Bill Clinton: "I'll Do Whatever They Want"

The New York Observer reports:

Bill Clinton said he'd do "whatever they want" with respect to the vetting process and information he'd have to disclose to the Obama administration to help Hillary Clinton become Obama's secretary of state.

Standing on stage and signing autographs after a ceremony to rename the Triborough Bridge after the late Robert F. Kennedy, Clinton was asked about the vetting process.

"Whatever they want. This is a deal between Senator--" he corrected himself, "President-elect [Obama] and Hillary," Clinton said. "You should talk to them. I'll do whatever they want."

That jibes with reports this morning that the former President had offered "several concessions" as part of the vetting process.

Comments

[farbeda]

I don't understand this at all. She was fine to be President if elected, but not to be Secretary of State? Does anyone else think that is ridiculous?

[balrog221]

Yuo are right ... this is media fabricated nonsense. We need to keep our eye on the ball here

[Crozier]

WE HAVE KOOLAID IN GRAPE OR CHERRY FLAVOR....BOTH IMITATION FLAVORS.

[MyrtleJune]

Umm no. She was not fine to be President..... or she would have been the nominee and John Mccain would now be President elect. So no. She wasn't fine to be President and she's NOT FINE to be Secretary of State. Cripes she'll have us bombing Iran in no time and claiming "sniper fire" on the runway just after landing. Please, stop this insane Clinton obsession. They had their time, not it is time for NEW and DIFFERENT. CHANGE.

[motherfather]

THank you Myrtle, could not have said it better myself.

[Yermammy]

OMFG! Go MyrtleJune! Ha ah ha ha!

[Crozier]

That's what the majority of us are saying....except for Hillbots....and Obama resurrected this unnecessary.....a self-inflicted wound brought to you by his Clintonista transition and chief of staff.

[Yermammy]

Bob Barr run too, does that make him qualified? You so crazy! (and wrong)

[partyofone]

Who thought she would make a good president? No one I know.

[farbeda]

you all totally miss the point! i'm talking about the vetting! duh!
if she is vetted sufficiently to be president, why not secretary of state. i'm not making any statement about competency, or electability or anything else!

[k6007]

Actually, we need 7 secretaries of state. One for each continent.

[OCaptainMercaptan]

I call Antarctica!

[sharonh]

Africa is a continent? Love, Sarah.

[Yermammy]

We're going to need a bigger boat!

[JICC]

If I were really, really smart, I would do this just to obtain information, and then find some excuse to reject her. Information is power, and you never know when you are going to need it. Golden opportunity to acquire it.

[Wiredwilly]

I still say put Bill in charge of picking Interns.

[rigormrtis]

God, no. Lewinski was not an attractive lady. Honestly, ever after that I always questioned Bill's judgment.

[dct1999]

You mean you didn't question his judgment after you got a look at Paula Jones?

[Yermammy]

WOW... talk about putting lipstick on a pig!

[NoBlinky]

He certainly seems to want this very, very badly. Why does that make me so suspicious?

[whitegoldwielder]

Because Hillary can pull a Ted Kennedy on Obama. Kennedy ran against a sitting president of his own party after 4 years of Carter. Hillary would be placed well to do that.

[Yermammy]

We already see that. And we're prepared. Let her try. She won't likey.

[sharonh]

Ambition in a politician? I'd be suspicious.

[Crozier]

HAVE YOU NOTICED.,...?????? IT IS NOT ABOUT BARACK OBAMA NOW.....IT IS ABOUT THE CLINTONS.................WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, BARACK ???????

[MyrtleJune]

DING DING DING..... Exactly. Make it stop!!!!

[OCaptainMercaptan]

Have YOU noticed? Barack is not saying much of anything these days. Let the drama get played out now. We still have 60 days before he is inaugurated.

The Clintons are inevitable so long as the Democrats are in power. Like them or not, there is a substantial portion of the electorate who do, and their endorsement really helped Obama.

Look at the REAL drama which is the GOP fallout, and appreciate that Obama and Clinton have reconciled at all.

That's all.

[LeeCalif]

Oh. He's a submissive.

[Crozier]

I FEAR THAT HIS ACHILLES HEEL IS THAT HIS WEAKNESS IS THE OVEREXTENSION OF HIS STRENGTHS.

[Okieborn]

NO NO NO SLICK WILLY OR VENOMUS HILLARY !!!!

[wagthedog1001]

Oklahoma is on the wrong side of this. Not OK.

[whitegoldwielder]

A little late. The "change" candidate is going hire ex Clintonistas apparently.

[OCaptainMercaptan]

This argument - always penned with such blatant fervor - is getting a little tiresome.

