Sanity from Joe Conason: Hillary, Obama, Bill, CGI and the SoS post

[S_E_Fudd]

Senator Clinton’s qualifications and competence are not at issue any longer, if they ever were. Her disagreements on foreign policy with Mr. Obama were exaggerated by her campaign and his, as well as by the press. Meanwhile, she worked hard to elect Mr. Obama – far harder, in fact, than any previous defeated rival in a Democratic primary that I can recall. Between the unity rally in New Hampshire last June 27 and Election Day, she undertook roughly 130 separate campaign events, including speeches, fund-raisers, press interviews and conference calls all over the country. According to a Clinton aide, she brought more than $10 million into the Obama coffers -- while her own debt remains unpaid.

The concerns about the Clinton Global Initiative and Bill Clinton’s other activities seem slightly overblown (as I’ve noted before). Every paid speech he has delivered over the past eight years is recorded in his wife’s Senate disclosure forms. Nor have donors to CGI been concealed, either, as any journalist who attends its meetings or examines its Web site should be able to determine. The countries that have donated funding to the Clinton H.I.V./AIDS Initiative are also a matter of public record.

When such questions arose during the campaign, he promised to publish the names of all future donors if his wife were to be elected president – and presumably he will now make any reasonable disclosures requested by the president-elect as part of the vetting process.

Yet it is still necessary to consider the potential for conflict between U.S. foreign policy and the Clinton foundation’s relationships around the world. Like any international philanthropic executive, Bill Clinton cannot operate in other countries without the cooperation of their governments, some of which are controlled by dubious figures. There may be times, as there have been in the past, when he will say something nice about a government that the U.S. officially disdains.

But those realities have never stopped Senator Clinton from upholding U.S. policy and criticizing those same governments whenever she saw fit to do so. Nor would a foreign government assume that it could influence U.S. policy -- which would be made by President Obama, not the secretary of state -- because it gave money to help the Clinton foundation provide medicine to AIDS victims in Africa. Should she become secretary of state, a competent liaison between her office and her husband’s foundation should be able to avert any embarrassment.

It's worth remembering, because it gets lost in the noise, what Bill Clinton's international efforts are aimed at. I'm not sure the AIDS victim, or the Tsunami victim, or those who are starving are really gonna care that some of the money used to help them came from a Saudi Prince.

http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/obamas-clinton-initiative-0

[niceypoo]

1. The pundits are drama queens

...and those who hang on the pundits every word are, likewise, drama queens.

I chuckle every time some pundit speculates or exaggerates and fools go wild over it.

[blm]

2. If ONLY it was all about AIDS. But that Dubai Ports Deal Bush wanted was pushed by Bill Clinton, too

And afterwards, Dubai managed to get 20 million dollars to Yucaipa that ended up in Bill's bank account recently, didn't it?

Yep - Bill Clinton and Poppy Bush's dealings with Dubai and Saudi Royals always manage to find political protection.

How is that a good reporter like Conason always manages to look the other way when Clintons are involved? He's so used to defending them RIGHTLY for the overly hyped RW attacks, that he's unable to stop his knee from jerking on the legitimate charges.