Saturday, July 5, 2014

Hillary Clinton avoids major gaff by being evasive on very tough question by British interviewer

HILLARY EVADES BRITISH REPORTER’S QUESTION ABOUT AMERICA'S APPROVAL RATINGS PLUMMETING  DURING HER TENURE AS SECRETARY OF STATE  —   GLIBLY STATES IT’S NOT A POPULARITY CONTEST

Former Secretary of State complained that there is an "inherent contradiction ... when America acts in furtherance of our values, our interests, and our security that is not going to be universally popular..." and she also said that sometimes U.S. popularity drops when it refuses to act  –  Concluding that  “... it isn’t a  popularity contest...”;  she asserted her support of the Obama administration’s abandonment of  "Bush's unilateralism" 



While Hillary Clinton was spending this American  holiday weekend on a two-day book tour in the United Kingdom promoting her new book "Hard Choices," she stopped by the Guardian for what turned out to be a surprisingly tough interview.  Friday during a session with the Guardian's Phoebe Greenwood, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked about some of the misguided foreign policy initiatives of the Obama administration (See “BRITISH REPORTER CALLS OUT HILLARY: DURING YOUR TENURE, AMERICA'S APPROVAL RATINGS PLUMMETED” by Pam Key, 7/4/14, Breitbart/ TV [http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/07/04/British-Reporter-Calls-Out-Clinton-During-Your-Tenure-Americas-Approval-Ratings-Plummeted]).

The Guardian’s interviewer confronted former Secretary Clinton with this: "You thought that it was absolutely necessary to restore America's standing, its reputation in the world, damaged in the Bush administration and yet according to a Pew Research figures, um, actually during your period, your tenure as Secretary of State some of the approval ratings in countries that were focuses of your foreign policy such as Pakistan, Egypt, China even the UK, approval ratings to the U.S. actually fell."

Clinton was able to evade the question about the drop in U.S. popularity under the Obama Administration. She did this by way of  an assertion that there was an "inherent contradiction"  —   "of course when America acts in furtherance of our values, our interests, and our security that is not going to be universally popular." Whereupon the former Secretary of State defiantly defended Obama’s reversal the Bush Administration's unilateralism. Her most interesting remark might have been the glib – “...It’s not a popularity contest...” (See “Edward Snowden should have right to legal defence in US, says Hillary Clinton” by Phoebe Greenwood, 7/4/14, The Guardian
[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/04/edward-snowden-legal-defence-hillary-clinton-interview] the question by Phoebe Greenwood leading to HC’s protracted but defensive answer appears at the 10:40 min:second mark in the video link contained on this site. Although the rambling answer did call for a follow-up, none was forthcoming from Ms. Greenwood.). Phoebe Greenwood’s print report at the cite above did not mention the part of the interview in which she asked Ms. Clinton about the drop in U.S. popularity in various places around the globe during her tenure as Secretary of State.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

your calling a democrat evasive?
I thought this blog was devoted to bashing republicans?

Anonymous said...

To hawk a book, Hillary Clinton is throwing the national interest under the bus. She is the immediate former Secretary of State of an administration that is still in office, going over seas to expose herself to hostile questioning about her job as Secretary of State; and to demonstrate to the whole world how politicized U.S. foreign policy has become.

All that is just so Hillary can make a buck on her book!

Anonymous said...

Finally Gale, your alliance with John B Emerson and your role in spying on the Merkel government has come to light.

Every dog has her day.

Galewyn Massey said...

RESPONSE: THE “WHIPSAW” EDITION

JOHN B. EMERSON HAS THE LOOK OF A "CLINTON GUY"

HILLARY WAS IN EUROPE WHILE THIS WAS BLOWING UP — VERY SUSPICIOUS !

IS THIS ANOTHER CIA-STATE DEPARTMENT JOINT OPERATION — LIKE BENGHAZI ?

I don’t know any double agents in the German BND – maybe Hillary and/or Emerson do....

