Christopher Hitchens Calls Hillary Clinton As Secretary Of State A "Ludicrous Embarrassment"

Christopher Hitchens appeared on "Hardball" Monday night and voiced his strong opposition to Hillary Clinton being named Secretary of State.

Appearing with Peter Beinart of Time, who is for Clinton's appointment, Hitchens said, "This is the woman who played the race card on Obama... This is the woman whose foreign policy experience consists of making a fool of herself and fabricating a story about Bosnia."

He also brought up the Clintons' overseas fundraising connections and called the idea of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State a "ludicrous embarrassment."

A longtime critic of the Clintons, Hitchens wrote the 2000 book "No One Left To Lie To: The Values of the Worst Family."

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Comments

[the addick]

This post is 2 parts, I did ramble on a bit.

As a fellow Brit, I feel qualified to comment on our Mr. Hitchens.
He has always been, and will always be, the biggest apologist for the disaster commonly known as the GOP. He defends the indefensible with arguments that leave a logical, reasonable person reeling (as does, I imagine, the reek of alcohol coming from every orifice and pore in his carcass).
Watching him on Real Time With Bill Maher, was always a source of amusement and infuriation for me.
I have to say that the moment that I felt most uncomfortable, with regards this man, was when he said he was backing Barack Obama. A very unnerving moment, until he began answering questions about policies etc., then it became obvious he was at odds with himself. He couldn't break from his stubborn defense of "W", but wanted to wax lyrical about Obama, I was hoping his head would explode.
Bottom line is, he's irrelevant. He's not even an after thought. Be honest, who in their right mind would take any kind of lead from this man?

[officewag]

Ludicrous embarassment?
Consider the source. Hitch is a newbie US citizen, and was a perennial cheerleader for the Iraq War for YEARS and YEARS. He dissed Mother Teresa just to sell books. (And the "Missionary Position" title was far cleverer than the arguments therein.)
Who values the musings of a delusional misogynist? Though he writes that God is not Great,Hitch imagines that his own mind is omniscient. He is a contrarian who writes as quickly as he opines. Rarely is there substance or any salient points which are fact-checkable. If Hil wants this girly job (Condie and Madelyn Albright already broke the glass ceiling) let her have it.
It's nonsense what Hitch says about her only Foreign relations experience.

[Clavis]

If you saw the whole episode, you'll see that Hitchens was forced, towards the end, to start conceding points and admitting Hillary's suitability in one or two ways... even he can't discount that there may be good reasons to give her the job.

Mind you, I don't like the idea of the Clintons back in the West Wing. I don't understand this argument about removing Hillary from the Senate because of "all the trouble she could cause for him there." She was around when George W. Bush authorized torture, shredded the Constitution, filled entire agencies with incompetent, corrupt cronies and bankrupted the country, and the whole time, Sen. Clinton kept her powder dry... but PE Obama prepares to rescue the country from nascent Depression and restore America's standing in the world -- and NOW she's going to become a troublesome iconoclast? Give me a f***ing break. If she's that Machiavellian and chickensh*t, then she doesn't deserve Secretary of Paper Clips, let alone SoS.

[Fabienne]

Senator Clinton never planned to run against George Bush, so I guess it was okay for her to enable many of his deleterious policies.

[toomuchtolose]

Guess that goes for Lieberman too.

[helloworld2008]

Hitchens has been smearing and attacking Obama all freakin year. He gave a last minute and begrudging endorsement only because of Palin.

So Hitch's opinion means JACK to Obama and his supporters.

Sorry Hitch, you were once a leftie, but now you've been a Bushie for the last 8 years. So take your rightwing concern trolling and shove it!

[mayahbird]

A big amen to that. Who cares what he thinks? I sure don't!!!

[CSDofNM]

I'm a supporter of Obama. I worked on his campaign. Christopher Hitchens is a smart guy, and you ignore him at your own peril of being wrong. No, he isn't infailible, he isn't always right.

But he is right more often than he is wrong.

I'm still trying to get a little perspective, and listen to my better angels (as Obama has urged us so often). I've tried to listen to the other side, see that they are not evil idiots, or evil geniuses (OK, just don't mention the Dark Lord Cheney). We learn best when all sides have been presented - even those we disagree with.

The one point that is irrefutable from Hitchens discourse here is the depth and breadth of the Clinton's - let's face it - Bills - foreign entanglements. Problematic in any event.

Don't you feel better having a Democrat present the point? Or can we get to Obama's view, that we need to listen to all sides and not try to demonize people? Remember how well demonization worked for McCain?

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

"But he is right more often than he is wrong"

Anyone who advocated for the Iraq War is de facto wrong more than they could ever be right.

[Insightful]

What makes this Hitchens guy with his outrageous caustic comments so important to our political system? MSNBC would do us a favor if they stopped using him as a mastermind of American politics. The fact is that our country was in a lot better shape when Bill Clinton was in power. I don't know what world Mr. Hitchens lives in but in my world we were all a lot better off. Not to mention the fact that the USA was still in a position of respect worldwide. MSNBC has become my least watched news program since they started this anti-Clinton platform going during the campaigns.

How about letting the American people think for themselves instead of the press brainwashing them.
Look back to the Clinton presidency and tell us how many people would trade that time for the current place we are in. MSNBC has become a disgrace with their slanted politics.

