One Cabinet Member Made It Clear

by murphy on January 24, 2012

Sec of State Clinton pictured with a representative of Afghanistan's women's rights groups, in Bonn recently. Click on image for more information.

From the Ryan Lizza article in the New Yorker that is hurtling around the internet today:

“One Cabinet official made it clear that she did not share the President’s growing commitment to coupon-clipping: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She rejected the White House’s budget for her department, and wrote the President a six-page letter detailing her complaints. Some in the White House saw the long letter as a weapon, something that could be leaked if Clinton didn’t get her way. “At the proposed funding levels,” Clinton wrote, “we will not have the capacity to deliver either the full level of civilian staffing or the foreign assistance programs that underlie the civilian-military strategy you outlined for Afghanistan; nor the transition from U.S. Military to civilian programming in Iraq; nor the expanded assistance that is central to our Pakistan strategy.” She went on, “I want to emphasize that I fully understand the economic realities within which this budget is being constructed, and I share your commitment to fiscal responsibility. But I am deeply concerned about these funding levels.”

The letter contained indications of a real relationship between the former rivals. “You and I often speak about the need to restore the capacity of civilian agencies,” Clinton noted. But the general tone was stern and businesslike. It ended with an urgent plea for Obama to intervene on her behalf. “There is little room for progress unless you provide guidance that you are open to an increase in overall funding levels,” she wrote. Obama did indeed fight for some additional money for Clinton.”

Ha Ha Ha. Lizza really needs to go back to reading comprehension school. When Clinton writes, “You and I often speak about the need to restore the capacity of civilian agencies,” she didn’t mean they speak to EACH OTHER, just that they both speak about it. Anyone who doesn’t hear a threatening note of independence and an obvious unwillingness to show humility to the POTUS in Hillary’s words is a moron.

But Lizza’s tone deafness notwithstanding, the article is a real barn burner. Everyone - Is – Talking – About - It.

Tagged as: Christine Romer, Larry Summers, Paul Krugman, Ryan Lizza, Summers memo, The New Yorker, the obama memos

{ 1 trackback }

Fractured Fairy Tales - Obama State Of The Union — Hillary Is 44: 01.24.12 at 9:03 pm

{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }

1 murphy 01.24.12 at 5:47 pm: I posted that picture at the top of the thread just because I can.
2 Jen the Michigander 01.24.12 at 7:21 pm: And whose people leaked these memos to the media? Let’s go through a list of suspects…

1. The Republicans leaked it because they want to show discord within the Obama administration. Makes sense, but where/how would they get their hands on these memos?

2. Obama’s minions leaked it because…? Because…? I can’t think of a reason why. Anybody care to help me out on this one?

3. A pro-Hillary faction within the Obama administration leaked it to put distance between her and Obama, possibly to squelch the Hillary-for-veep talk. This one makes the most sense to me. There have been similar leaks in the past. But of course, they are innocent until proven guilty.
3 freddiebrown 01.24.12 at 7:49 pm: Dragonfly – Thank you very much for your insight. I will be dealing with it tomorrow.
4 murphy 01.24.12 at 8:07 pm: Jen, #3, ding ding ding! we have a winner!

As the Lizza article says:

“Some in the White House saw the long letter as a weapon, something that could be leaked if Clinton didn’t get her way.”

– notice the “bitchy wife” tone Lizza takes in that sentence, “if Clinton didn’t get her way.”

If Clinton were a man would Lizza have worded it differently, ie “something that could be leaked if obama didn’t agree to Clinton’s demands.”
5 stoney42 01.24.12 at 8:37 pm: Or, Murphy, could it mean that Hillary has power over Ofraud?
6 murphy 01.24.12 at 8:44 pm: obama approval rating is 38%

Hillary approval rating is 69%

If Hillary’s people leaked something that put her in a good light and him in a bad it would be bad for obama. That right there is power.

Stoney, I think you are right, you betcha!
7 DancesWithPumas 01.24.12 at 9:15 pm: LOL!!
Obama’s tells:
1) Accuse others of what he is doing
2) Give credit to other groups (the military for instance)when its really dog whistling a reflection of his delusional self.
8 DancesWithPumas 01.24.12 at 9:16 pm: LoL! Now he’s white again. My grandfather, my grandmother….
(the white ones he distanced himself from)
9 DancesWithPumas 01.24.12 at 9:19 pm: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah …
10 Casper Cat 01.24.12 at 9:28 pm: DWP…. I just cannot watch the kicktothecurblowlifescumsuckingparasite….. Thanks for the update…. Oh, how are you doing? Hope you stop by again….
11 Headclunker 01.24.12 at 9:29 pm: I am going to send Oblabla a tax reform bill to sign. Maybe the tax fairy will make it come true.
12 Headclunker 01.24.12 at 9:38 pm: I am going to send Obozo a bill that gives undocumented immigrant a way to earn citizenship. Maybe the Freedom Fairy will make it come true.
13 Headclunker 01.24.12 at 9:41 pm: H44 sees the fairies, too.

http://www.hillaryis44.org/2012/01/24/fractured-fairy-tales-obama-state-of-the-union/
14 DancesWithPumas 01.24.12 at 9:49 pm: Caspie!
I lasted 37 minutes, a personal best record, and then turned him off. Over the top promises. Taking credit for Ford as past of his bailout success (Ford (and wells fargo btw) didnt take his bailout money.
Words… promises… bullshit. But millions will buy into his pie-in-the-sky fairy dusting.

