Ralph Nader offers up one of the better summaries of Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, and at the same time gives us a taste of what a Clinton presidency in 2016 might do for America.
Clinton’s chief legacy, according to Nader? “Behind the public relations sheen, the photo-opportunities with groups of poor people in the developing world, an ever more militarized State Department operated under Clinton’s leadership.”
Nader goes on to say:
Secretary Clinton reveled in tough, belligerent talk and action on her many trips to more than a hundred countries. She would warn or threaten “consequences” on a regular basis. She supported soldiers in Afghanistan, the use of secret Special Forces in other places and “force projection” in East Asia to contain China. She aggressively supported or attacked resistance movements in dictatorships, depending on whether a regime played to Washington’s tune.
Time and again, Hillary Clinton’s belligerence exceeded that of Obama’s Secretaries of Defense. From her seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee to her tenure at the State Department, Hillary Clinton sought to prove that she could be just as tough as the militaristic civilian men whose circle she entered. Throughout her four years it was Generalissima Clinton, expanding the American Empire at large.
Not a pretty picture, but an accurate one. 2016 is coming– be afraid. Read the entire article at Common Dreams.
More on the militarization of the State Department here and here.
Meanwhile, like any good public servant, Hillary is pimping herself out as a public speaker, for six figure fees.
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quote:”Meanwhile, like any good public servant, Hillary is pimping herself out as a public speaker, for six figure fees.” unquote
Bill is her speaking fee mentor. Capitalism hubris at it’s finest. The revolving door is next. THEN 2016.
I will pay to NOT have to hear her speak. I’d also pay to not have to take a cruise on a multi tiered buoyant septic tank. Ah, eating and pooping on the high seas! That is America unfortunately.
In a perverse Leninist way I’d prefer for her to win the Presidency in 2016, so that she’ll expedite the collapse of the American Empire so shamefully that it will be covered with metaphorical salt like ancient Carthage.
She may have been born for such a destiny. Turning off the lights on the American Republic project for good. How fitting.
I really can’t bear La Clinton, and it is late and I must abed.
@Mr. Poole:
I was just discussing this very thing yesterday! How very unappealing to board such a thing … fat, greasy trolling humans grazing from endless bars of food and listening to cheesy musical acts. Even the tv show “The Love Boat” was horrid. It has never appealed to me.
The NYT had a recent travel feature shilling for the cruise line industry which pointed out you’ll pay extra for the yoga-type retreat cruises in which they’ll feed you less and you’ll be un-entertained while you lie on your chaise with a face cloth.
I can do this in my back yard, hopefully without threat of Legionnaire’s Disease.
Yoga, Yoga, butts in your face.
What’s in your face?
There’s butts in your face!
– Anonymous poet who does not do yoga
meloveconsul,
I am stunned at learning of yet a new skill set you possess.
IMHO, yoga can be wonderful, but truly I can’t stand the egos of so many in the yoga world who must contort themselves to the breaking point, and being surrounded by tushies in the air whilst doing downward dog is not a happy thing for me.
I tend to go it alone.
Lisa,
My kind of gurus, Hard Drinkin Lincoln and Randy Gandhi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aot8OkslcFA
Relax, Ralph, HRC is just another conniving politician who will do anything to get what she wants, such as going along with the immoral Iraq War to prove she is not a weak on national defense or sacrificing Rice-erroni to avoid blame for the Benghazi Blunder. She is the perfect candidate to lead this Outlaw Nation.
Or this one: http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/02/21/rick-scott-continues-struggle-to-look-human-endorses-medicaid-expansion-while-infuriating-tea-party/#more-33490
@meloveconsul,
Those two are news to me, but the human mind has an infinite capacity for heresy. (In truth, I know Lincoln and Gandhi were both flawed men, but we do like our icons (I-cons?), no?)
Rich,
Being from FLA, I am endlessly fascinated with the corruption birthed by this state; Ole Miss has got nothin’ on us.
I’m sure if Rick Scott’s considering Medicare, he has an angle to make it profit his cronies. Or perhaps he just likes the experiment of having semi-humane people smiling his way.
My speculation is that Obama could be impeached for his Libyan regime change folly but that would take a two party system. Both parties have long agreed on how to share the spoils of empire and also lead and draft in a way that looks like they are discrete and separate. They won’t do anything that might awaken the populace to the fact that this nation is a one party faux democracy.
@JP,
Yes, it does seem like a game of nod/nod, wink/wink. All of the plebes buy into it and get into heated debates about what miscreants are the “opponent party”.
Then they might topple off and have a beer, or maybe even a cruise. And god bless them, these are the ones who feel like they are participating in their society — via declaring their own disenfranchisement from it. ISTM we’re all about putting pegs into holes, so we figure we have to fit in somewhere, and so do they (politicians, et. al).
I dunno — blame it on kinder blocks.
oops … hi, Peter. Sorry we’ve hijacked your wonderful Hill piece 🙂 I ‘spect we have to make ourselves feel better, like apes picking endless, unseen parasites from their fur.
It’s a self-calming device, no?
Lisa wrote: “In truth, I know Lincoln and Gandhi were both flawed men, but we do like our icons (I-cons?), no?”
YES! And one of the lovely things about traditional Christian (Catholic and Orthodox) iconography of the saints, is that (particulary in the Catholic tradition) they’re often depicted with symbols of their own sins. St Peter is the most poignant example; traditionally he’s depicted with a rooster, as a reminder of how he denied Jesus three times “before the cock crowed”. He’s depicted as a saint in Heaven, yet he spends eternity with that humbling reminder of his main failure.
I admire some of Lincoln’s qualities, especially his talent for writing – and to some extent I admire his personal struggles toward integrity – however if he were an icon in the Catholic tradition then he would be depicted next to 600,000 war dead.
PS, more seriously, my favourite icon is this one by (Russian Orthodox) Andrei Rublev, early 1400s, icon of the Holy Trinity – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all in friendly communion with each other, as a model for ALL friendships!:
http://mattstone.blogs.com/photos/celtic_icons/rublev-trinity.jpg
meloveconsul,
We are in accord. The best men can do is to recognize their foibles, and to strive for true brotherhood. I like the icon demonstrating the friendly communion.