Clinton defended, provocatively, as Obama's 'Saudi' wife

Wed, 07/15/2009 - 10:12am

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, June 4, 2009 | MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images 

I have to depart for Secretary Clinton's speech soon, but before I leave I just want to bring to your attention Tina Brown's provocative Daily Beast piece, "Obama's Other Wife," in which she calls Clinton Obama's "great foreign-policy wife" and says Clinton has "an office wifehood of the Saudi variety."

The second paragraph declares:

It’s time for Barack Obama to let Hillary Clinton take off her burqa.

Brown praises Clinton, stating:

She has always cared more about the substance of work than its status trappings.

and

Policy is her meat and drink. On her State Department plane, Hillary is always eager to throw off her well-groomed public look and sit up front with no makeup, wearing sweats and her bookworm glasses, as she crunches her way through a big fat file of foreign-policy memos.

Brown concludes:

You could say that Obama is lucky to have such a great foreign-policy wife. Those who voted for Hillary wonder how long she'll be content with an office wifehood of the Saudi variety.

Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

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Nonsense.

by stacyx on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 10:58am

I am sorry, but some of these articles that have been popping up all over are simply red-herring-style bait. I find that article to be offensive as a) a Hillary fan and b) a woman.

While it may sound a bit tin-foil-hat, I think someone (or a group) are trying to stir s**t up and manufacture a controversy because they simply prefer covering that to covering hard-core foreign policy issues. Some of these articles seem to be masquerading as pro-Hillary commentary but I seriously question that. Why should the Secretary of State and her staff have to waste their valuable time rebutting this garbage?

Hillary is well-respected on all sides of the aisle and within the administration- whether we like Obama or not, lets give Hillary some credit and maybe even give him a wee bit also- I don't believe Hillary would take the job of SOS without getting assurances from Obama and his team, that she will have a significant amount of autonomy and power. That said, the very nature of diplomacy and foreign policy is that *some* of that power will be wielded behind closed doors, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone with a clue. Secretary Clinton has approached her new job the same way she did her last job (Jr. Senator from NY)- she is starting out working hard, learning the ropes (no small task!), watching and listening (novel idea, huh!) and gradually increasing her profile domestically.

That said, there are two big egos in the Oval Office- Obama and Biden- and I am sure it is difficult on *some level* for Secy Clinton, Gates and even Gen. Jones, to navigate their territory w/o getting into a pissing contest but thus far, they seem to be doing a good job of it. When was the last time you saw the media highlight a press conference or speech from Secretary Gates? They were *always* highlighting Donald Rumsfeld because he was such a loose-cannon (kind of like Biden, who they also like to cover for that reason). Does that mean Gates has little power and is being shoved aside? Of course not. But he's a man and so the media can't make Burqa references.

I think some in the media forget that there is a big difference between being a Presidential candidate and being Secretary of State- I think the media (and maybe some of us?) long for the days when Hillary and Obama would go toe to toe publicly and when Hillary would speak out forcefully in opposition to some of his policies- however, that is not what a SOS does.

I think some people have a vested political interest in seeing a rift develop between Obama and Hillary but quite frankly, I think Hillary Clinton is above all that!

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Secretary Clinton Blog

media

by ernestine on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 1:33pm

If the media wants to see her all they have to do is COVER her. Silly media not one clip of her giving her speech on cnn although they did have it live online, but they sure did show the president and his millionth speech on healthcare today at the rose garden that just happened to be at the same time as Hillary's speech hmm.

Call both CNN and MSNBC and

by anne on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 3:51pm

Call both CNN and MSNBC and give them a piece of your mind:
CNN: 404-827-1500
MSNBC: 212-664-4444

I agree anne- we need to hold

by stacyx on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 4:15pm

I agree anne- we need to hold the media accountable for their inconsistency in claiming Secy Clinton is off the radar while not providing coverage of her at the very same time.

I was dashing around the net during her speech [while listening/watching at the same time]and cspan and cnn hide live streaming video as did msnbc. I wasnt around a TV so I don't know about their coverage- people have told me the MSM didn't provide any live coverage of it though.

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Secretary Clinton Blog

I was unaware she had even

by Carolyn-Rodham on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 8:03am

I was unaware she had even made the speech...until I saw the story today. That's because CNN -- which I still watch, hoping against hope -- chose to headline the release of a video of Michael Jackson's hair burning. Disgusted, I turned it off and went to bed.

couldn't of put it better

by sssarah on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 12:22am

couldn't of put it better stacy!

One of the things you mentioned in your first post was why would the secretary and state dept waste their time refuting these attacks? Well, they dont! and that is what keeps Hillary focused on the REAL matters at hand and what is making her so successful as SOS. we respect Hillary because she is NOT easily distracted by a silly article some journalist writes. she has a job and she will work her heart out until it is done.

Not to get too far off topic but one of the great things about our blogs is that we dont have to write stories like the one mentioned here to get viewers attention, cause controversy and make profit. We write the news as we see it and people read it because there isnt some kind of underlying motive. we dont need catchy words and phrases to draw people in... we have a strong base of people that just want the hillary news.

and I think you are right, everyone wants that drama of an Obama/Hillary campaign style fight but i think it is just NOT going to happen. Even if something ever DID happen behind closed doors Obama and Hillary know better than to let it intervene in the policy making, safety and security of our country.

and anne, thanks for the numbers. we should all get calling and voicing our opinions!

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