Friday, January 23, 2009

HILLARY CLINTON, JOHN MCCAIN

John McCain Does the Impossible

John McCain has prompted me to say the unthinkable.

The right man won in 2008.

I say this because the circumstances of Hillary Clinton being Secretary of State, while foreign governments have donated $41 million to her husband's foundation, and may continue to donate additional funds, is problematic. She may be the best possible Secretary of State in the eyes of some on the right, but that doesn't change the fact that the agreement between her husband's foundation and the Obama administration—in which donations will be disclosed once a year, and with no specification as to the format of the disclosure—is insufficient. (They're still not disclosing some donors.)

No, Sen. Dick Lugar was right to say that if Hillary Clinton is to be the country's chief diplomat for the next four years or so, then the Clinton Foundation should not accept foreign donations. Period. Being Secretary of State is a privilege, not a right; giving up cashing large checks from foreign governments for a few years doesn't seem like too much to ask in exchange for that great privilege. It is mind-boggling that the Clintons insisted that those limits were an unjust request. They insisted that no conflict of interest would be created, but as senator, she did write at least six letters on behalf of Clinton Foundation donors—she wrote the letters, and five-figure donations followed. I'm sure that's just coincidental.

So what does John McCain think of all this?

"Mac is back!" one of his devoted friends in the Senate declared as McCain walked into the chamber Wednesday to deliver his first speech of the 111th Congress: a blunt admonishment of Republicans delaying Hillary Rodham Clinton's confirmation as secretary of state.

"I remind all my colleagues: We had an election," McCain noted. "I think the message the American people are sending us now is they want us to work together, and get to work."

Mac is back—back to his moral preening about how bipartisan he is, back to his reflexive demonization of his own party, back to his refusal to recognize any legitimate concerns raised by those who disagree with him. If we're going to have Democratic agenda enacted, better it be by a Democrat than a Republican obsessed with avoiding the "partisan" label in the White House.

This isn't a partisan issue; Americans of all political stripes ought to be a little uncomfortable with foreign governments being able to donate millions to the household of the person who is in charge of negotiating with them. (If Bush had named Henry Kissinger to a diplomatic post, wouldn't our liberal friends object to foreign governments being able to hire his firm? Wasn't this what kept him off the 9/11 Commission?) No Republican was saying Hillary can't be Secretary of State; they're just saying her husband shouldn't collect checks from foreign sources while she's doing that.

But John McCain thinks that's being too partisan.

01/23 09:17 AMShare