Give Obama a break, will you? One appointment, two, even three of the myriad critical decisions the President-Elect will have to make (and has had to make), and people are indignantly decrying that this "is not the change I voted for!"

How can one be so cynical? - one's hopes so easily dashed?

We're all on the back-seat transition team; we're all rooting for our favorites. Can we, at the very least, give Obama a chance? He hasn't even taken office yet!

As for those who grumpily dismiss certain appointees as "Clintonites" - I wonder how this is so different from the Ayers-guilt-by-association thesis.

Even if we were dealing with the same key players from the Clinton Administration, it's silly to assume that they would be deployed in the same manner. I suppose you could make an analogy to chess, where the same six types of pieces can be played out in an estimated 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible combinations.

It seems statistically scant the number of people who will see their "dream team" assembled in Obama's cabinet. All we can do is be grateful for the appointments we like and keep an eye on those we question.

[kylennblack]

I'm still hoping that Obama is using some of his Chicago smarts - picking Hillary because he has information that knows that she won't pass the vetting process but chose her anyway to appeal to the Clintonites who are still upset over the primaries. That way he can say she was thoughtfully considered and still can pick the certain New Mexico governor who really should get the position.

[yoli647]

I hope we are correct because I have been thinking the same way. I prefer Bill Richardson.

[AsISaid]

Hey, Bill! The President-Elect should not be negotiated with! What do you think about that? The price you pay for getting what you want for your wife may be high, but you don't negotiate it. Obama is not YOUR political appointee, he is to be your President. Either open up all the books and agree to everything asked of you, or step aside. This isn't your ball game anymore.

[Crozier]

HE DOES NOT HEAR OR BELIEVE YOU, BUBBA

[k6007]

If she gets anything accomplished in the middle east, I'll kiss everybody's bum.

[Agent420]

Pucker up, get ready and don't forget the lipstick!

[wagthedog1001]

Are all of these people here on this planet? The negativity toward our last Democratic president is unreal. This sounds like a bunch of Republicans eating their own. Give the Clintons a freaking break and give them a chance. Have you watched what has happened to our country in the last 8 years under Republican domination? ANYTHING the Dems do now will be better. No one is perfect.

[moveover]

Being impeached is a long way from "not being perfect".

[wagthedog1001]

Oh, but GWB was just great. LMAO!

[Okieborn]

NO WAY !!!

[Crozier]

"NO ONE IS PERFECT". This is not about perfection. It is about judgment. It is about courage. It is about mistaking compassion for stupidity. Yes, stupid is the word when you have worldwide acclaim not seen since JFK and you give it to the most unrepentant and calculating couple in the world. BTW, President Kennedy had a secretary of state called Dean Rusk. Yep, insignificant guy.
It was Kennedy who went to Berlin, not Dean Rusk. (BTW, in the 60's Rusk's daughter married an AA and their adult grandchildren are biracial...)

Reagan had a secretary of state whom he was fast to cashier, after Alexander Haig had to be reminded that a new amendment to the Constitution had made the Speaker of the House third in line and not the SOS. Do you remember SOS's for LBJ, Ike, Truman, FDR, Nixon, Ford???? NOW DO YOU GET IT!!!! ( exasperatingly.)

[jsomerville5]

Why should we give the Clintons a break? Neither Bill nor Hillary acted gracious towards Obama during the primaries. Bill was a sore loser and now he's acting desperate.

And he was impeached for lying under oath. And in case you forgot, he was disbarred for life.

[OCaptainMercaptan]

There may be some truth to your argument, however...

Consider that the activities of the SoS play out on an international stage. The world has an incredibly favorable view of Hillary and tend to laugh off the whole Lewinsky scandal as yet another example of American Puritanism. Furthermore, how exactly is she responsible for Bill's actions?

This is ultimately Obama's choice to make. It was he who ran against her, and his are the stakes.

[peaceonearth]

What part of the Clinton 8 years of peace and prosperity are they having a problem with? The change we need is from the Bush idiocracy. It's obvious from his picks that Obama wants the best and brightest to carry out his agenda. Hillary is well respected overseas and would be awesome at SOS. As for her playing some hardball during the primaries, she's certainly more than made up for it since then. Both of them put forth incredible efforts to help Obama win. Please stop bashing Billary and refocus on the real enemy - the current administration - may no part of it ever rest in peace.

