HILLARY WAS A GREAT AMBASSADOR, NOT A GREAT SECRETARY OF STATE

[mota bhai 2,675]

... in view of all the publicity she is receiving, and her elevated approval rating—sixty nine per cent in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll—a nagging question remains: What has she really achieved?

...

Asked by Steve Kroft about the biggest foreign-policy successes of his first term, [President Obama] ]mentioned ending the war in Iraq, drawing down U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and dismantling the leadership of Al Qaeda, adding, “That’s all a consequence of the great work that Hillary did and her team did, and the State Department did, in conjunction with our national-security team.”

Fair enough. But it’s no secret that the Administration’s policies on Iraq, Afghanistan, and counterterrorism were conceived and managed in the White House ... Stephen Walt, a professor of international relations at Harvard, wrote last July ... “The problem, however, is that she’s hardly racked up any major achievements… She played little role in extricating us from Iraq, and it is hard to see her fingerprints on the U.S. approach to Afghanistan. She has done her best to smooth the troubled relationship with Pakistan, but anti-Americanism remains endemic in that country and it hardly looks like a success story at this point… She certainly helped get tougher sanctions on Iran, but the danger of war still looms and there’s been no breakthrough there either.”

Other experts agree. “She’s coming away with a stellar reputation that seems to have put her almost above criticism,” Aaron David Miller, a former diplomat peace negotiator, said to Paul Richter, of the Los Angeles Times. “But you can’t say that she’s really led on any of the big issues for this administration or made a major mark on high strategy.” A former diplomat who served in the Obama Administration told Richter, “If you go down the line, it’s tough to see what’s happened in world politics over the last four years that wouldn’t have happened without her. So, it’s tough to see how she gets into that category of truly great, transformational secretaries, like Acheson and Marshall.”

...

In reality, she wasn’t directing American foreign policy, or anything close. At times, she wasn’t even the Administration’s chief troubleshooter—a niche occupied by a series of special envoys: Richard Holbrooke, George Mitchell, and Dennis Ross. The post she really had was that of U.S. Ambassador to the world, and she made a pretty good fist of it.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2013/01/hillary-was-a-great-ambassador-not-a-great-secretary-of-state.html

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I voted for the most conservative candidate in each case. Christie is the biggest Commie of the four.

[SMR 368]

Honestly, I don't see any of those ballots happening.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Honestly, I don't see any of those ballots happening.

You don't see Christie, Perry or Cruz winning the GOP nom?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You don't see Christie, Perry or Cruz winning the GOP nom?

Let's see. Christie started a bromance with The Kenyan just before the November 2012 election. Perry - oops. And Cruz.

But we are talking about the GOP here so Perry and Cruz might just be ridiculous enough to have a shot at being nominated. Christie has no shot. Republicans will not nominate a commie traitor.

[GandD 5,966]

God I love that Perry - oops moment. That's in my top 10

[RGinWA 816]

You don't see Christie, Perry or Cruz winning the GOP nom?

I can only hope its Perry and Cruz, they're both dolts.

Christie is a lightning rod, who knows what he'd do.

[mota bhai 2,675]

That's what they said about them nominating McCain.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

That's what they said about them nominating McCain.

How'd that work out for the GOP? Sarah will be the GOP nominee in 2016 and Allen West will be her VP pick. Palin/West 2016. You read it here first.

[Karee 4,190]

Perry? Isn't one idiot from Texas enough for a lifetime?

[Karee 4,190]

Let's see. Christie started a bromance with The Kenyan just before the November 2012 election. Perry - oops. And Cruz.

But we are talking about the GOP here so Perry and Cruz might just be ridiculous enough to have a shot at being nominated. Christie has no shot. Republicans will not nominate a commie traitor.

It would be nice if Christie could run as an independent and get elected. But that's not how things work here unfortunately.

[SMR 368]

It would be nice if Christie could run as an independent and get elected. But that's not how things work here unfortunately.

Without going into his politics, I don't trust Christie as a balanced individual. He's fat and has had public periods of bad temper. That points to a lack of self control that leads me to not want to put my faith in him to lead the free world.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It would be nice if Christie could run as an independent and get elected. But that's not how things work here unfortunately.

No, that's not how it works. Palin / West will be the GOP ticket in 2016 and that is how - against all odds - Joe Biden becomes President of the United States.

[Darnell 8,478]

Hillary's to run for the Presidential Nomination? Really? I'm a thinking, instead, her boyfriend will prevent her from running.

[RGinWA 816]

Will the GOP actually nominate a candidate that is "human".

Their last experiment in nominating a cyborg went horribly wrong.