AMERICAblog: A new day at the State Department: A Raucous Welcome for Hillary
Crazy8
· 10 months ago
Vitter may think he is the voice of the GOP but what he and the party do not realize yet is that they can not win if the American Public is against them. Collectively we have enough money to run them out of office. So I hope that they keep it up. When is Vetter up for reelection?
houstonray
· 10 months ago
AHHH....Senator David Hooker Vitter....such a shining example of Republican Hypocrisy at it's finest. Maybe he can run with that 'woman from Alaska' in 2012...
Lolis
· 10 months ago
That makes me optimistic. The employees must think she represents a big change to give her that kind of response. Even though I never supported HRC she is a bright woman and she had a lot of support in the primary so this is a nice honor for her. I think she will do well.
paulbot5
· 10 months ago
What makes you think we will have a different foreign policy lol
Lolis
· 10 months ago
we already do ... Yesterday Obama called the leaders in Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine. Obama is shutting down all black sites and Gitmo today. He is appointing a very fair man to the I/P conflict. There already is change ...
ok, so you like cheese melted over your chinese food... it's HOPE DAY 2 for pity's sake, come on.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 10 months ago
good luck tlsintx, paulbot is still raising money for ron paul's 2012 campaign.
egad.
tlsintx
· 10 months ago
did you watch the clip?
tlsintx
· 10 months ago
i think the GOPers have propped Vitter up as the sacrificial dork...someone has to appear to oppose the dems and he's their most dispensable loser - besides Cornyn...
An_American_Karol
· 10 months ago
Vitter is going to make sure Hillary suffers for 'his' infidelity. Someone has to do it.
Dave of the Jungle
· 10 months ago
More Neanderthal "punish the victim" consciousness, it seems.
cowboyneok
· 10 months ago
Perfectly said, Karol.
sukabi1
· 10 months ago
wow, with the reception Hillary got at the State Department, you'd think they'd just been rescued from a burning, sinking ship or something....
John Aravosis
· 10 months ago
They were.
sukabi1
· 10 months ago
I know.... expect record winds over the next week or so as the country as a whole breathes a huge sigh of relief...
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 10 months ago
what was that saying Stephen Colbert came up with? something about deck chairs and the Hindenburg??
:-)
paulbot5
· 10 months ago
Just sayin, Bush and Obama are both globalists, interventionists, support our world empire, hillary supported Iraq war
tlsintx
· 10 months ago
nope.
vkobaya
· 10 months ago
Bush and Obama are both globalists, interventionists, support our world empire, hillary supported Iraq war
Yeah, I agree, both are reprehensible, but ... Bush and gang are insane, infantile, criminal and war criminals. I oppose the war, oppose American miltiary and economic hegemony, but Obama's version is the adult, civilized version as opposed to the children of savages, cannibals and headhunters. Bush administration's concept of foreign policy is that of Attila the Hun, Ghengis Khan, the Goths and Visgoths, at least 2000 years out of date. During the past 8 years, I was always expecting that at any moment, Bush would push the red button just to see the pretty fireworks.
Older_Wiser
· 10 months ago
And Obama just signed orders closing Guantanamo, banning torture, etc. GB will be shut down within a year.
I'm sure employees all over the US govt are relieved to be rid of BushCo.
Woops, make that President Obama...got so used to calling Bush Bush after 8 years.
Will Condi be like Gonzales, bereft of employment? Maybe she can get a job at Ferragamo, selling shoes and getting her employee discount...
Dianne_in_DC
· 10 months ago
Actually, Huff Post reports "Obama sings order" closing Guantanamo. Gosh, I saw him bust a move Tuesday night, I didn't know he could sing, too!
Older_Wiser
· 10 months ago
LOL! I'll bet I've watched the First Dance a dozen times and bawled...what a couple! And Beyonce nailed "At Last", too. It was nothing short of sensational, the whole thing.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 10 months ago
I really do feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. funny how anger and injustice can darken your outlook.
not saying Obama is going to be perfect... but by comparison to the last eight years? he'll be up for sainthood in my book if he can pass HALF of what he promised.
