Tag Archives: Hillary Clinton

National Politics

A tale of three secretaries

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Here are the bios of the last two Secretaries of State, prior to their appointments.

Colin Powell

BA, City College, New York; MBA, George Washington University.

Served overseas in Germany, Viet Nam, Korea

Senior Military Advisor to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger 1983-1986

National Security Advisor, President Ronald Reagan 1987-1989

Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, President George H.W. Bush 1989-1993

Condolezza Rice

BA, University of Denver, Phi Beta Kappa

MA, Political Science, Notre Dame

PhD, Political Science, University of Denver
thesis on military policy and politics in Czechoslovakia

Stanford University: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor, Provost
Senior Fellow, Institute for International Studies – specialist on the Soviet Union

Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

Senior Director, Soviet and East European Affairs, National Security Council – President George H.W. Bush 1989-1991

National Security Advisor, President George Bush 2001-2005

No one seems to be asking what Hillary Clinton’s qualifications for being Secretary of State are. What are they?

Hillary Rodham Clinton

BA, Wellesley College; JD, Yale Law School

Impeachment Inquiry Staff, House Judiciary Committee, 1974

Failed DC Bar exam, passed Arkansas Bar exam

Partner Rose Law Firm, Little Rock Arkansas 1977-1992

Director, Legal Services Corporation 1978-1981

First Lady, Arkansas 1978-1992

First Lady, United States 1992-2000

United States Senator, New York 2000-

She has no experience in international affairs. She has never lived overseas. She speaks no foreign language. Her most remarkable accomplishments have been to turn $1,000 into $100,000 in ten months of trading in cattle futures, and trashing her husband’s approval ratings in 1993 when she headed an ill-advised attempt to nationalize US healthcare – an issue that led to the Republicans picking up 53 seats and gaining control of the House in 1994.

Why is this woman about to be selected as the next Secretary of State?

– RedHatRob

2008 Election

OBAMA EX MACHINA

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Obama Ex Machina.lores

cartoon by Pansy

– Rob Shearer

UPDATE: Several people have emailed me to complain that they don’t “get” the cartoon (aside from the Clinton pun on wench/winch). A “Deus ex machina” is a device from the plays of the ancient Greeks. They invented drama. Several of their playwrights were fond of resolving impossibly complicated situations by “flying in” a god at the very end who tidied up all the loose ends. The actor playing the god was lowered in over the top of the scenery using a winch, called in Greek, a “machina.” Hence, the phrase: “deus ex machina.”

Aristotle (the world’s first drama critic, among other things) was very critical of the playwrights who used this device. He likened it to cheating and insisted that plot complications should be resolved realistically in a way that was internally consistent with the action of the rest of the play and the characters.

Aren’t you glad you asked?

2008 Election

No Executive Incumbent on the ballot in 2008

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and that will be the first time this has been true since . . . class? anyone? Bueller?

Try 1952. That’s right, its been 56 years since we held a presidential election in which neither of the nominees for president was an incumbent in the executive branch.

What does that mean? Not sure. The powers of incumbency are formidable. Media attention, staff assistance, executive travel perks, just to name a few. The prestige of being President or Vice-President is intangible, but obviously significant. Only three incumbent presidents lost (Ford in 1976, Carter in 1980, Bush 41 in 1992). Six won. But of the four vice presidents who ran, only one succeeded in being elected president (Bush 41).

Here’s the list (from memory):

1952 Eisenhower vs. Stevenson
1956 Eisenhower (President) vs. Stevenson
1960 Nixon (Vice President) vs. Kennedy
1964 Johnson (President) vs. Goldwater
1968 Humphrey (Vice President) vs. Nixon
1972 Nixon (President) vs. McGovern
1976 Ford (President) vs. Carter
1980 Carter (President) vs. Reagan
1984 Reagan (President) vs. Mondale
1988 Bush 41 (Vice President) vs. Dukakis
1992 Bush 41 (President) vs. Clinton
1996 Clinton (President) vs. Dole
2000 Gore (Vice President) vs. Bush 43
2004 Bush 43 (President) vs. Kerry
2008 Clinton? vs. Thompson?

I can do the list from memory, because, with the exception of the 1952 and 1956 elections, I have memories of all these campaigns. My political memories are sharp and clear. My belief that there are political solutions to our problems is growing increasingly dim.

-Rob Shearer
  Director, Schaeffer Study Center