KVNUFTP

Clinton Walks the Red Carpet

Recently Hillary Clinton underwent a Senate Confirmation Hearing as the new Secretary of State in the Obama administration. Yet as controversial as Clinton SHOULD be as a new member of the Obama administration, unsurprisingly, Democratic members and Hillary’s fan base within the press had few negative things to comment. Surprisingly, however, was the lack of intensity from Senate Republicans, who seemed to more-or-less, prostrate themselves in front of Hillary and her Democratic onslaught.

Here is our dutiful media doing its best to give us an “objective” perspective of Hillary as our new Secretary of State:

From Maureen Dowd: “Hillary aced her Senate hearing on Tuesday, performing as the A-student she is. As one of her former campaign aides said, whatever else you say about her, she is always prepared.

With Chelsea sitting protectively behind in a plum dress and glam ’40s hairdo – Bill was watching on TV with his mother-in-law – Hillary showed the reasons she could be a star at state and queen of Obama’s hot nerds.

She was on top of all the issues, no matter how obscure. She batted around our “stale” arctic policy – who knew? – with Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, who doesn’t seem to realize we’re sick of Alaska.

She was up to date on the inevitable Law of the Sea Treaty.

She ladled up the broth of flattery expected in the Senate with a chef’s finesse. Even after Senator Dick Lugar, the ranking Republican on the panel that was questioning her, tut-tutted that her links to Bill Clinton’s foundation carry the ‘risk’ of foreign governments ‘and entities’ trying to curry favor with Madam Secretary by donating money to her husband, she deftly buttered up Lugar.”

Thank you Maureen for your tabloidesque reporting of the Confirmation… it was beautifully written with such pizazz… almost like reading about Oscar night! (http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/14/opinion/edowd.php)

Democrats were gushing, as well. Sen. Chuck Schumer: “You’ve come a long way, but you’ve always retained your tireless efforts to better the world.” (Such a statement would be similarly appropriate at an awards ceremony)

And yet it was the Republican side of the Hearing that disappointed me most, even Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, the “most conservative member of the Senate,” played nice.

For the most part, Clinton’s confirmation was more like a birthday party, with US lawmakers scrambling to lather on the praise. The Clinton Foundation donors were only mildly mentioned, and then the issue quickly evaportated.

I didn’t expect much from the media or Senate Democrats, but I at least expected Republicans to put on at least some pressure. Yet as it turns out, I was greatly disappointed by the lack of vigor. Afterall, couldn’t they have recalled some of the questions posed at Condolezza Rice in her Confirmation Hearing?

There are many things which Senate Republicans could grill Clinton about, but joining along with Senate Democrats and their journalist allies in the sycophantic orgy was discouraging. I want Obama and his team to succeed, but if the administration remains unchecked by the opposing party, there is no telling what Obama and his Democrats can accomplish.

Republicans seem to be living in a world of fear, and they will surely pay for it. While it isn’t wise to immediately position against the Obama administration, offering some form of resisitance is appropriate… afterall, isn’t that what a divided government supposedly does?