.
Indigo
· 10 months ago
"On behalf . . . " Obviously! Happyhappyjoyjoy!
JohnInTexas
· 10 months ago
So who got to drive the wooden stake through Condolezzi's heart? I hope they bury her face down so she doesn't comb back to haunt.
ahh... nothing like nerdy adulation to get the heart pumping in the morning.
:-)
Older_Wiser
· 10 months ago
Pres. Obama and Secy Clinton to address diplomats later today...it's on, people! I can hear a huge sigh of relief in DC down here in NC...
mastrick
· 10 months ago
Hillary earned this. The State department is jubilant because they can finally return to doing the nation's business.
SCLiberal
· 10 months ago
I had been not thrilled with his pick of Clinton but I was wrong. He obviously knew what he was doing. There is so much about D.C. that us rank and file don't know. I'm so glad Obama does and understands what is needed. I'm beyond relieved that he is our president.
PippaPasses
· 10 months ago
~Whew!~ So glad the State Dept. was still standing!
Mike R
· 10 months ago
She has earned this, and she seems capable, and may be a party pooper but one of her steps to this position was marrying Bill Clinton and his becoming President.
dula
· 10 months ago
I love it! Now all those Republicans who were such great "friends" to Hillary during the Primary can eat their heart. It will look ridiculous for them to criticize her after they praised her for so many months.
Sean Taylor
· 10 months ago
Still we're talking about this guy getting a extramarital hummer? Seriously? I doubt it was as memorable as the American Public finds it to this day. Can we talk about something that matter please? Why she's still with him, THAT she's still with him is NONE OF OUR BUSINESS! Let's talk about how we're going to drag ourselves out of the horrendous mess George W Bush got us into not who's zoomin' who.
Thank you
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 10 months ago
pul-eze... I'm sorry if you don't think pointing out that vitters is a scumbag and how that relates to his apparent ethics issues with appointing Hillary to SOS is relevant.
but then again, it isn't your blog is it?
Steve Pipenger, esq
· 10 months ago
Guess what? It's not about a man's sexual peccadilloes. It's about a man making an issue about everyone else's sexual peccadilloes and being caught in his own lie as an adulterer and pervert and being called on the carpet for it. My feeling is this: screw whom you want, have any fetish you want (as long as it involves all consenting adults). However, if you hire a hooker, and then, being from Louisiana of all places (think Katrina) say that same-sex marriage is the gravest issue facing the US...EXPECT people to remind you and everyone else what kind of hypocrite you are.
dula
· 10 months ago
Hopefully Hillary can settle in now and focus on peace, without the pressure of promoting war and appearing Hawkish like she once felt she had to in order to run for Prez as a female Democrat.
serge
· 10 months ago
This is what I sent to DeMint's office this morning. To my great chagrin, I have to live with this tool:
Senator DeMint...I am horrified, if not at all surprised, by your vote to deny Sen. Clinton the position of Secretary of State.
Did you really mean to align yourself with the only other Senator voting nay, an admitted adulterer, a client of the notorious "DC madam?" About whom, it came out that he was particularly into a certain diaper fetish? Real classy, Sen. DeMint...
What ever happened to the Republican idea that a president, say George Bush for example, should have great latitude in naming his Cabinet? I guess with Democrats in control, not so much, eh?
I will steal from the Dixie Chicks the statement that I am ashamed that you come from the State of South Carolina. Much of the world already thinks we're hicks...you just proved it to them. You have a great day, sir. By all means call me. Don't bother to write the boilerplate crap you generally send. It's a waste of taxpayer money and a waste of your staff's time.
My number is 843-XXX-7102.
tigergrrldc
· 10 months ago
I've heard from a couple of people that work at the State Dept. that Condi wasn't very nice. Not surprising, because she looked very evil to me. My nickname for her was the Devil's Whore.
FunMe
· 10 months ago
Devil's Whore ... that's funny!
devlzadvocate
· 10 months ago
Condi wasn't nice? Who in the Bush Admin. was nice? I haven't heard of one. Well, maybe Tony Snow.
