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I keep my friends close, and my enemies.....



...a little closer.

Before getting started I'd like to say sorry for the extended hiatus, between the never ending hoopla surrounding the current state of the economy and the never ending senate races in Minnesota and Georgia, there really hasn't been much to discuss. Having said that, congratulations on your re-election Senator Chambliss, and may Al Franken only prolong this embarrassing conflict to his own disgrace.

On to our soon to be Secretary of State, Senator Clinton. A few days after the election, President-elect Obama went on 60 minutes and said that he had been reading a lot of Abraham Lincoln's memoirs, and that he was gaining a lot of insight on how to govern as a President for all the people. Kudos to the President. Considering he has asked, and that Bob Gates has acquiesced to his request to stay on as Secretary of Defense, I applaud the new President's judgement. There is not a more qualified man for the job, and it indeed matches the President's campaign rhetoric to be bi-partisan. Indeed, Obama's appointments for his economic team is a veritable intellectual's all star team.

However, the appointment of Senator Clinton to be Secretary of State is well, somewhat suspect. Disregarding the vitriol that was exchanged earlier this year between the two campaigns (who can forget an Obama staffer referring to Mrs. Clinton as a "monster"), the two have had incredibly dissimilar views regarding America's role in the world. On the foreign policy front, Senator Clinton has been more conservative in just about every aspect possible. From her championing the case for the war in Iraq, to her inability to apologize for her vote for said war during the highly partisan Democratic primaries, the two have not seen eye to eye on many fronts. This is sure to erk many of Obama's supporters on the left. Clearly, appointing a 2 term senator and former first lady who has a profane amount of Washington connections isn't exactly matching his vow to change "politics as usual in Washigton." In fact, it seems only to perpetuate it.

So, how does one examine this through the looking glass. Initially, it was pragmatic, President Obama seems to be placating a large and sincere portion of the Democratic party, after all, 18 million people did vote for Mrs. Clinton in the primaries. Also, there are little people with more diplomatic "street cred" on the international scene than Mrs. Clinton, she will carry enormous weight wherever she travels. Looking further through the microscope, this decision might also signify some confidence issues within President Obama himself. Between selecting a international relations "guru" in Joe Biden for Vice-President is one thing, but to appoint another heavy-weight and former rival as Secretary of State might show some subconscious chinks in the armor.

However, and this is my gut feeling Machiavellian to the T, he is doing it to keep an eye on her. Much as Lincoln did, Mr. Obama is appointing many former rivals to important positions. After all, Mrs. Clinton did say on the campaign trail that Senator McCain would bring a lot to the White House while Senator Obama, "had a nice speech." Talk about largesse on the part of President Obama.

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