"Secretaries of State of the United States
Congress created the position of Secretary of State on July 27, 1789, as the principle officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs (later renamed the Department of State). The secretary was to perform such duties as the president required, in accordance with the constitution relating to correspondence, commissions, or instructions to U.S. ministers or consuls abroad, and to conduct negotiations with foreign representatives. The secretary also served as principle adviser to the president in the determination and execution of U.S. foreign policy, and in recent decades has become responsible for the overall direction, coordination, and supervision of interdepartmental activities of the U.S. government overseas, except for certain military activities." -- Encarta.msn.com
Dr. Condoleezza Rice became the 66th Secretary of State on January 26, 2005. Her focus has been on democracy and diplomacy. "As she stated at her confirmation hearing,
"we must use American diplomacy to help create a balance of power in the world that favors freedom. And the time for diplomacy is now."-- US Department of State
What will Hillary focus on? Her past may have something to do with what she does in this office. What is in her past, you say?
According to an unvarifiable source, Hillary's resume includes the following, as stated on Snopes
"- As First Lady, Hillary assumed authority over Health Care Reform, a process that cost the taxpayers over $13 million. She told both Bill Bradley and Patrick Moynihan, key votes needed to pass her legislation, that she would 'demonize' anyone who opposed it. But it was opposed...
- Hillary assumed authority over selecting a female Attorney General. Her first two recommendations, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, were forced to withdraw their names from consideration. She then chose Janet Reno. Janet Reno has since been described by Bill himself as 'my worst mistake'.
- Hillary recommended Lani Guanier for head of the Civil Rights Commission. When Guanier's radical views became known, her name had to be withdrawn.
- Hillary recommended her former law partners, Web Hubbell, Vince Foster, and William Kennedy for positions in the Justice Department, White House staff and the Treasury, respectively. Hubbell was later imprisoned, Foster committed suicide, and Kennedy was forced to resign.
- Hillary also recommended a close friend of the Clintons, Craig Livingstone, for the position of director of White House security. When Livingtone was investigated for the improper access of up to 900 FBI files of Clinton enemies ("Filegate") and the widespread use of drugs by White House staff, both Hillary and her husband denied knowing him. FBI agent Dennis Sculimbrene confirmed in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in 1996, both the drug use and Hillary's involvement in hiring Livingstone. After that, the FBI closed its White House Liason Office, after serving seven presidents for thirty years.
- In order to open "slots" in the White House for her friends, the Thomasons (to whom millions of dollars in travel contracts could be awarded), Hillary had the entire staff of the White House Travel Office fired; they were reported to the FBI for 'gross mismanagement' and their reputations ruined. After a thirty-month investigation, only one, Billy Dale, was charged with a crime - mixing personal money with White House funds when he cashed checks. The jury acquitted him in less than two hours.
- Another of Hillary's assumed duties was directing the 'bimbo eruption sqad' and scandal defense:
- She urged her husband not to settle the Paula Jones lawsuit.
- She refused to release the Whitewater documents, which led to the appointment of Ken Starr as Special Prosecutor. After $80 million dollars of taxpayer money was spent, Starr's investigation led to Monica Lewinsky, which led to Bill lying about and later admitting his affairs.
- Then they had to settle with Paula Jones after all.
- And Bill lost his law license for lying to the grand jury.
- And Bill was impeached by the House.
- And Hillary almost got herself indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice (she avoided it mostly because she repeated, 'I do not recall,' 'I have no recollection,' and 'I don't know' 56 times under oath).
- Hillary wrote 'It Takes a Village', demonstrating her Socialist viewpoint.
- Hillary decided to seek election to the Senate in a state she had never lived in. Her husband pardoned FALN terrorists in order to get Latino support and the New Square Hassidim to get Jewish support. Hillary also had Bill pardon her brother's clients, for a small fee, to get financial support.
- Then Hillary left the White House, but later had to return $200,000 in White House furniture, china, and artwork she had stolen.
- In the campaign for the Senate, Hillary played the 'woman card' by portraying her opponent (Lazio) as a bully picking on her.