The welcome Hillary got just shows you what years of neglect and abuse will do to people. I have never seen a welcome like that for any cabinet officer.
How'd ya like to go to work and get that kind of welcome?!
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
it's a new day, but it's the same ol' deal.
first off, hillary's run for the white house was so disfunctional, chaotic, and shortsighted, she lost a race that she should have won. that doesn't bode well for getting the state dept to run smoothly.
it's also worth mentioning that hillary is one of the biggest hawks around, and that's on either side of the isle. so when it comes to iran, russia, and afghanistan, i don't expect much to change.
of all obama's picks, hillary at sos makes the least sense to me.
shanobama
· 10 months ago
Obama and the congress were assured that the executive office would have their own appointee to run the day to day operations at state. I forget the guys name, but Obama put his own man in there to run things. So Hillary will not have her hands in that pile of the organization at Foggy Bottom.
As far as Hillary being a 'hawk', she will be taking orders from the president, and will have to carry out his orders or face being fired from her position and replaced with someone who will carry out the executive orders.
The fact is; the Clintons have a lot of respect all around the world, whether you like them or not.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
glad to hear that hillary isn't in charge of the day to day stuff. that's a great relief.
to your second point, i guess we'll see. but given hillary's record, her selection may speak to what kind of orders the new president will be giving. i'm sure all options are still on the table.
the fact is; when it comes to foreign policy, there's not as much difference between the clinton administration and the bush administration as you might think.
shanobama
· 10 months ago
This is the Obama Administration.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
oh! really? then what are all these clintonites doing here?
shanobama
· 10 months ago
Same people- who know their way around the halls of power and thus will be able to communicate effectively and get things done.
Different administration led by Barack Obama- they will carry out their orders from Obama, or they will be out.
Carter made a terrible mistake by appointing people who did not have DC credentials and it stymied his ability to get his policies enacted. The difference between knowing who will help to get things done quickly and being in a maze trying to figure out a way to get things done fast. You cannot ignore entrenched pockets of power in DC, they must be used to advantage.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
by that logic, why not just keep the bush people? they would know their way around the halls of power at least as well, and probably better, simply because they've been at the job for the past 8 years. and since it's the obama administration, they would just snap to and do what he told them. otherwise, they will be out!
shanobama
· 10 months ago
Lets see, today he set an order to close Gitmo and end the war in Iraq, restored habeas corpus, etc. The Bush people are contaminated by this, and contaminated by Republican ideology of the worst sort. None of the Bushies could be called independent thinkers by any stretch of imagination, most of the people of that sort gave up and left years ago.
The whole Obama cabinet does not consist of Clintonites. Janet Nepolitano, Steven Chu (one of the best picks, imho) Gen. Shinseki, Susan Rice, etc. comes to mind here.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
i'm not saying to bush people don't have a price to pay in this. but it didn't start with george. oil for food, the no fly zone, the iraqi liberation act... we've been at war with iraq since 1992, so it's a lot bigger contamination than just the bush presidency.
and the bush people couldn't have done it without some help from across the isle. when it came to war with iraq, hillary didn't even bother reading the damn thing. how's that for support? and when bush wanted to list the iranian guard as terrorists? she's good to go for that, too. again, she may be the biggest hawk in washington dc.
and yeah, chu was a great pick. someone who's on the same page with obama... which is the exact opposite of what hillary clinton is. they spent the entire primary disagreeing on international policy... fiercely disagreeing. but now hillary is just going to do what she's told? we'll see, but im not holding my breath
shanobama
· 10 months ago
My senator is Kyl, the neo-con rat bast*rd, and the big reason I never supported Hillary. But wasnt Hillary doing what she was told then? This showed me she was not really leadership material if she was going along with Kyl.