[inluvwkeitholbermann]

(CUE SOAP OPERA MUSIC: dum-dum-dum-DUM!!!!!)

will they or won't they??

will bill release the secret donor information???

will hillary say, "thanks, but no thanks!" to the secretary of state position?????

and what about cheIsea's ten-year high school reunion????? what dress will she wear?????

tune in for the next episode of "AS THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND THE CLINTONS"

[luvangelHussein330]

Of course Bubba will do whatever including covering somethings up with his own laywers to regain soe of the power he had before...this is a big pile of dramatic poop that the GOP is waiting with shovels to toss back in the Dems face come 2012 if not before

[Crozier]

All pundits favorable to President-elect Obama have correctly assessed the situation. The POTUS-elect has a self-inflicted wound. The man had a rather unique opportunity to shape his own foreign policy......it is HE who is ADORED WORLDWIDE.....and he has - for some Achillian heel of courage- transferred that important diplomatic coup to the PRESIDENT AND MRS. CLINTON.

Hillary and Bill Clinton are inseparable in the eyes and minds of the world. IT WAS TOO MUCH TO THINK THAT THERE COULD BE TWO FRANKLIN ROOSEVELTS WITHIN ONE ONE HUNDRED YEAR PERIOD !!!! But what else do you expect when you have a transition team and incoming so far, whose initial loyalty and fame are because William Jefferson Clinton brought them to celebrity out of obscurity.

I have all emotions possible.....with Lieberman to boot.....sadness, incredulity, but the overriding one is PURE UNADULTERATED ANGER.

[Yermammy]

I feel ya. I know that's right.

[Crozier]

Why should I care....little insignificant me.....?? Well, I am insignificant .....a middle class lawyer with a little over 4K given in both the primary and general elections. Along with millions of others, I know.....I also manned phone banks and walked neighborhoods, etc...

I was the liberal Republican chair of my undergraduate university class. I became a Democrat in 1968, the first year that I could vote federally. I was born in 1946. In 1968, I graduated undergrad. The previous year, I became involved with HHH, and since I was ROTC, I was commissioned a butterbar, and went off to Nam. Upon return, I went to law school in New Haven CT and served in JAG following graduation and passing the bar exam. After the death of RFK and MLK, and after the APA changed designation, and I met Nigel, I stopped caring about politics. Until Barack.....and now.

[wagthedog1001]

Now give him a chance. He hasn't even been in office yet.

[whitegoldwielder]

Being "adored" does not translate into being competent. Hopefully Obama has insight into his own inadequacies as a leader. Maybe that's why he is hiring a crew who has been there and done that....successfully.

[afrographia]

Oh the drama...is that you, Harriet Christian?

"I've got news for the Democrats--John McCain will be the next president of the United States!!!" (Turns on her heels and storms off).

I'm not against critiquing Obama's choices, but what makes all of you soooo much more intelligent than he is about whom he should or should not pick for this or that post. And then, to threaten withholding support if he doesn't do as you say. Remember all the folks who said Obama was doomed, doomed, because McCain picked a woman and he picked the "boring" Biden?

[Crozier]

You asked for my bona fides......none....and this despite that I am Ivy prep, Ivy League and Ivy Law School. I was politically unmoved since MLK and RFK died in 1968, when I was 21 years old. My Canadian spouse could not believe that I could be interested again. I was a Clinton supporter in 92, and he delivered DOMA and DADT - both were intense betrayals to us. I stopped caring in 1993 until this man - with very much the same academic credentials as me, reminds me that it is about US and not HIM. He asks us to become involved in our government because one man cannot do it alone.

SO, IF YOU ARE A MINORITY TOO, STOP TELLING ME THAT I SHOULD NOT COMPLAIN., BECAUSE THIS 62 YEAR OLD REBORN CITIZEN SAYS BULLOCKS.

[Yola]

Did you think for one minute that Hillary helped Obama out of the goodness of her heart? This is politics and you better believe Obama knows how to play this game! This guy is no pushover, he is a fighter and I bet if anyone is going to regret this move it will be Hillary because I don't think she has a full grasp of how good Obama is at this thing we affectionately call dirty politics. So save your anger and just get ready to watch this man rule!

[NotMcCain]

OBAMA is the one setting the standards, not Bill.

If anyone is giving "concessions", it's Obama giving them to Bill by settling for things from him but requiring more from others.

I hope, for Obama's sake, Hillary realizes she -has- to refuse. Her husband's finances (much going into their joint account, not only to the Foundation) simply -can't- be vetted.

"Stay far away, Mr. President-Elect" would be my advice, (even though I have no objection to Hillary as SOS.)

[Crozier]

Why do I feel that Obama is now the Wizard of Oz and Toto just drew the curtain back to reveal Bill Clinton manipulating the strings.?

BEWARE DOROTHY ( AND I AM "A FRIEND OF DOROTHY" FROM FOUR DECADES BACK)