"Hillary뭩 Hidden Hand" - Newsweek ... Do we really want this kind of 'Experience'?

JackORoses

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Tue Dec-25-07 03:33 PM
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"Hillary뭩 Hidden Hand" - Newsweek ... Do we really want this kind of 'Experience'?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/81600/page/1

Is Hillary Clinton truly as "experienced" as she makes herself out to be뾞nd is the experience she gained as First Lady the kind that matters in choosing a president?
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She had no official position or specified duties, yet she was so involved in decision making that the president's staff called her "the Supreme Court" because they knew she was the last person he consulted before making up his mind.
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Hillary enjoyed operating as a hidden hand. While giving instructions as First Lady, she was known to tell her staff, "Don't leave any fingerprints." White House adviser George Stephanopoulos recalled her explaining, "You have to be much craftier behind the scenes."
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Because she had no clear place in the White House hierarchy, Hillary left staff members to wonder whether she was freelancing or acting on her husband's authority. She would routinely turn up at West Wing meetings, and her confrontational style "had a real chilling effect," said a senior presidential aide who뾩ike several other officials and friends quoted in this article뾱poke freely about private matters on condition of anonymity. "People were scared of her," said Clinton aide Robert Boorstin. "You did not cross Hillary." Even the president "would try to avoid fighting with her if he could, deflecting her if he could," said Nussbaum. Her dissatisfaction with the White House Travel Office staff led to their abrupt dismissal in May 1993, causing a furor over allegations of cronyism and the absence of due process. Testifying under oath, Hillary said she had "no role in the decision" to fire the employees. Yet the Office of Independent Counsel later concluded that "overwhelming evidence" showed she had played a role and that her "statement to the contrary" was "factually false."
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Hillary was widely criticized for making the health task-force deliberations secret, insisting on pushing her proposal as an all-or-nothing package and targeting the health-care establishment as "the enemy" to be fought with a "war room." When Bill tried to make the plan more flexible, he had to defer to her, in part because of their implicit marital bargain, in which Bill ceded her power as a trade-off for his history of infidelity. In July 1994, he was urged to accept a compromise plan with less than the universal coverage that Hillary wanted. When he unexpectedly told a group of governors in Boston that he would be willing to take 95 percent, Hillary immediately called her husband. "What the f뼎� are you doing up there?" she screamed, according to a West Wing adviser who was in her office at the time. "I want to see you as soon as you get back." The next morning the president not only recanted his statement but apologized.
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In May 1993 the president wanted to intervene to stop the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. He initially agreed to bomb Serbian military positions and help the Muslims arm themselves, but quickly reversed himself when NATO allies balked. The key factor in the president's shift was Hillary. She viewed the situation as "a Vietnam," recalled a Hillary friend. But two years later, after more than 250,000 deaths, Hillary became "an advocate for the use of force in Bosnia," according to one of the president's advisers. Her change of heart was partly political. A senior State Department official convinced her that the bloodshed overseas could grow worse and become an issue for the president in his run for re-election in 1996.
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There is no doubt that Hillary's proximity to the Oval Office has given her a familiarity with the presidency that is unsurpassed by any of her rivals. She knows the mechanics of the White House and the demands of the job. She also has plenty of firsthand experience managing political crises. Would that make her a better president? The answer to that may turn on larger concerns뾵hether her vision suits the times, whether she can handle the pressure when the buck truly stops with her and whether she has learned to learn from her mistakes.

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Is this what America needs?

I don't think so. How about you?