Why not use her world wide celebrity and status as former first lady in order to do what Obama tells her? Yea, Hillary may embellish, but Obama is the independent thinker and real leader here. It will be his call whether she is getting the right results for the goals of his administration.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
i have real reservations about hillary... but if barack picked her, there must have been a good reason. i do hope you're right. but i have a sinking feeling we're going to get right back to neocon type shenanigans, this time with iran, russa, china... lord, who knows who else.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
neocons never die, they just change parties.
NMRon
· 10 months ago
Employees in Federal Government are hard working and patriotic citizens who do their job because they believe in the value of real public service. They sure don't do it for the money and respect. How would you feel upon getting a new boss who really is one of the smartest kids in the room after eight years of trying to minimize the damage from political appointees who make Alfred E. Newman look like Einstein?
And Diaper Dave? Gives a bad name to whore mongers.
nicho
· 10 months ago
I thought her speech was great. I'm still amazed at what a dismal campaign she ran. Had she come across as well on the campaign trail as she did in her speech at the State Department, she might be president today. I hope nobody on her campaign staff ever finds work again. They clearly don't know what they're doing. They took a front runner derailed her.
cowboyneok
· 10 months ago
She derailed herself with her Iraq War vote of confidence and her story about getting shot at in Bosnia. The Iraq War vote turned off a huge segment of people, and then her Bosnia story turned off those who were sitting on the fence trying to decide between her and Barack. Its sad, really, because that Bosnia story was just so unnecessary.
T. Scheisskopf
· 10 months ago
Well, a good part of the blame must be laid at Mark Penn's leprous and scabrous feet. He has "fallen upward" at terminal velocity.
Pia
· 10 months ago
I don't think so, Nicho. This website especially put her down! You just watch this girl go do some great things for America!
cowboyneok
· 10 months ago
The raucous cheers and applause will always be a bitter reminder from those at the State Department you dominated with your disastrous Neo-Con philosophy, but you still have your shoes, Condi. Cruel shoes, yes... but you still have your shoes... Lots and lots of... shoes.
" I get that Vitter has been anointed as the titular leader of the GOP". hehehehehe. You used the word "titular" to describe Diaper Dave.
cowboyneok
· 10 months ago
Since we are on the subject of the State Department and I'm into Steve Martin this morning, I thought I might add a classic Steve Martin "Frenchman learning English!"
Regards Hillary: I was sorry she was given this (or any) job (ditto Rahm), but if our diplomats welcome her and if she can do the work Obama asks and if Bill can keep his red face and gnarly finger away from cameras, then I'm back in trust mode for our marvelous new president.
Brock Ducharme
· 10 months ago
More than a decade in DC, I have never seen anything even approaching this kind of welcome for an incoming agency head. I bristled at Clinton's campaign, but think she has truly found her stride here. Every day this transition seems better and better, with the right people in the right places, animated by a buoyant sense of purpose and supported by a people unified. I'm just so proud.
Rick Cain
· 10 months ago
Obviously they were just there for the free t-shirts.
I;m kidding, I kid!
I love this country!
Lyrebird
· 10 months ago
Oh, WONDERFUL. And nobody's perfect, but I'm loving the SOS HRC. Obama is calling the shots, Sen. Mitchell (blessings on him!!! This is the guy who was *really* boosting the N.I. peace process while HRC was hosting a luncheon or two) will be on the ground in the middle east, and HRC will be glad-handing, hosting more luncheons, giving these long-suffering civil servants a hearing, and catapulting the NEW propaganda. Excellent.
bob_h
· 10 months ago
Who knows- maybe Clinton gets some diplomatic accomplishments under her belt, and people like what they see. Does she have another shot in 2016?
T. Scheisskopf
· 10 months ago
Foggy Bottom is not known as party-down central in Washington. It's a pretty sober place. That just makes the above all the more remarkable. That was a bunch of extremely and genuinely excited people.
James T
· 10 months ago
Its almost funny in a way - the staff at the state department have been so demoralised over the last few years - Condi was about as effective as a dead car battery, and the department was muzzled due to the fact the employees were a bunch of overly educated eastern bums who just did not see or understand the ol'Texan way of doing things (shoot your friends and torture your enemies or was it the reverse?!) - so their welcome for a smart well educated well informed new leader who is not another lackey type personality (think Condi again) was understandable.