[pshelleyg]

I quite agree, and Chris Matthews has been the ring master in that political circus. Peter Beinart was the voice of sanity in this clip. In the twilight of torture, CIA agents outed, Congress being bulldozed into voting for the Patriot Act and the relinquishment of habeas corpus, Christian assassins being given due process while Muslims get thrown into jail without due process, all of which happened after the Clintons left office, people aren't really concerned about who paid for one of Bill Clinton's plane flights. And we all could go on and on regarding the injustice, the lack of accountability, and the overall ineptitude that has accompanied the Bush administration over the last eight years. It seems a bit premature to already be criticizing the Obama Administration before he even takes office.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

Chris Matthews needs to stop giving these extremists a platform for their far-out views, just to get ratings. Sometimes, he good and exposes things, but usually it does much more harm to political discourse than it does good.

I like Matthews, but am beginning to think that the choice of his guests is directly responsible for a lot of the problem in politics.

[cjgnew]

No one is arguing that things weren't better for you under the Clinton administration. Making HRC SoS, however, is no guarantee that the good old days, so to speak, will be back. The world has changed since then. There's so much work to be done that we can't go backward. We must look forward. We must do it together for the good of our country--and for the planet that we all share. In order to achieve greater good for all, we must learn to accept dissension without asking for someone's head just because he or she happens to disagree with our own view. After all, Mr. Hitchen's Second Amendment Right is as precious to Mr. Hitchen as it is to you--and to all of us. We have elected Obama as our President. He is considering HRC for the Secretary of State position. He has access to more information than we, the general public, have. We can't be second-guessing his every move. Let's have a healthy debate about it, and then move on. I agree with you, though, that a few mistakes--including those that Mr. Hitchen mentioned--should not bar HRC from the Secretary of State position. If it were so, then perhaps Obama's past drug problem in his youth should have disqualified him for the presidency. The fact is we all make mistakes. Anyone's mistakes should be weighed accordingly in comparison with the overall good that a particular person has done.

[whatchamean]

I don't think the Clinton's will take the deal. reason? $$. Bill wil have to curtail his "fund raising"

[Scandalouscandice5]

He has to give up being paid for the appearances. LOL.

[ESerafina42]

Learn how to write English before you criticize, please. "Clintons" is the plural. "Clinton's" is the singular possessive.

[novowel4me]

We really don't know how this will play out. Obama has shown to have many purposes for any one move. At this point I think I'll settle for Obama's judgment rather than Hitchen's.

[k6007]

Hil has absolutely NOTHING to offer as SoS. Please god, let this be just a nasty rumor. PLEASE.

[cjgnew]

I vehemently disagree. HRC has a lot to offer as Secretary of State. One, she is intelligent. Two, she is hard working and driven. Three, she loves this country and wants what is best for her. Four, she has excellent communication skills. Five, she is experienced in that she has been watching closely what has been going in the world for over thirty years. Six, she has access to a network of contacts who are powerful and smart, and loyal to her. Seven, she can forgive. Eight, she is not going to agree with you just to avoid a power struggle or an argument. Nine, she has good intentions. Ten, she can be a team player and she is not naive. How's that to start?

Carlos Jean-Gilles
Saint Louis, MO

[Knowitall]

Looks like Christopher had a little buzz on--Again.
It's called politics Chris. Obama has neutralized Lieberman, by pushing to keep him in the Democratic fold when the natural, but unwise, thing to do was to push him over to the Republicans. Then they'd have 1 more vote, for 4 more years--Obama's entire first term.
I remember Christopher Hitchen's visceral dislike of Hillary Clinton during the campaign. But this isn't about Hillary Clinton. Regardless of what you might think of her, she is one who could cause a lot of mischief in the next 4 years, especially if she still has designs on the top office. This way she is more contained, as an insider. The plus is that she has international stature, and you have to admit, she is smart and pragmatic. I think her appointment to the position would be a net plus.

[Asinistra]

Hitchens is against it? It's suddenly a brilliant idea.

[sposton]

The only reason Hillary will be SoS is because Obama liked what he read in Team of Rivals. It is OK to pick an adversary for a cabinet position but she ought to come from the top tier of qualified candidates. I wouldn't call it a "ludicrous embarrassment" but I would call it a misjudgment. An error perhaps a step or two below keeping Condoleezza Rice as SoS.

[FCBarca]

Hitchens says what anyone in the know is thinking, it is a ludicrous embarrassment...Terrible decision

[senseandnonsense]

Why not Richardson?

[fredamae]

Hitchens has NOTHING of any Substance against the Clintons..Its All personal Opinion/Disagreement about them Personally.

[jpmdevildog]

Hillary is so over Secretary of State, and after a new position: Commissioner of the Bureau of Mutant Affairs.

http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/election-08/hillary-wants-mutant-position/

[asoulfulmuse]

Who is this sleazy European who looks like he just slept off a major drunk - I've never heard of him, and all of a sudden he is slandering Hillary Clinton. He's rude, conceited, and has a delusion that he is some kind of "expert" on the Clintons. Jealous maybe? At any rate, he did not deserve any special rank to criticize. Go back from whence you came. . . . .

[LisaMarieC]

Hitchens is an American citizen.

[BeltwayBette]

HIrchens is an investigative and political journalist for the Vanity Fair publication and an American citizen.

That said, he is voicing what concerns many of us about Drama Queen HRC. and Drama King president Clinton.

Making such obviously poor choices as a Clinton heavy administration and now the Drama Team themselves is not change. In fact it's scary as he*l.

But it will thrill the Republicans. They know their base will be energized as never before in 2012 if Hillary is anywhere near the Obama administration.

I pray this is a bad dream and we will wake up soon.