Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Secretary Clinton skips Obama’s first State of the Union speech

“Madam Secretary sends her regrets,” so writes Washington Post columnist Al Kamen:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton got a pass last week from President Obama to skip Wednesday night's State of the Union speech. (We had heard she begged to be excused, but apparently it didn't come to that.)

Seems there's an important international meeting Wednesday in London on battling radicalization in Yemen, and then another, long-planned conference there Thursday on development and security in Afghanistan.


So while the president struggles to regain his footing after being rudely shoved aside by a pickup-driving Republican in Mass., Secretary Clinton will be joining world powers in seeking ways to support the Yemeni government’s efforts to combat its local branch of Al Quaeda, which has claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack in the U.S.

Clinton will also meet with representatives of 60 nations on stabilizing Afghanistan and transferring control from international forces to the Afghanis.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather be in Hillary's shoes today than Obama's.

3 comments:

  1. She is quite wise to distance herself.

    And, don't forget, the Tavis Smiley interview with Hillary will air just before the SOTU.

    Ya gotta wonder about that a little. At least I do....

    Are we now supposed to feel reassured, by the presence of SoS Clinton in the floundering Obama administration?

    We know that PBS will carry plenty of water for Obama, after all. At least they did so in 2008 ...

    And we also know HIllary is too smart to get herself linked to Obama's failing domestic policies.

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  2. I think I said "NPR" in that last comment, where I should have said "PBS."

    Same difference.

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  3. Hi SYD,

    Thanks for the heads up about the Tavis Smiley interview with Hillary. I was not aware of that. And you're right about PBS - NPR - whatever. They were so obviously pro-Obama during the primary it was nauseating.

    Still I just watched a TS video clip re the interview, and I've got my fingers crossed that it will be fair to her.

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