Randy
· 10 months ago
What a nice touch -- having her introduced by a nelly old queen!
cole3244
· 10 months ago
thanks for the video, its obvious that the average citizen isn't the only one excited about the change in wash.
I fully support the use of the word "titular" to describe David Vitter because it makes me giggle.
timncguy
· 10 months ago
you just have to figure that Vitter has been behaving this way to try to prove to the world that his wife didn't "Bobbit" him as she had promised. Has to run around proving that he still has his "manhood". LOL
Jordan20
· 10 months ago
I love it!
But I also have to know who that cutie is standing behind/next to HRC on the stairs? Anyone know?
vkobaya
· 10 months ago
It looked like the liberation of Paris during World War II. It makes you wonder how awful Condoleezza Rice was. She must have been a really evil despot. These are all professional, career government employees, used to seeing politicians up close and seeing them come and go as administrations change. Well, I suppose Rice could have been worse, the "prisoners" didn't celebrate because of their starving, brutalized condition like when the German concentration camps were liberated. Yeah, that's right! Absurd to think of Rice in those terms. Getting carried away in my hatred for the Bush administration. Got to reign in my hostile imagination. <g>
Well, two days since the dawning of the new age. Does the sunlight feel warmer? Are the nights getting shorter? Hope for green to push up through the snow? Wait, wait! I'm confusing the Obama inauguration with New Years. But then, consider, New Years occurs every 365 days. Obama being inaugurated will only happen one more time. Which is the more miraculous, awesome occurrence. We've had 8 years of bitter cold, dark, freezing, blizzards of hatred, violence, insanity and evil. The sun has shone for the first time in 8 years.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hosanna in the highest!
Ceara
· 10 months ago
I would LOVE to see a video of Condoleeza Rice's reception to the State Department for comparison - can anybody find it?
judykel1
· 7 months ago
I am happy to see this new president cleaning out the corruption in the industries. I would like to see something done for Medicare. The medical field is robbing not only Medicare but the people as well. As a diabetic several of my medications are covered by Medicare. I find the competition to have my doctor or myself choose certain prescriptions more than suspicious. I have a prescription that costs $400 a month. WHY?
All Comments
it's HOPE DAY 2 for pity's sake, come on.
egad.
:-)
Yeah, I agree, both are reprehensible, but ... Bush and gang are insane, infantile, criminal and war criminals. I oppose the war, oppose American miltiary and economic hegemony, but Obama's version is the adult, civilized version as opposed to the children of savages, cannibals and headhunters. Bush administration's concept of foreign policy is that of Attila the Hun, Ghengis Khan, the Goths and Visgoths, at least 2000 years out of date. During the past 8 years, I was always expecting that at any moment, Bush would push the red button just to see the pretty fireworks.
I'm sure employees all over the US govt are relieved to be rid of BushCo.
Woops, make that President Obama...got so used to calling Bush Bush after 8 years.
Will Condi be like Gonzales, bereft of employment? Maybe she can get a job at Ferragamo, selling shoes and getting her employee discount...
not saying Obama is going to be perfect... but by comparison to the last eight years? he'll be up for sainthood in my book if he can pass HALF of what he promised.
.
Happyhappyjoyjoy!
---
umm... twentysomething men? or women?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/2879216...
What an awesome speech!
What a great new day!
:-)
Thank you
but then again, it isn't your blog is it?
Senator DeMint...I am horrified, if not at all surprised, by your vote to deny Sen. Clinton the position of Secretary of State.
Did you really mean to align yourself with the only other Senator voting nay, an admitted adulterer, a client of the notorious "DC madam?" About whom, it came out that he was particularly into a certain diaper fetish? Real classy, Sen. DeMint...
What ever happened to the Republican idea that a president, say George Bush for example, should have great latitude in naming his Cabinet? I guess with Democrats in control, not so much, eh?