John B. Emerson, U.S. Ambassador to Germany has no connections to me or this blog. However, he does have a long history of associations with the Clintons and the Hillary Clinton 2008 Campaign.

Emerson served on President Clinton’s senior staff, from 1993-1997. He served as deputy director of Presidential Personnel, and subsequently as deputy director of Intergovernmental Affairs, where he was the president’s liaison to the nation’s governors. Emerson also coordinated the Economic Conference of the Clinton-Gore transition team and led the administration’s efforts to obtain congressional approval of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement in 1994, and the extension of China’s MFN trading status in 1996. In 2010, President Obama appointed Emerson to serve on the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, in that capacity he probably would have had many interactions with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

More important Emerson had very longstanding relationships and interactions with Mrs. Clinton up to and through her failed 2008 campaign for President of the United States. Those relations go back to and include common dealings with Vincent Foster during the early days of the Clinton White House ( See “Muckety Maps” for John B. Emerson, page updated 7/20/13 [http://www.muckety.com/John-B-Emerson/21254.muckety]).

Reports indicate that Ambassador Emerson was very quick to get back to the Germans and tell them it was all probably the fault of a small-time anti-Islamic video, whose producer is now in custody.

Galewyn Massey said...

UPDATE: THE “HILLARY CLINTON INVADES GERMANY” EDITION

EVEN THOUGH CIA AND NSC REMAIN MUM ABOUT U.S. SPYING ON GERMANY — WHILE ON GERMAN SOIL, HILLARY SAYS IT’S A “...SERIOUS ISSUE...”

HILLARY IN GERMANY — NOT VERY DIPLOMATIC — NOT VERY PRESIDENTIAL — NOT VERY PATRIOTIC

The Washington Post reports that, even though the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council have declined to comment. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a book presentation in Berlin the charges that the U.S. might have been involved in spying on Germany is “a serious issue.” The Washington Post quotes the former Secretary of State as saying, “Let’s find out what the facts are and then let’s act appropriately, but also try to be careful not to undermine the necessary cooperation which exists between us.” (See “Spy case threatens to sour German-US ties anew” from the Associated Press, 7/6/14, Washington Post [http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/germany-turns-up-pressure-in-suspected-us-spy-case/2014/07/06/39709c7e-0505-11e4-9b58-18d600bb53de_story.html?tid=recommended_strip_2] the article contains a photo of Mrs Clinton with the caption “Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gestures during a book launch in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 6, 2014. The former Secretary of State is on a tour promoting her new book, “Hard Choices.” The German titel of the book is “Entscheidungen”. [Gero Breloer/Associated Press]”).

Showing no shame, compunction or apparent reticence of any kind, Hillary went into Germany, even in the midst of another possible international Obama Administration spying scandal involving Germany: “BERLIN - Former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton called Chancellor Angela Merkel "the greatest leader in Europe" during a visit to Berlin on Sunday and said it was high time America had a woman leader too, though without confirming she would seek the job....”
(See “Hillary Clinton says Merkel is Europe's ‘greatest leader’” from Reuters, 7/6/14, Today [Issue date 7/7/14]/ todayonline.com [http://www.todayonline.com/world/hillary-clinton-says-merkel-europes-greatest-leader[). Based on the limited coverage thus far, while in Germany, the former Secretary of State has not address the issue that U.S. spying on the Merkel government has arisen twice in the last year.

Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post, “German politicians and media expressed mounting outrage Saturday, a day after reports in the German press that a 31-year old man arrested Thursday by German authorities was a mid-level member of German intelligence who passed state secrets to the United States. Authorities have not openly named the “foreign power” connected to the arrest, though the U.S. ambassador to Berlin, John B. Emerson, was summoned by the Foreign Ministry on Friday to offer “swift clarification” of the case. *** The threat of a fresh spying scandal at a highly sensitive time in the U.S.-German relationship was already raising alarm on both sides of the Atlantic. *** For months, the United States and Germany have sought to ease tensions after last year’s revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency had eavesdropped on the cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel....” (See “Fresh U.S. spying allegations could damage relations with Germany” by Anthony Faiola, 7/5/14, Washington Post [http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/fresh-us-spying-allegations-could-damage-relations-with-germany/2014/07/05/f42df88c-c880-4a27-9093-4755fe06a182_story.html]).

