This is interesting. Is the administration shuuting her aside?
So where does all this leave Secretary of State Clinton?
While sympathy for Mrs. Clinton is outside the normal fare of these
columns, one cannot help but feel that she is surrounded by people who are,
at best, strangers and, at worst, enemies. The competition that has
historically occupied secretaries of State and national security advisers
seems poised to ratchet up to a new level in the current administration.
Hillary's essential problem is that she is an outsider in the current
mix. She was the adversary in the campaign, and Rice and Powers - at the
very least - know it well, having helped to run the campaign that dethroned
her. Can they - and she - be devoid of bitterness or at least of normal
human trepidation? Not very likely.
The fact is that the power of the secretary of State is not statutory,
nor does it flow from the prestige of the post's occupant. Former Gen. Al
Haig, once supreme commander of NATO and chief of staff to President Nixon,
found that out when he was undercut as secretary by the White House troika
of Mike Deaver, James Baker and Ed Meese. Bill Rogers, Eisenhower's attorney
general and Nixon's California confidant, found himself on the outs from the
moment he became secretary of State, with Henry Kissinger soaking up all the
power through his direct access to Nixon as national security adviser.
The power of the secretary of State flows directly from the president.
But Hillary does not have the inside track with Obama. Rice and Powers,
close advisers in the campaign, and Gen. Jones - whose office is in the
White House - all may have superior access. Holbrooke and Mitchell will have
more immediate information about the world's trouble spots.
So what is Hillary's mandate? Of what is she secretary of State? If
you take the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan out of the equation, what
is left? One would have to assume that the old North Korea hands in the
government would monopolize that theater of action. What, precisely, is it
that Hillary is to do? The question lingers.
And for this she gave up a Senate seat?
Hillary's incredible, shrinking role
By Dick Morris
Posted: 02/09/09 06:23 PM [ET]
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is finding that her job
description is dissolving under her feet, leaving her with only a vestige of
the power she must have thought she acquired when she signed on to be
President Obama's chief Cabinet officer.
Since her designation:
- Vice President Biden has moved vigorously to stake out foreign
policy as his turf. His visit to Afghanistan, right before the Inauguration,
could not but send a signal to Hillary that he would conduct foreign policy
in the new administration, leaving Hillary in the role of backup.
- Richard Holbrooke, the former Balkan negotiator and U.N. ambassador, has been named special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He insisted on
direct access to the president, a privilege he was denied during much of the
Clinton years.
- Former Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine), negotiator of the Irish Peace
Accords, was appointed to be the administration's point man on Arab-Israeli
negotiations.
- Samantha Powers, Obama's former campaign aide, who once called
Hillary a "monster," has been appointed to the National Security Council
(NSC) as director of "multilateral affairs."
- Gen. James L. Jones, Obama's new national security adviser, has
announced an expansion of the membership and role of the NSC. He pledges to
eliminate "back channels" to the president and wants to grow the NSC's role
to accommodate the "dramatically different" challenges of the current world
situation.
- Susan Rice, Obama's new United Nations ambassador, insisted upon and
got Cabinet rank for her portfolio, and she will presumably also have the
same kind of access to Obama that she had as his chief foreign policy
adviser during the campaign.
By Dick Morris
Posted: 02/09/09 06:23 PM [ET]
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is finding that her job
description is dissolving under her feet, leaving her with only a vestige of
the power she must have thought she acquired when she signed on to be
President Obama's chief Cabinet officer.
Since her designation:
- Vice President Biden has moved vigorously to stake out foreign
policy as his turf. His visit to Afghanistan, right before the Inauguration,
could not but send a signal to Hillary that he would conduct foreign policy
in the new administration, leaving Hillary in the role of backup.
- Richard Holbrooke, the former Balkan negotiator and U.N. ambassador, has been named special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He insisted on
direct access to the president, a privilege he was denied during much of the
Clinton years.
- Former Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine), negotiator of the Irish Peace
Accords, was appointed to be the administration's point man on Arab-Israeli
negotiations.
- Samantha Powers, Obama's former campaign aide, who once called
Hillary a "monster," has been appointed to the National Security Council
(NSC) as director of "multilateral affairs."
- Gen. James L. Jones, Obama's new national security adviser, has
announced an expansion of the membership and role of the NSC. He pledges to
eliminate "back channels" to the president and wants to grow the NSC's role
to accommodate the "dramatically different" challenges of the current world
situation.
- Susan Rice, Obama's new United Nations ambassador, insisted upon and
got Cabinet rank for her portfolio, and she will presumably also have the
same kind of access to Obama that she had as his chief foreign policy
adviser during the campaign.
So where does all this leave Secretary of State Clinton?
While sympathy for Mrs. Clinton is outside the normal fare of these
columns, one cannot help but feel that she is surrounded by people who are,
at best, strangers and, at worst, enemies. The competition that has
historically occupied secretaries of State and national security advisers
seems poised to ratchet up to a new level in the current administration.
Hillary's essential problem is that she is an outsider in the current
mix. She was the adversary in the campaign, and Rice and Powers - at the
very least - know it well, having helped to run the campaign that dethroned
her. Can they - and she - be devoid of bitterness or at least of normal
human trepidation? Not very likely.
The fact is that the power of the secretary of State is not statutory,
nor does it flow from the prestige of the post's occupant. Former Gen. Al
Haig, once supreme commander of NATO and chief of staff to President Nixon,
found that out when he was undercut as secretary by the White House troika
of Mike Deaver, James Baker and Ed Meese. Bill Rogers, Eisenhower's attorney
general and Nixon's California confidant, found himself on the outs from the
moment he became secretary of State, with Henry Kissinger soaking up all the
power through his direct access to Nixon as national security adviser.
The power of the secretary of State flows directly from the president.
But Hillary does not have the inside track with Obama. Rice and Powers,
close advisers in the campaign, and Gen. Jones - whose office is in the
White House - all may have superior access. Holbrooke and Mitchell will have
more immediate information about the world's trouble spots.
So what is Hillary's mandate? Of what is she secretary of State? If
you take the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan out of the equation, what
is left? One would have to assume that the old North Korea hands in the
government would monopolize that theater of action. What, precisely, is it
that Hillary is to do? The question lingers.
And for this she gave up a Senate seat?
Whether its Clinton or Obama etc., these people are simply the appointed visible employees of their hidden overseers(the hereditarily-related central bankers) acting out their designated public roles. They know who they're working for.
ReplyDeleteBwaahaaahaaa. It's a full time job just looking after Bill on the Hill, you know! Where does Monica live now? Does she have a restraining order?
ReplyDelete