I will steal from the Dixie Chicks the statement that I am ashamed that you come from the State of South Carolina. Much of the world already thinks we're hicks...you just proved it to them. You have a great day, sir. By all means call me. Don't bother to write the boilerplate crap you generally send. It's a waste of taxpayer money and a waste of your staff's time.
My number is 843-XXX-7102.
The welcome Hillary got just shows you what years of neglect and abuse will do to people. I have never seen a welcome like that for any cabinet officer.
How'd ya like to go to work and get that kind of welcome?!
first off, hillary's run for the white house was so disfunctional, chaotic, and shortsighted, she lost a race that she should have won. that doesn't bode well for getting the state dept to run smoothly.
it's also worth mentioning that hillary is one of the biggest hawks around, and that's on either side of the isle. so when it comes to iran, russia, and afghanistan, i don't expect much to change.
of all obama's picks, hillary at sos makes the least sense to me.
As far as Hillary being a 'hawk', she will be taking orders from the president, and will have to carry out his orders or face being fired from her position and replaced with someone who will carry out the executive orders.
The fact is; the Clintons have a lot of respect all around the world, whether you like them or not.
to your second point, i guess we'll see. but given hillary's record, her selection may speak to what kind of orders the new president will be giving. i'm sure all options are still on the table.
the fact is; when it comes to foreign policy, there's not as much difference between the clinton administration and the bush administration as you might think.
Different administration led by Barack Obama- they will carry out their orders from Obama, or they will be out.
Carter made a terrible mistake by appointing people who did not have DC credentials and it stymied his ability to get his policies enacted. The difference between knowing who will help to get things done quickly and being in a maze trying to figure out a way to get things done fast. You cannot ignore entrenched pockets of power in DC, they must be used to advantage.
and since it's the obama administration, they would just snap to and do what he told them. otherwise, they will be out!
The Bush people are contaminated by this, and contaminated by Republican ideology of the worst sort. None of the Bushies could be called independent thinkers by any stretch of imagination, most of the people of that sort gave up and left years ago.
The whole Obama cabinet does not consist of Clintonites. Janet Nepolitano, Steven Chu (one of the best picks, imho) Gen. Shinseki, Susan Rice, etc. comes to mind here.
and the bush people couldn't have done it without some help from across the isle. when it came to war with iraq, hillary didn't even bother reading the damn thing. how's that for support?
and when bush wanted to list the iranian guard as terrorists? she's good to go for that, too. again, she may be the biggest hawk in washington dc.
and yeah, chu was a great pick. someone who's on the same page with obama... which is the exact opposite of what hillary clinton is. they spent the entire primary disagreeing on international policy... fiercely disagreeing. but now hillary is just going to do what she's told? we'll see, but im not holding my breath
Why not use her world wide celebrity and status as former first lady in order to do what Obama tells her? Yea, Hillary may embellish, but Obama is the independent thinker and real leader here. It will be his call whether she is getting the right results for the goals of his administration.
And Diaper Dave? Gives a bad name to whore mongers.
This website especially put her down!
You just watch this girl go do some great things for America!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feTrJSWnqdk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOEq-ImGWJ0
hehehehehe. You used the word "titular" to describe Diaper Dave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHQrXOYil5w&feat...
Regards Hillary: I was sorry she was given this (or any) job (ditto Rahm), but if our diplomats welcome her and if she can do the work Obama asks and if Bill can keep his red face and gnarly finger away from cameras, then I'm back in trust mode for our marvelous new president.
I;m kidding, I kid!
I love this country!
Does she have another shot in 2016?
But I also have to know who that cutie is standing behind/next to HRC on the stairs? Anyone know?
Well, two days since the dawning of the new age. Does the sunlight feel warmer? Are the nights getting shorter? Hope for green to push up through the snow? Wait, wait! I'm confusing the Obama inauguration with New Years. But then, consider, New Years occurs every 365 days. Obama being inaugurated will only happen one more time. Which is the more miraculous, awesome occurrence. We've had 8 years of bitter cold, dark, freezing, blizzards of hatred, violence, insanity and evil. The sun has shone for the first time in 8 years.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hosanna in the highest!