Hillary Clinton at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Hillary Clinton | Getty Images
Sen. Hillary Clinton, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for secretary of State, began confirmation hearings on her appointment today.
There were many reports that she faced questions about donations to her husband’s foundation. The husband, of course, is Bill Clinton, the former POTUS. Donors to his foundation had been kept top-secret until Ms. Clinton wanted to play in the Obama administration, which insisted on transparency.
Sen. Richard Lugar addressed what I have thought is a problem: “The core of the problem is that foreign governments and entities may perceive the Clinton Foundation as a means to gain favor with the secretary of state.”
She said there would be no conflict: “It will not be in the atmosphere.” Uh huh.
Clinton also said she wanted to be smart in dealing with Iran and said she would help to “renew” America’s leadership in the world. She said the Obama administration is open to lifting travel bans to Cuba.
She made what the Washington Post called a “veiled swipe at the Bush administration” when she said “she and Obama “believe that foreign policy must be based on a marriage of principles and pragmatism, not rigid ideology.”
She said she would not negotiate with Hamas and said that both she and Obama are sympathetic to Israel’s need to defend itself.
Did you learn anything in today’s hearings? Anybody listen or watch in full?
Jamie Riley is the P-D letters editor and gatekeeper of the letters blog. Before joining the editorial page in May 2005, she was a reporter and page designer. Jamie lives in University City with her husband, Charles, daughter, Elise, and the world's best Jack Russell terrier, Logan, better known as Stinky. 
> She said she would not negotiate with Hamas
That sounds like “rigid ideology” to me. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
It is absolutely terrifying to any intelligent human being to think that the Clintons are in charge of our foreign affairs (no pun intended). This couple can be bought by any one at any time. Dubia? China? Enough said.
Here is something you won’t read in the PD, but was reported by Newsbusters:
Now that Barack Obama is assuming the presidency, partisan criticism is suddenly so passé. Just ask Chris Matthews. In the course of cheerleading anchoring the MSNBC coverage of Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing today, Matthews suggested that the media shouldn’t cover the Republican National Committee’s criticism of Clinton.
Yes folks, here come the leftist fascists. MSNBC saying criticism from the right shouldn’t be covered. Wow, that really takes the cake.
Are we truly surprised by voices on the left wanting to shut down complaints against this new administration? This is the same party which would like to introduce the fairness doctrine because it cannot compete against the right for mind share on talk radio and this is the same party that by and large supports the thuggish methods of voting in regards to the formation of unions. By thuggish I mean voting by means other than secret ballets…. because open voting allows for thug level pressure tactics to be used against anyone whom votes non-union. Both the left and the right are heavily guilty of suppressing free speech of their opponents. Normally the news services would serve as our independent voice, but clearly a few major news services have capitulated on heavily favor the left by and large. If only “Fair and Balanced” was a reality as opposed to a fantasy.
I thought that I would watch Hillary before the committee, then I thought better of it since I have a delicate stomach. The sight of all the Democrats falling all over each other just to kiss the hem of her garment would be more than I could stand.