- Hillary's husband further protected her by asking the National Archives to withhold from the public until 2012 many records of their time in the White House, including much of Hillary's correspondence and her calendars. (There are ongoing lawsuits to force the release of those records.)
- As the junior Senator from New York, Hillary has passed no major legislation. She has deferred to the senior Senator (Schumer) to tend to the needs of New Yorkers, even on the hot issue of medical problems of workers involved in the cleanup of Ground Zero after 9/11.
- Hillary's one notable vote; supporting the plan to invade Iraq, she has since disavowed."
Here is another item to add to her resume.
The source for this is Democratic Underground
"Clinton aides had hand in Dubai deal
Clinton advisers' outside lobbying work for firm to take over defense plants accents their awkward position
BY GLENN THRUSH | Newsday Washington Bureau
September 14, 2006
WASHINGTON - In the spring, when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was denouncing the Dubai Ports World deal, a consulting firm run by her top advisers was quietly lobbying for a Dubai takeover of two U.S. defense plants, Newsday has learned.
The Glover Park Group, whose principals include Clinton insiders Howard Wolfson, Joe Lockhart and Gigi Georges, was paid about $100,000 to help the government-owned Dubai International Capital Corp. in its acquisition of the British engineering firm Doncasters Group Ltd.
...
Clinton and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who helped to sink the takeover of port operations by a Dubai company, supported the Doncasters acquisition, saying it didn't pose nearly as significant a security threat.
Glover Park's contract with Dubai was channeled through the Los Angeles law office of Raj Tanden, the brother of longtime Hillary Clinton policy adviser Neera Tanden, according to people familiar with the situation.
Raj Tanden, who represented the emirate's royal family in its 2005 acquisition of $1 billion in U.S. real estate holdings, declined to comment. His sister didn't return a message left at her office yesterday.
Neera Tanden served as a congressional liaison for Bill Clinton before moving on to become a key Hillary Clinton campaign aide and the senator's legislative director.
The Doncasters takeover was much less controversial than the ports deal, mainly because Dubai officials submitted to a full review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The Bush administration infuriated Congress by forgoing a review for the ports takeover, provoking a powerful bipartisan backlash that doomed the deal.
Doncasters, which makes tank and aircraft turbines in its Connecticut and Georgia plants, was approved by the government foreign investment committee in May. Some critics, including Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.), argued that Mideast officials shouldn't be allowed to control factories used by defense contractors. (DUH- YA THIN? – DWW)
Considering the firestorm that surrounded the Dubai Ports World proposal, it's surprising that the controversy-allergic Clinton team agreed to lobby for Dubai at all.
The contract was signed April 13, only a month after the ports deal went down in flames over concerns the emirate was a breeding ground for some of the Sept. 11 hijackers.
...
Who was involved
The Glover Park Group - known as the "White House in Exile" - was founded five years ago by a group of top advisers to Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, including former White House communications director Joe Lockhart and key Hillary Clinton advisers Gigi Georges and Howard Wolfson, who don't engage in lobbying but are apprised of the firm's lobbying efforts."
And what about the source of their money? Dick Morris.com states the following.
"...their income, apart from her Senate salary of $162,500, comes from Bill’s speeches (many to foreign audiences and corporations doing business with foreign countries), $3.3 million from InfoUSA (a company reportedly under investigation for providing lists of vulnerable elderly to criminal con artists), and a reported $10 million a year from a partnership with supermarket magnate Ron Burkle and the Emir of Dubai to manage the Sheikh’s investments.
...Hillary has refused to release her income tax returns and won’t indicate how much her husband gets from his partnership with the Emir of Dubai. On her disclosure form she only indicates, as required, that it comes to more than $1,000 a year.
...the Clintons’ wealth is of very recent origin and much of it may represent the fruits of influence seeking by wealthy foreigners like the Emir of Dubai."
Who knows if the past will continue into the future of the Clintons. However, if history is a lesson, they won't likely change their ways and things will continue as hazzardously as in past years.
Perhaps though, they have learned a lesson and turned over a new leaf. Perhaps, as stated in the Washington Post, "The former first lady could also enhance Obama's efforts to restore U.S. standing amongst allies worldwide."
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