted North Korea”, and was “warning Iran”. The mileage may be correct, but the veracity ends there, unless you consider name-calling and parroting the soft Obama line on rogue nations confrontational.

Gregory started with North Korea. Mrs. Clinton and the North Korean government traded barbs this past week, with Hillary describing them as unruly children and the North Koreans making disparaging comments on her appearance. That hardly qualifies as the loftiest of diplomatic maneuvers. Gregory conveniently omitted the most biting of the North Korean comments, an early sign of the accommodating nature the rest of the interview would take. Hillary immediately referred to U.N. Resolution 1874, yet another weak and toothless measure in the parade of United Nations futility. She referred to the measure as “most stringent sanctions” and called for a return to negotiations. Talking may provide Hillary with a way to occupy her time, but recent history shows the North Koreans are not likely to make any concessions, cease their provocative rhetoric or actions, or use talks as anything other than a way to leverage more food and assistance. Mrs. Clinton seemed satisfied that “even Burma” was on board. Surely the North Koreans are trembling at the thought of the military colossus of Burma backing international sanctions. She conceded that the North Koreans are known proliferaters of nuclear technology, but refused to describe them as a legitimate threat to the United States, a glaring contradiction of terms given their willingness to sell to the highest bidder without regard to the nature of the buyer. Hillary touted U.S. missile defense, failing to mention the cuts already made and further cuts proposed by her boss. If that was supposed to reassure us all, it was a translucent attempt at best. Neither her husband’s administration nor the Bush administration responded effectively to North Korea, and it seems that trend will continue under Obama.

Reflecting the contradictory messages on Iran put forth by the Obama administration thus far, Mrs. Clinton then answered a series of questions about the Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons. Earlier this week while touring Asia, Hillary referred to an American “defense umbrella” that would allegedly thwart Iranian power should they actually achieve the production of a nuclear weapon. Not more than a minute later, she described the prospect of Iran gaining that technology as “unacceptable”. She unwittingly revealed the true administration policy on Iran by quoting the “hope for the best, plan for the worst” mantra that cannot lead to anything other than U.S. acquiescence to a nuclear-armed Iran. That is an appalling little slogan for America to be using in the face of the world’s largest and most active state sponsor of terror actively seeking WMD technology. Mrs. Clinton’s response to recent Iranian protests was just as pathetic as Obama’s, merely saying that the Iranian people “deserve better than what they’re getting.” Yes, Hillary, they definitely deserve better than mass arrests and the shooting of innocents in the streets of Tehran. The Obama administration has completely fumbled an opportunity to reach out to the Iranian people, support a democratic movement against a fascist and dangerous regime, and perhaps lay the ground for avoiding a costly confrontation with the current establishment of deranged mullahs.

After a few cursory questions on Russia, the discussion moved to the subject of Afghanistan. Gregory immediately referred to the number of American casualties this past month. I am always amazed at the way the media measures success or failure of military operations by the number of dead. The numbers have indeed increased, but that is a reflection of wider and more aggressive operations and a direct result of the unwillingness of our so-called allies to engage in actual combat. Gregory asked if Afghanistan had become Obama’s “war of choice”, demonstrating his short historical memory of Taliban support and safe harbor for Al Qaeda. Mrs. Clinton referred to the “lessons of Iraq” being applied to Afghanistan, a bit odd considering her previous steadfast refusal to view Iraq as anything other than an unmitigated disaster. Both she and Obama constantly decried Bush administration policy in Iraq throughout their campaigns, but notably have continued the same course with little exception. Gregory’s short treatment of the Afghan war replicates the mass media’s disinterest and incapacity to adequately cover or understand a complex military situation.

The first commercial break came at the twenty five minute mark, and that ended the foreign policy discussion. The rest of the hour was filled with a potpourri of questions that had absolutely nothing to do with her current position. Hillary let loose with her trademark cackle at the first break, a chilling hoot that always reminds me of the witch in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Mrs. Clinton was asked about her recovery from a fractured elbow, apparently a major handicap in schmoozing international leaders.

Gregory then asked about her relationship with President Obama, and that’s where the nonsense could only lead to intense and repeated eye-rolling. She said the administration was “six months in and look what we’ve done.” She then lauded the appointment of various “special envoys”, a procedure that only further indicates Obama’s doubts in her abilities. Hillary also claimed she had “great respect” for Obama’s world view, a direct contradiction of her biting campaign criticisms of him. The obligatory questions about the current health care debate were queried as if she is some sort of expert, when in fact her attempt at health care reform was a misadventure of epic proportion. She also claimed the President had done an “excellent job” on the Professor Gates arrest, something Obama is still trying to spin away from as fast as possible.
Gregory finished by asking about the possibility and difficulties of a woman becoming POTUS. Hillary was remarkably gracious when addressing the subject of Sarah Palin, the largest surprise of the entire show. Mrs. Clinton claimed becoming President was “not on my radar”, perhaps her most dubious claim. Gregory even scraped up the ambitions Hillary penned as a sixth grade student, the height of sycophancy he saved as the crowning jewel of an hour full of fawning flattery.

It is indeed unfortunate that the media, in this case Mr. Gregory, would treat a sitting Secretary of State with the softest of kid gloves. Certainly no Republican would be given such a blatant free pass. Mrs. Clinton’s resume for the position was extremely thin, consisting largely of extending her pinkie while sipping tea with the wives of foreign leaders. It is readily apparent that she was brought aboard only to compromise her potential candidacy in 2012. That is a potentially calamitous move in a dangerous world. Mr. Obama may yet come to regret her appointment, or perhaps he is working around her for that very reason. Meanwhile the nation suffers for her poor performance and lackey status within the Obama administration at a time when real leadership is needed to avoid potential disasters at every turn.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I had the extreme misfortune of catching part of Chris Matthews' show as I was making coffee before the start of MTP. We all know what a big Obama fan he is, but his parting statement really stuck in my craw. In reference to the recent arrest of Obama pal Gates, Matthews actually claimed that Obama had not run as a black candidate, in the same way John Kennedy had not run as a Catholic candidate. Wrong, Chris. Obama played every advantage he could out of his ethnicity, and continues to do so. He garnered millions of votes simply because of his race, in what was the most outrageous example of racial politics I've ever seen. Many voted for him simply because of his race and without regard to his proposed policies or philosophy. If you're going to make factually incorrect statements in support of your Obamessiah, Mr. Matthews, you may want to stick to uttering them on MSNBC, where virtually no one but those who share your sentiments will hear them. Matthews lost credibility as anything but an Obama bootlicker long ago, and with statements like the one this morning, it appears his objectivity has no hope of returning.