Yes, one of these days… maybe when the weather warms up.
Love to your family.
15 DancesWithPumas 01.24.12 at 9:52 pm: By a commenter at Hillaryis44.org

“If you read the text version, at the end of the speech he refers to Hillary as “the woman who ran against me for president”. You’d think he could at least refer to her by her title…”
16 Casper Cat 01.24.12 at 10:03 pm: DWP…. Remember, Riverside is warmer than SD…. anytime you are soooooo welcome… Thank You! and, wishing you the very best always!!!!!! Funny, the other day while I was leaving a gas station (which is located in a shopping center) and I was behind 4 cars waiting to turn left onto the highway…. A car pulled up behind me and there was a woman sitting in her SUV Mercedes also waiting to turn left and I noticed she was waving her arms when I looked at my rear view mirror and I first thought did I do something to piss her off or what??? Then I see her get out of her SUV and walk up to the driver side of my Truck and she had this huge smile on her face and she was soooooo excited to see the “Draft Hillary” and “Hillary for President 2012″ on my truck she asked if she could take pictures…. I said sure… and she was just floating on cloud 9 telling me she is from AK and Hillary MUST be our PRESDENT!! I told her, I agree 100000000000000000000%%%%%… She was just overwhelmded…. And,she said seeing those bumperstickers for Hillary just made her vacation here in CA…. Funny… People are watching and paying attention…. Just wanted to share that with you!
17 Casper Cat 01.24.12 at 10:12 pm: Yikes!!!! Sorry for the typos…. UGH!!! just trying to do 10 things at once….
18 Headclunker 01.24.12 at 10:28 pm: BO looked a little yellow tonight. Is that jaundice?
19 goofsmom 01.24.12 at 10:38 pm: Headclunker,

They probably gave him the wrong base makeup.

Or, he was feeling sick because he knows people have figured out what a liar he is.
20 DancesWithPumas 01.24.12 at 10:43 pm: It was his inner yellow bellied coward coming through
21 goofsmom 01.24.12 at 10:52 pm: Dances, Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
22 DancesWithPumas 01.25.12 at 12:13 am: Casper Cat 01.24.12 at 10:03 pm
DWP…. Remember, Riverside is warmer than SD…. anytime you are soooooo welcome… Thank You! and, wishing you the very best always!!!!!!
=================
Points noted and thank you!

Funny, the other day while I was leaving a gas station (which is located in a shopping center) and I was behind 4 cars waiting to turn left onto the highway…. A car pulled up behind me and there was a woman sitting in her SUV Mercedes also waiting to turn left and I noticed she was waving her arms when I looked at my rear view mirror and I first thought did I do something to piss her off or what??? Then I see her get out of her SUV and walk up to the driver side of my Truck and she had this huge smile on her face and she was soooooo excited to see the “Draft Hillary” and “Hillary for President 2012″ on my truck she asked if she could take pictures…. I said sure… and she was just floating on cloud 9 telling me she is from AK and Hillary MUST be our PRESDENT!! I told her, I agree 100000000000000000000%%%%%… She was just overwhelmded…. And,she said seeing those bumperstickers for Hillary just made her vacation here in CA…. Funny… People are watching and paying attention…. Just wanted to share that with you!
=================
LOVE it!
Wish you had had extra with you in the truck to present one to her!
23 goofsmom 01.25.12 at 12:27 am: Bwahahahaha… AP Fact checked BO and said it’s all a retread wish list…

FACT CHECK: Obama pushes plans that flopped before

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a wish list, not a to-do list.

President Barack Obama laid out an array of plans in his State of the Union speech as if his hands weren’t so tied by political realities. There can be little more than wishful thinking behind his call to end oil industry subsidies — something he could not get through a Democratic Congress, much less today’s divided Congress, much less in this election year.

And there was more recycling, in an even more forbidding climate than when the ideas were new: He pushed for an immigration overhaul that he couldn’t get past Democrats, permanent college tuition tax credits that he asked for a year ago, and familiar discouragements for companies that move overseas.
—-snip

http://news.yahoo.com/fact-check-obama-pushes-plans-flopped-025127285.html;
24 goofsmom 01.25.12 at 12:31 am: Here is something to soothe the eyes after the SOTU. Beautiful!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/video/aptech-4482836/raw-video-timelapse-of-solar-storm-light-show-27974374.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Faptech-4482836%252Fraw-video-timelapse-of-solar-storm-light-show-27974374.html
25 stoney42 01.25.12 at 7:35 pm: TV ratings for SOTU

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/01/25/state-of-the-union-averages-37-75-million-viewers-down-12-from-2011/117651/
26 murphy 01.25.12 at 7:37 pm: obama mansplains posted,

take it upstairs!