Clinton: I’m secretary of state, not Bill

ACE844 · 08-10-2009, 16:33

Do we actually have a Secretary of State now?

Quote:

SOURCE
Clinton: I’m secretary of state, not Bill ‘I am not going to be channeling my husband,’ says the former first lady By the AP updated 2 hours ago

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/afp/par2....rp350x350.jpg
Image: Hillary Clinton
LOUISE REDVERS / AFP/Getty Images
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listens to Angolan Foreign Minister Assuncao dos Anjos on Aug. 9 during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, Angola.

KINSHASA, Congo - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's temper flared on Monday when a Congolese university student asked for her husband's thinking on an international matter.

"My husband is not secretary of state. I am," an obviously annoyed Clinton replied sharply.

A week after former President Bill Clinton traveled to North Korea to secure the release of two detained American journalists and stole the limelight from the start of his wife's first trip to Africa, Clinton was clearly nettled by the question at a town hall forum in Kinshasa.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

"You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?" she replied incredulously when the male student asked her what "Mr. Clinton" thought of World Bank concerns about a multibillion-dollar Chinese loan offer to the Democratic Republic of Congo. . "If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channeling my husband," she said.

The question was left unanswered as the moderator of the event quickly moved on.

Sidelined for weeks after she was injured during a fall this spring, Clinton returned to a flurry of speculation that she had been shoved to the side as a diplomatic force inside the administration, overshadowed by globe-trotting President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and a bevy of heavyweight special envoys assigned to the world's critical hotspots.

Clinton launched into a series of high-profile speeches and television appearances. But just as she landed in Africa, her ambitious visit ran into stiff competition from her husband's secret mission to North Korea, which drew heavy coverage for his role in freeing the two journalists and talking with the regime's long-time leader, Kim Jong Il.

It was not immediately clear why Clinton reacted with such umbrage, and she quickly recovered her cool and moved on to other subjects Monday. Just before the question that set off her anger, another student had asked if the United States and the West felt a need to apologize to the people of Congo for colonialism and post-colonial interference.

"I cannot excuse the past and I will not try," she said. "We can either think about the past and be imprisoned by it or we can decide we're going to have a better future and work to make it."

11-day tour of Africa
Clinton is in the middle of a marathon 11-day tour of Africa and has held to a grueling schedule of official meetings and private events that have kept her busy from sunrise to well after sunset.

She returned to the public eye in mid-July with what aides billed as a major foreign policy address at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. Since then, she has traveled to India and Thailand and now to seven nations in Africa.

Hours after she left Washington for Africa last Monday, news broke that Bill Clinton had gone on the humanitarian mission to North Korea to win the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two television journalists who had been arrested there and sentenced to 12 years at hard labor.

Mrs. Clinton arrived in Kenya to find herself peppered with questions about his role in the secret mission to North Korea.

Sten · 08-10-2009, 16:48

And some of you guys were worried her job at State was going to help her national politics resume.

Gypsy · 08-10-2009, 17:14

Trouble in paradise?

Seriously, while I don't care for either HillorBill, it pains me to say that I can somewhat see her point.

08-10-2009, 17:19

It turns out that the student's question was mistranslated. The student was asking about the President's view, not President Clinton's view.

Dozer523 · 08-10-2009, 17:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gypsy

Trouble in paradise?

Seriously, while I don't care for either HillorBill, it pains me to say that I can somewhat see her point.

give yourself a break. It is statistically impossible to be wrong all the time.

Gypsy · 08-10-2009, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dozer523

give yourself a break. It is statistically impossible to be wrong all the time.

It happens once per year.

Sdiver · 08-10-2009, 18:14

Looks as if the Red Diesel isn't in the loop, as it were, when she gave this answer, seeing that The One has been apologizing left and right for everything the U.S. has done (and hasn't done).

Quote:

It was not immediately clear why Clinton reacted with such umbrage, and she quickly recovered her cool and moved on to other subjects Monday. Just before the question that set off her anger, another student had asked if the United States and the West felt a need to apologize to the people of Congo for colonialism and post-colonial interference.

"I cannot excuse the past and I will not try," she said. "We can either think about the past and be imprisoned by it or we can decide we're going to have a better future and work to make it."

If she keeps up with that line of thinking, she's not going to last long at State, under this administration.

08-10-2009, 18:18

If I were Hillary, I would be suspicious of whomever is vetting her translator staff. This is at least the second major translation error that exposed her to public humiliation. Recall the red button she presented in Russia.

incarcerated · 08-10-2009, 20:54

"An error in translation..."
So what?
She could be related to Rosanne Barr...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxkrtzRqcQE

What a warm demeanor!
The translator was lucky there wasn't an ashtray within reach. Glad she's not the NCA.

Utah Bob · 08-10-2009, 22:44

Man, that was a GREAT clip. She totally lost it!

Guy · 08-10-2009, 22:50

I've seen things mis-translated 100s of times!

Trust but verify.

Stay safe.

**Razor** · 08-10-2009, 23:00

I guess irrelevancy is even more uncomfortable for her to wear than her pantsuits.

08-10-2009, 23:15

Many on this board will understand that there are many high risk professions where intelligence and instincts cannot be replaced with training. She unquestionably has the intelligence and training, but I think she lacks the instincts that tell you that something isn't right and caution is recommended. Of the few SFs and the many doctors I have known, the good ones seem to have that instinct in abundance. One SF member once told me that if you don't have it you will likely not make it through training. If you do make it through training you wont survive many missions. I don't know if he was jazzing me or being really serious.

08-10-2009, 23:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brush Okie

The thing is even IF that was the correct translation she did NOT handle the situation the was a person in her postion should. Why not just say something like "you will have to ask him his opinion". She has a big chip on her shoulder and it showed in this clip. Mistakes are one thing, stupidity and temper tantrams are a whole other story IMHO.

We are in violent agreement.

I'm simply making the case for why I don't expect her to be able to improve.

incarcerated · 08-11-2009, 00:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brush Okie

The thing is even IF that was the correct translation she did NOT handle the situation the was a person in her postion should. Why not just say something like "you will have to ask him his opinion". She has a big chip on her shoulder and it showed in this clip. Mistakes are one thing, stupidity and temper tantrams are a whole other story IMHO.

Wait until the next translator asks her to iron his shirt.

http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/design/25199637

http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/design/25176259

http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/design/25211032

http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/design/25380270