While many Obama supporters where still delirious in the fresh afterglow of Barack Obama's "historic" election victory, a strange thing happened last December- he appointed his critical, often hostile, and recently defeated primary opponent Hillary Clinton to the head the State Department.
Was it based upon her qualifications?
What qualifications?- Clinton had no foreign policy experience to speak of. Other presidents lacking diplomantic exposure have brought someone who has such a background to the State Department--- but he didn't feel the need, for some reason. Perhaps the most unsettling concern is that Hillary's judgement is warped by her blinding ambition to gain power and control- causing her to be manipulative in her dealings with others.
So maybe it was their friendship? Deep interpersonal respect? LOL, not exactly...
In addition to other puzzling cabinet choices that starkly contrasted Obama's Hope-n-Change theme -old-guard party aparatchiks like Joe Biden and other primary challengers like Bill Richardson- the only explanation would be fulfilling political deals that got him elected... as well as the calculated co-opting of Democratic rivals that could pose a challenge in 2012 when The One's numbers are in the toilet. When you're talking about a guy like Obama who had all three other Democratic Party challengers thrown off the ballot in his very first Illinois State Senate race... a man who displays a history of shocking and ruthless political opportunism... the deduction seems obvious.
The appointment of Hillary to State was likely a political bargain struck at the convention- Obama wasn't about to let qualifications or ethical considerations get in the way of such a win-win deal. And Barack takes care of Barack- so given the opportunity, it was a priority to control and contain Hillary, Richardson... even Biden. And if he hadn't suffered a most inopportune bimbo-eruption, elaborately-coiffed leftist Ken-doll John Edwards would have been appointed to a substantial position in the Obama Administration too... he was certainly angling for it.
But the Clintons were -and still are- the #1 potential Democratic threat to an Obama-world future. Obama knows his radical domestic transformation foisted upon an economically shellshocked American public in a desperate "do something" mood all but ensures that his popularity won't remain stable for long... particularly when the print-money spending creates 1970's style stagflation with continued unemployment. Obama's plan is to ram his entire liberal domestic program down our throats as quickly and quietly as possible- while putting a lid on other potential power centers like the Clinton machine and keeping the GOP back on their heels with the help of his MSM allies.
However, the Voice in my Head blog reports that in the wake of the mild rift between Biden/Hillary and Obama re. support of Iran's demonstrators, it now appears as though Hillary and perhaps some of the old guard are hedging their bets... so as to stake a claim on told ya so credits when Obama goes into his inevitable political tailspin:
Last week, the New York Times dropped this tibit about the Obama administration's response to the protests in Iran:Even while supporting the president’s approach, senior members of the administration, including Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, would like to strike a stronger tone in support of the protesters, administration officials said.To that point, criticism of President Obama was mostly confined to Republicans and conservative leaning blogs. And while that story raised more than a few eyebrows, it was quickly dismissed by the White House.However, since that time President Obama has begun to move away from his early hesitation in speaking out against the thuggish regime and for the protesters as reportedly advocated by both Biden and Clinton.But even with this new approach, new evidence has emerged that Biden and Clinton may have themselves moved further toward the view that Obama is simply not up to the task.
So with Obama's poll numbers now slipping - the negatives are dragging him down- the Clintons' timing here in bringing-in such a loyal Clintonite Rottweiler like Sidney Blumenthal (who coined the phrase "vast, right-wing conspiracy") as consultant to Hillary is... let's just say they know what they're doing (as noted by Dan Riehl). And a betting man would keep an eye on them, for Clinton will be pro-actively planning her future with or without Obama- she's a canary in the coal mine that indicates top-level Democrats'/Clintonites' confidence in his leadership.
It shouldn't surprise anyone then if Hillary Clinton were to do a Bobby Kennedy, should it? RFK was Johnson's Attorney General -inherited from JFK- and when President Johnson's popularity started to slip, Kennedy turned on him and ran for President against him in the 1968 primaries. Anyone telling you today that the Democrats wouldn't run a serious primary challenge against Obama in 2012 -which I have heard and read often- plainly doesn't know what they are talking about.
Some time in the next 2 years, Clinton would simply resign as Secretary of State -saying that she can no longer support Obama, of course- and then run for President in 2012, perhaps presenting herself as the best (moderate) hope against Sarah Palin's appeal as a potential first female president.
You can never really count the Clintons out... and they've almost certainly schemed and brewed up a post-Obama "plan B" as The One employs politically high-risk policies at home and abroad... why wouldn't they? There's no real loyalty there, everybody knows that.
And although they are careful to say the right things these days, the pramatic, insatiably power-hungry Clintons must have all the bases covered, and are surely watching his ill-advised programs unfold like a gift from heaven as they wait for the exact right moment to expoit his mistakes. It would be hard to imagine Bill-n-Hill not holding a grudge too, desirous of revenge after the denial of a presidency they thought they owned, and of course all the things that were said by both sides in the primaries.
Hillary ain't going down with the USS Obamanation, bet on it- serving Chairman O to the bitter end is not the way the Clintons plan to end their legacy. And as for other Democrats who were caught surprised by the meteoric rise of Obama, then just went with the flow-- there's a lot of shallow support out there that could evaporate as quickly as it appeared. The arrogant serial-opportunist Obama seems destined to offend much of the party's old guard, as well as anyone else that he used to get elected... but now no longer finds useful.
The way he's burning through the unprecedented goodwill he's enjoyed is beyond me- a compulsive narcissistic personality disorder, coupled to a megalomaniac's warped sense of self-awareness has become the only apparent explanation. That, and he's incredibly spoiled after having the rails lubricated by a crooked Chicago Machine and adoring DNC for years... Obama simply doesn't seem to realize how quickly it can all disappear- he obviously believes his own mythical narrative... ala Elvis.
But Barack Obama's personality flaws and misguided decision-making are the kinds of things that political opponents tend to take notice -and full advantage- of.
You can be sure that the Clintons have- and are planning accordingly.