By GottaLaff
Hillary has no interest in becoming a judge, Supreme or otherwise:
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Hillary Rodham Clinton says she intends to serve as secretary of state throughout the first term of the Obama administration.
By GottaLaff
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is on track to set the record for having the best batting average when it comes to killing filibusters.
By GottaLaff
California bar now considering disciplinary action against birther lawyer Orly Taitz.
The Orange County registrar has confirmed that Orly Taitz -- the de facto leader of the "birther" movement trying to prove President Obama wasn't born in the United States -- has qualified to run for secretary of state. And her main opponent is a man who has only ever voted once.
But Obama isn't the only politician Taitz is challenging on the grounds of eligibility. She is using the same tactic against her Republican primary opponent for secretary of state, Damon Dunn. Taitz filed a criminal complaint against Dunn, claiming he is ineligible to run in the GOP primary because he hasn't been registered as a Republican long enough.
An investigation by Spencer Kornhaber at OC Weekly into her claims concluded they were "false."
Kornhaber can't help but notice that both Obama and Dunn are black. "Orly Taitz seems to have a thing for raising questions about black politicians' eligibility for office," he quips.
She is having one very positive effect:
Hawaii is debating legislation that would allow it to stop responding to requests for Obama's birth certificate. Officials say they still receive 10 to 20 such requests per week.
Maybe we should all send her our thanks.
There's much more over at Raw Story.
Supposedly Hillary gave a barn burner speech at the UN yesterday, and I just cannot find any video of it. Any help?
WASHINGTON – Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who served Republican presidents and ran for the office himself, has died.After Reagan's attempted assignation-
The Haig family says he died Saturday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from complications associated with an infection. He was 85.
Um, nope Al, but thanks for playing.Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the President, the Vice President and the Secretary of State in that order, and should the President decide he wants to transfer the helm to the Vice President, he will do so. He has not done that. As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending return of the Vice President and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course.
By GottaLaff
SMILEY: Finally, there's already speculation about whether or not Secretary Clinton is going to do this for the full first time, and whether or not she has any interest if asked to stay on to do it for eight years? You see how tough the job is, can you imagine yourself doing all four years and, if asked, doing it for another four years?
CLINTON: No, I really can't. I mean, it is just...
SMILEY: No to what? All four or eight?
CLINTON: The whole, the whole eight, I mean, that that would be very challenging. But I, you know, I don't wanna make any predictions sitting here, I'm honored to serve, I serve at the pleasure of the President, but it's a, it's a 24/7 job, and I think at some point, I will be very happy to pass it on to someone else.
Haven't had time to watch the whole thing yet, but I'm sure Hillary held her own.
By GottaLaff
UPDATE: Here's the video. Blog title changed to reflect addition:
Who suspected this all along? I did, I did! ::waves hand wildly:: I'm glad she finally accepted:
When then President-elect Barack Obama first asked Hillary Clinton to be his top diplomat, she turned him down and recommended others for the job, the secretary of state said in an interview broadcast Sunday.Maybe if he had asked her at 3 a.m.....?
Keep digging, and you might want to grab a bigger shovel. Boy Georgie dug us a crater or two-- or twelve-- that need an entire (re)construction crew.The former senator from New York and former first lady revealed details of how she came to accept the role.
"I never had any dream, let alone inkling, that I would end up in President Obama's cabinet," she said. "When I left the presidential race after getting some sleep and taking some deep breaths, I immediately went to work for him in the general election… And I was looking forward to going back to the Senate and, frankly, going back to my life and representing New York, which I love. And I had no idea that he had a different plan in mind."
When her name was mentioned in the media as a possible member of Obama's cabinet, Clinton said, she found the idea "absurd."
"And then when he called and asked me to come see him, and we had our first conversation, I said, 'You know, I really don't think I'm the person to do this, I want to go back to my life. I really feel like I owe it to the people of New York.' And I gave him a bunch of other names of people who I thought would be great secretaries of state."But Obama "was quite persistent and very persuasive," Clinton said.
She added, "Ultimately, it came down to my feeling that, number one, when your president asks you to do something for your country, you really need a good reason not to do it. Number two, if I had won and I had asked him to please help me serve our country, I would have hoped he would say yes. And finally, I looked around our world and I thought, you know, we are in just so many deep holes that everybody had better grab a shovel and start digging out."
Hard to believe that the Republicans approve of her job, but there it is in bold. Wow.
(CNN) – As Hillary Clinton flies to Mexico for a high level summit, a new national poll indicates 7 in 10 Americans are happy with the job she's doing as secretary of state.
Seventy-one percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday say they approve of how Clinton is handling her job as America's top diplomat. Fewer than one in four disapprove.
"Nine in 10 Democrats approve of Clinton — that's no surprise," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "But by a 50 percent to 43 percent margin, Republicans also think she is doing a good job at the State Department. That's an interesting result for a polarizing figure like Clinton."
Whoa, this is either really good news or really bad news. Tauscher has her critics.
Word is that Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on strategic forces and a staunch superdelegate for presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, is in line for a top post at the State Department, most likely for the undersecretary for arms control and nonproliferation slot.
It had been widely reported that highly regarded arms control guru Robert Einhorn, who had been assistant secretary for arms control in the Clinton administration, was penciled in to move up to that post, but we're hearing he has turned it down for personal reasons. And Secretary of State Clinton did, after all, win the California primary.
By GottaLaff
Brotherly love:
Aides to Vice President Joe Biden tell the Wall Street Journal that Biden's original list of potential Cabinet nominees after the election included Hillary Clinton as chief diplomat.One big happy family.
Said one: "Joe loves Hillary like a sister and backed her completely [with President Obama] for secretary of state."
