Amateur Hour on the World Stage

Long before Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State, she was revered by many Democrats and the MSM as "the smartest woman in the world". This despite her distinct lack of uniquely significant accomplishment. Oh she has done some things that are unusual for a woman of her age. She graduated from Yale Law School when most law schools had few women students. She served as Congressional legal counsel, and became the first female partner of a (then) well-respected law firm. Those are accomplishments and women who serve in such capacities now stand on her shoulders to some extent.

But let's be real. Hillary's public popularity (or notoriety) are directly attributable to her marriage to Bill. That's not intended as an insult; it's just the truth. No one would know or revere Hillary if she hadn't hitched her wagon to her husband. Frankly, there is nothing wrong (or new) with a person trading a bit on a loved one's success.

Measuring her intelligence with reference to these accomplishments (or how she got where she is) would be strange since she finally has her own position. No, I don't count carpetbagging to get her Senate seat. Thanks to Pres. Obama, she is on the world stage, now, as Secretary of State, unhitched from her husband, free to display her intelligence in diplomacy, foreign policy and influence world affairs.

Unfortunately, a quick survey of Hillary's performance in Act I, and that of the Obama Administration, shows that this is Amateur Hour. Hillary and Barack are acting on Broadway while mis-delivering lines in a style more akin to a Little Rock dinner theater.

Scene 1: Meeting with her Chinese counterpart. Enter Hillary, hat in hand, begging the Chinese government to keep buying American debt. In exchange, she chooses not to linger on those pesky human rights issues. Shortly after the meeting, Chinese warships challenge US Naval vessels in international waters, suggesting China is no longer bedazzled by Hillary, if it ever was.

Scene 2: Meeting in Israel. Hillary touches the "third rail" of the Mideast peace process by declaraing the establishment of a Palestinian state is "inescapable", while expressing the desire to normalize relations with world terror leader Iran and its surrogate Syria--both sworn enemies of Israel. Israeli officials are not amused. Hamas officials--perpetually unamused--express anger at Hillary's failure to criticize Israel, but she still gives them a check for nearly $1 billion.

Scene 3: Meeting with her Russian counterpart. Enter Hillary with a gift in hand. Hillary presents a button to Foreign Minister Lavrov and, while taking an indirect swipe at the previous administration, tells him its a "reset button" to "reset" our relationship. The button was supposed to say "perezagruzka", which means "reset" but instead it said "peregruzka", which means "overcharged".

Scene 4: Brussels and the EU. Hillary claims she has "never understood multiparty democracy" and claimed that "our own democracy...has been around a lot longer than European democracy." Apparently, she either forgot Greece was in the EU or never studied Greek history. She also refers to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana as "High Representative Solano", and European Commission External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner as "Benito." The MSM excuses her missteps as symptoms of fatigue.

Now, it goes without saying that the MSM would never have let George Bush, Condi Rice or Don Rumsfeld get away with such gaffes. It's expected from those dolts. But Hillary? She's too smart for that. She must have been tired.

Admittedly, Hillary is probably taking orders from Pres. Obama when she discusses policy positions. Clearly the Obama Administration has staked out positions in the mushy middle, which is just what we'd expect from loyal adherents of political correctness. Don't come on too strong, don't offend anyone, keep standards and expectations low, and never truly take a forceful stand. But, as Secretary of State, Hillary has a say in these positions...or she's entirely feckless. America must support her friends and gain compliance or concessions from her enemies, and defeat them if necessary. Staking out the mushy middle is a sure way to lose the upper hand. For example, in the Mideast, taking the mushy middle in an effort to secure "peace" risks alienating good friend Israel while never truly getting anything meaningful out of the PLO/Syria/Iran, in large part because Israel's enemies won't let peace and Israel coexist.

Luckily for Hillary, she is not on the hook for the insulting treatment of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. When the leader of your greatest friend and ally pays his first official state visit, you should welcome and treat him as such. Pres. Obama did not see fit to hold a joint press conference and barely had time to meet with Brown. Obama did, however, have a couple of toys from the White House gift shop for Brown's kids and a box of DVDs. Do you think he was smart enough to give him DVDs that will play on European systems? Doubt it. It's unclear whether Blockbuster will waive the late fees if Brown doesn't return them on time. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way back to 10 Downing, Gordo.

Unlike dinner theater, you only get one performance on the world stage. You can't show up for the next night's show with a clean slate and a new audience. For America's sake, and that of the free world and emerging democracies and capitalist nations around the world, we can only hope the performance will improve as Act II begins.