Galewyn Massey said...

UPDATE: THE “HILLARY CLINTON WAY OUT IN FRONT OF THE OBAMA FOREIGN POLICY TEAM ON THE GERMAN SPY SCANDAL” EDITION

WSJ REPORTS HILLARY CLINTON SAID THAT U.S. AND GERMAN SPY SERVICES SHOULD BE MORE TRANSPARENT IN EACH COUNTRY’S OPERATIONS DEALING WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THE OTHER COUNTRY

OBVIOUSLY NY TIMES IS NOT REPORTING ON HILLARY’S MOST TROUBLESOME STATEMENTS


According to the New York Times, “... With mystery enveloping a German intelligence service employee accused of spying — reportedly for the United States — German officials and commentators on Sunday angrily demanded a response from Washington, warning that an already troubled relationship was at risk of deteriorating to a new low. *** The demands for a statement from the United States were nevertheless couched in cautious terms...” (See “Ties Strained, Germans Press U.S. to Answer Spy Allegation” by Alison Smale, 7/5/14, NY Times/ Europe [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/world/europe/germans-demand-us-response-to-spy-allegation.html?_r=0] [A version of this article appears in print on July 7, 2014, on page A4 of the New York edition with the same headline as above] ).

A later report in the Wall Street Journal (See “New U.S. Spying Claim Prompts German Outrage...” by Anton Trioanovski, 7/7/14, Wall Street Journal [http://online.wsj.com/articles/new-u-s-spying-claim-prompts-german-outrage-1404727787]) contained a brief statement by the White House Press Secretary commenting on the good relations between the United States and Germany.

In the Alison Smale article, this is how the New York Times covered Hillary Clinton’s remarks about the spy scandal while she was on her book tour in Germany: “An American whom Germans did hear from during the weekend was Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Berlin to promote the German-language edition of her recent book, ‘Hard Choices,’ about her years as secretary of state. While skirting judgment on the new espionage scandal, she emphasized at a Saturday reception at the ambassador’s residence that the relationship between the United States and Germany was valued, and should not be ‘sidelined, downgraded or destroyed.’ *** At an appearance on Sunday, she said, “Let’s find out what the facts are,” noting that relations ‘should not be put at risk.’” (The Times’ article contains a picture of Mrs. Clinton while in Germany with the following caption: Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Berlin to promote her memoir, appeared on Sunday with a magazine editor, Christoph Amend. [Credit Adam Berry/Getty Images]).

This was Anton Trioanovski’s coverage of the statements by Hillary Clinton about the budding spy scandal that appeared in the WSJ: “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in Germany promoting her memoir, noted in a television interview Monday that both countries have spy agencies. *** ‘These two services work together on many things, but I would think it likely that they are also interested in information about the other,’ she said. ‘Now, what's appropriate and how it is carried out should be much more transparent between us.’”

Missing from the Hillary Clinton quotes in the NY Times and the WSJ is that part of her remarks that called the new spying flap “... a serious matter”; those words were reported in the Washington Post and on this blog in my comment above (See “UPDATE: THE ‘HILLARY CLINTON INVADES GERMANY’ EDITION” by Galewyn Massey, July 6, 2014 at 11:47 AM). Also missing from the NY Times coverage was Hillary’s line reported in the Wall Street Journal [cited above in this comment] – “These two services work together on many things, but I would think it likely that they are also interested in information about the other.... Now, what's appropriate and how it is carried out should be much more transparent between us.”

Obviously the New York Times is trying to clean up after some of Hillary’s messes overseas.