Three words that go together as much as “economy, fundamentals and strong” … “Hillary, Clinton and Diplomat.”
Once upon a time, there was a radio talk show host in Albany, NY who was appalled at the thought of the then-First Lady being anointed the next US Senator by the Democratic Party. So, given the chance to interview her in that campaign season, the host asked Mrs. Clinton three simple New York questions. If she could answer two out of the three, he would be satisfied.
The questions: 1) What is in an Egg Cream? 2) What is a Spedie? 3) Where was the chicken wing invented as a bar food? You see, to the talk show host, if you didn’t know that there was no egg in an Egg Cream, that a Spedie was meat on a stick with “State Fair” Italian dressing, and that Frank and Theresa invented the wing at their Anchor Bar in Buffalo, you had no business running for US Senate from the Empire State. Hillary walked out on the interview. How diplomatic!
So here we are just weeks away from Barack Obama taking the oath of office, and it occurs to me that Hillary Clinton would prefer to do anything other than represent the people of New York. After all, she’s been running for President since she was elected to the US Senate in 2000.
Losing to Obama, she is now trying to weasel her way in as Secretary of State. Does she hate New York THAT much? What is wrong with representing the Empire State in Congress? I guess it just never fit with her career path.
Ironically, if Hillary had better judgment, she would have gone back to Illinois, one of her many birthplaces, and run for US Senate there. Had she done so, instead of forcing herself on New York, there never would have been a Barack Obama! How ironic.
Looking back on Hillary Clinton’s record, you have to wonder what Obama is thinking. Through her words and deeds, Sen. Clinton has never shown herself to be a diplomat. Whether it’s her claim of dodging bullets in Croatia, or her past associations with elements of the PLO, she is hardly qualified to be our Secretary of State. Not to mention her completely wrong support of the war in Iraq! Her Iraq position versus Obama’s was one of the main reasons for Obama’s victory in the primaries.
As for diplomacy, her record is deplorable. Have Obama’s people, who ran a brilliant, smart campaign, all of a sudden gone stupid? Is the President-elect one of those people who is “book-smart” but has no “street savvy?” During the campaign, she told 60 Minutes, that, “as far as I know, he is not a Muslim.” On the trail she shrilled, “Shame on you Barack Obama,” accusing him of plagiarism. “Change you can Xerox,” she charged at a debate. Well, at least she got a plug in there for a Rochester-based company.
Hillary Clinton’s lack of diplomacy was clearly exposed during her tenure as First Lady. Hubby Bill put her in charge of reforming health care. Her way of going about this was to threaten Congressional Democrats who didn’t follow her lead. She would not compromise with then-Senator George Mitchell. She refused the advice of her predecessor in the Senate seat she now holds, the late-Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The bill failed because of her lack of diplomacy.
And now Obama wants to anoint her to the position of Secretary of State.
Forget the vetting process; forget Bill Clinton’s dealings with foreign governments. Forget her 18 million votes in the primaries. This is not an issue of Obama stacking his government with Clintonites. We are in dangerous times. Now is not the time to screw around with the Peter Principle and promote Hillary to a position for which she is completely ill-suited – our #1 Diplomat to the world.
At the 1984 Democratic Convention, acknowledging defeat, Jesse Jackson famously said: “We won it in the streets, but lost it in the suites.” For those of us who volunteered, contributed and voted for Barack Obama, it looks like we’ll be saying the same soon enough.
Hillary, if you really want to do something else other than represent New York State in the US Senate, then please, go do something else.
To paraphrase The Monkees song, “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone!”
Howie Greene was born in Brooklyn just in time to watch the Dodgers pack up and move to Los Angeles. Currently involved in real estate, Howie was part of the management team for The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, traveling the world with him. Howie spent 2 years working on cruise ships and has literally “sailed the seven seas.” He’s hosted radio shows in Washington, D.C., New York City, Denver, Los Angeles and Buffalo. And yes, Marty Connor was once his landlord.
Howie will be one of the many colorful voices at The Brooklyn Bugle… coming soon.