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By GottaLaff
So now we have to hear the word "maverick"... again? That's a pretty steep price to pay:
John McCain has just come to the rescue of his old drinking buddy Hillary Clinton, bucking his colleague John Cornyn by calling for an immediate voice vote on her confirmation as Secretary of State.
In his first maverick-y move of the 111th Congress, McCain took to the Senate floor to call for unanimous consent to skip the 4:30 p.m. roll call on her nomination. [...]
So far, every Republican except Cornyn has risen to say they want her confirmed as quickly as possible.
Gramm-pa does get points for this, but only reluctantly.
By GottaLaff
On MSNBC just now, Keith Olbermann reported that Jill Biden revealed that tidbit on Oprah.
By GottaLaff
If the Secretary of State doesn't sign on the dotted line, it may not happen:
See section No. 2 below, from the Rules of the Senate, available at Senate.gov:I'm sure there will be more clarifications of the clarifications as fodder for further posts that will attempt to clarify said clarifications. Clear?
1. The presentation of the credentials of Senators elect or of Senators designate and other questions of privilege shall always be in order, except during the reading and correction of the Journal, while a question of order or a motion to adjourn is pending, or while the Senate is voting or ascertaining the presence of a quorum; and all questions and motions arising or made upon the presentation of such credentials shall be proceeded with until disposed of.
2. The Secretary shall keep a record of the certificates of election and certificates of appointment of Senators by entering in a wellbound book kept for that purpose the date of the election or appointment, the name of the person elected or appointed, the date of the certificate, the name of the governor and the secretary of state signing and countersigning the same, and the State from which such Senator is elected or appointed.
3. The Secretary of the Senate shall send copies of the following recommended forms to the governor and secretary of state of each State wherein an election is about to take place or an appointment is to be made so that they may use such forms if they see fit.
THE RECOMMENDED FORMS FOR CERTIFICATE OF ELECTION AND CERTIFICATE OF APPOINTMENT ARE AS FOLLOWS:CERTIFICATE OF ELECTION FOR SIXYEAR TERM
To the President of the Senate of the United States:This is to certify that on the __ day of __, 19_, A__ B__ was duly chosen by the qualified electors of the State of __ a Senator from said State to represent said State in the Senate of the United States for the term of six years, beginning on the 3d day of January, 19__.
Witness: His excellency our governor __, and our seal hereto affixed at ___ this __ day of __, in the year of our Lord 19__.
By the governor:
C__ D__,
Governor.E__ F__,
Secretary of State.
CERTIFICATE OF ELECTION FOR UNEXPIRED TERM
By GottaLaff
Opposition researchers dredging up tough questions for Hillary Clinton's secretary of state confirmation hearings have just lost a key piece of ammunition: The global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, headed by her campaign strategist Mark Penn, has quietly ended a two-year relationship with the Pakistan People's Party, the ruling party of Pakistan.Go here to see said details. Meanwhile, Penn there, done that:
The questions could have been awkward for Clinton both politically and substantively, since she will have to manage relationships both with the Pakistanis and their cross-border rivals in India.
Still, the details of the Pakistan contract provide a rare and revealing look at the techniques Penn's firm promised a foreign government to use to legally influence American public opinion and official policy.
Burson-Marsteller CEO Mark Penn sits atop a convoluted corporate and political organization, serving as the CEO of the global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and also as president of the market research firm that bears his name, Penn, Schoen, Berland & Associates. Both entities are in turn owned by the WPP Group.Penn and tell 'er? Your turn. Feel free to come up with much punnier puns in Comments. I've done enough damage.
Burson-Marsteller's work appears to have ended well before last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. [...]
Clinton owes more than $5 million to Penn Schoen & Berland Associates for its work on behalf of her presidential campaign. After a series of controversies during the Democratic primary, Penn was ousted as the head of the Clinton team, although his firm continued to conduct business with the Clinton campaign.
Penn's market research company is no longer working for Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton. But the state of the personal relationship between Penn and Clinton is harder to pin down. It is not clear if they are still in contact. Still, in an interview early this month with The Independent in London, Penn made it clear that he still expects to get paid for his campaign work: "There is a debt remaining," he said. "And she has consistently said she is going to clear that up."
Oh goody, this should take the media off the trumped up scandal of the Blago/Obama ties and on to the trumped up scandal of the Clinton Foundation. Yippee?
WASHINGTON -- Former President Bill Clinton's foundation has raised tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments that his wife will engage as the next secretary of state.More to come.
The former president's foundation is releasing a list of its donors Thursday under an agreement that cleared the way for President-elect Barack Obama to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gave more than $10 million to the foundation, which pays for Clinton's presidential library and his charitable work around the world. Other foreign government givers include Norway, Kuwait, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, Italy and Jamaica. Indian interests are represented.
The huge donor list is packed with international business leaders and billionaires.
By GottaLaff
Hillary Clinton's pay check has officially been cut.Congress voted Wednesday night to reduce the Secretary of State's salary back to its pre-2007 level of $186,000 to conform to a clause in the constitution stipulating a member of congress cannot be appointed to a government job if the position's salary has increased during the lawmaker's current term. [...]
Judicial Watch said it was illegal for Clinton to be nominated to the post since President Bush authorized a nearly $5,000 pay raise for job last January. [...]
But lawmakers have gotten around the clause before in the same fashion they have now: with Congress changing the salary of the office in question back to what it originally was.
It happened when Ohio Sen. William Saxbe was named President Nixon's attorney general in 1974 and again when Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen became President Clinton's Treasury secretary in 1993.
Hillary will make about $10,000 more as Secretary of State than she does now as a senator.
h/t C&L since I missed it last night.
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