Friedman On Picking A Sec. Of State: "You Do Not Want A Team Of Rivals"

NY Times:

So President-elect Barack Obama is considering Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. How should we feel about that?

Mrs. Clinton is a serious person. She is smart, tough, cunning, hard-working and knows the world -- all key qualities for a secretary of state. She would also bring a certain star quality to the top of the State Department that can be useful. I don't know if she is the best person in America for that job right now, or if she'll get it, but if one is just looking at qualifications, Senator Clinton certainly passes the bar.

What worries me, though, is that much of the media attention today is focused on the wrong relationship question. Everyone is asking how she would manage the relationship with former President Bill Clinton and his own global speaking, fund-raising and philanthropic agendas. You have to believe that they'll do everything they can to try to figure that out -- but it's not a done deal yet. Obviously, Mr. Clinton would have to restrict some of his activities.

Read the whole story: NY Times

Comments

[Coinyer101]

i agree. too many clintons! we voted for something new.

[Ozarks]

Hilllary will be an Obama's "at will" employee as SOS. If she gets out of hand or tries to promote her own agenda, she will be out of a job and hit the pavement in a New York minute.

[Coinyer101]

malarkey

[Ozarks]

Friedman is not a student of history. Lincoln's cabinet once voted 8 nay's to one Lincoln proposal. Lincoln voted yea. Lincoln then said "the yeas have it". Leadership is not having a bunch of yes men. If Obama sees his appointments as setting themselves/herself to be a "team of rivals" instead of previous rivals now subordinates giving him advice they will soon be gone.

[brooklyncitizen]

Must we continually have Friedman foisted on us? Like all things Bush can't he just make a quiet exit stage left so we can all turn a new page? As someone who beat the drums for the Iraq invasion he is an albatross.

[RobinSeattle]

Friedman, like Broder. Coulter, Krauthammer, Pinkerton, K-Lo and Brooks, has been a longtime member of the Wrong Tabernacle Choir. Never worth listening to except in Bizarro World.

[JenMI]

Very, very tired of seeing Friedman everywhere. Enough already...­is he the only guy with an opinion or just a media darling?

[hotstuff]

clinton can hit the ground running! She is smart,cunning and intelligent! She used to dealilng with heads of state leaders already. She didnt only serve tea, can you see her doing that and being silent?

[TommyJohn]

Clinto can hit the ground.

[Coinyer101]

we want the one who chastised barack for being willing to meet with foreign leaders/enemies to meet with foriegn leaders/enemies? no thanks! i voted for change. if you want to live in the 90s, go ahead. its the 21st century, now, and things are a lot different.

[katocat]

Does anyone actually listen to this guy any longer?

[standard]

"[I]f one is just looking at qualifications, Senator Clinton certainly passes the bar."

Whoa! She doesn't come anywhere NEAR to passing that bar. Attending teas with heads of state as First Lady is work so easy and so meaningless that it is of no significance whatever. The fact is that she may be a wily politician, but she holds no relevant foreign affairs credentials whatever. Brzezinski, Albright, Mitchell or, especially, Bill Richardson would be FAR better picks.

So far Obama's first at bat doesn't look so good. Coddle Lieberman? Make nice to Mrs. Clinton? That's two strikes, if only on foul balls. It accommodates the most hawkish and least progressive elements within the Democratic Party--and smacks of old-fashioned political deal-making, not the new page in American politics we were promised. It's still early in the first inning, but it would be nice to see some movement in the general direction of actual Change.

[canobserv]

Yes.......­...we wouldn't want the man who says he is there to unite to actually do that would we........­..........­...Hilario­us that the folks who believed in him and had faith in his choices are now sooooo unsure of his message of change....­..again I say GOOD GRIEF

[standard]

Helping out folks who have just spent their every waking hour most of this year trying to bring disunity to the Democratic Party--of which they claim to be a part--doesn't promote unity, any more than valuing tolerance required America to tolerate the Axis Powers in the '40's: it required our rendering them harmless.

Working with McCain or Colin Powell is one thing. They represent no threat to Obama's constituency. Advancing the careers of two of the loosest canons on deck within the Party, however? That's a different matter. Electing Obama wasn't the end of the story. It was just a really good Chapter One.

[TheGuide]

In reference to Hilary, I don't believe Obama sees her as a rival. I believe he's banking on her brillance to help him run his administration, and it would be to her best interest to do so, as opposed to causing problems for the first black president. She would want her history to read differently I'm sure, plus her good work would overshadow how viciously she went after him during the campaign. For sure, she doesn't want that to be a focal point in her future.

[Village]

Shut up!!! Nobody cares what Mr. Six Months thinks.

[evgolightly]

According to new reports, HRC may reject SoS.

At this point the offer should be recinded -- no drama Obama's getting nothing but drama from her. Time to offer the job to Kerry and call it a day.

[tydicea]

I just feel Barack will rue his decision when or if it becomes a reality. But I hope I am wrong.

[CBS]

All jowls all the time. This man, as a writer and a thinker, is highly overrated.

[Martee]

Yeah -- that nutty Lincoln never amounted to much. Listen, Friedman, when you're elected President you can wrap yourself in the softest cocoon available. Obama's got work to do -- and he's going to pick the best people for the job. 'Nuff said!

[Yermammy]

If you ever read anything but this and TV Guide, you'd know that of the four opponents picked for his Cabinet, one was fire and two resigned in disgust, before the first term was over. So much for a right wing author's (Goodwin) frilly rendition of the truth. Digby brought up that salient point yesterday. You can't believe everything you're told. Oh wait...

[Martee]

What difference does that make? And what does that have to do with Obama picking the best people for the job? Whatever.

[JerryTheAngel]

Friedman is nothing but a know-it-all. If you can't actually do something in life, write about it or try to teach it. He sits on the sidelines as a critic and second guessing those who have the responsibility of getting things done. If he's so smart, then he needs to find a real job where he can implement what he writes about. It's all academic and theory.