HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: "EXPERIENCE OR JUST PROXIMITY?"...

[babylonsister]

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=304086

by Katrina Vanden Heuvel


HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: "EXPERIENCE OR JUST PROXIMITY?"...


There's a tough and provocative letter in Friday's Washington Post by the wife of the minister (deputy to the ambassador) of the US Embassy in London at the time the Northern Ireland negotiations and the Bosnia crisis were occurring. Jill Deal, who was also a lawyer at a US firm, attended and actively participated in meetings on Northern Ireland, along with her husband, Gerry Adams, Ian Paisley and other dignitaries involved in the peace negotations. "Would I consider this to be foreign policy experience?" Of course, Deal argues. "Would I put it on my curriculum vitae as such? Of course not."

"I have found the notion that one absorbs foreign policy experience just by being a spouse increasingly offensive as the presidential campaign has progressed. It demeans Hillary Rodham Clinton, who by all reports, has gained experience altogether separate from her husband since she became a senator, some of which no doubt can legitimately be categorized as foreign policy."

Deal believes what Hillary Clinton is doing "also demeans women like me who have built their experience ..on what they have done on their own."

Read the full letter here:


Regarding Michael Dobbs's March 26 Fact Checker article, "Clinton Appears Weary of Taking 'Sniper Fire' ":

I was the wife of the minister (deputy to the ambassador) of the U.S. Embassy in London at the time the Northern Ireland negotiations and the Bosnia crisis were taking place. I also had a "proper" job as a lawyer at an American firm.

Did I, with my husband, attend and actively participate in meetings on Northern Ireland, which included Gerry Adams, Ian Paisley and other dignitaries involved in the peace efforts? Of course.

Did I, per my husband's suggestions, at dinners pass on messages to British government ministers regarding the desirability of their "getting on board" initiative X or Y? Of course. Would I consider this to be foreign policy experience? And would I put it on my curriculum vitae as such? Of course not.

I have found the notion that one absorbs foreign policy experience just by being a spouse increasingly offensive as the presidential campaign has progressed. It demeans Hillary Rodham Clinton, who by all reports, has gained experience altogether separate from her husband since she became a senator, some of which no doubt can legitimately be categorized as foreign policy. It also demeans women like me who have built their experience and their r¿sum¿s on what they have done on their own. I am glad that Mr. Dobbs's article and this week's developments have finally exposed this shallow shell game.

JILL B. DEAL

Washington

[opihimoimoi]

1. Her life experiences make her a better candidate than Bush ever was...for Gods Sake

Don't we ever forget that..

Besides...she READS...

Sumpthin them Bush dudes ignore....

This McCane guy...besides being a POW Hero....what else has he done....what books has he written and in what subject? Did the book pass muster?

At least Obama wrote his thoughts...I got the Audacity of Hope...he shows he got a functioning brain...as well as Hillary....


The Pubs come here to make troubles and sow bad seeds....They don't even realize the Dem Party speaks for ALL People...Its INCLUSIVE

including them...as opposed to the Pub Philosophy of exclusiveness.

Hillary/Obama....both have good plans for the Nation...altruistic ones....way better than old ideas like continuing the drain by unnecessary wars

It may end up with both on the same ticket...of which we would have better odds come Nov.

[Swamp Rat]

7. Pass the mustard.

:D

[opihimoimoi]

18. SR...ya killing me ....LOL

[Johnny__Motown]

13. You need to compare her to Bush?

You better look into McCain's record. His POW experience is unique, that is why it keeps being brought up. He has more experience than that. Much Much more.

[opihimoimoi]

19. How is his "experience" much much more than others...I don't get it

I compare Hill to Bush only cause he set the Bar so Low...

Sen McCain is Old View....

Obama/Hill are Fresh / Better Views

[DesEtoiles]

23. then so do Barack's

[opihimoimoi]

25. Rgr that....

[flowomo]

2. I actually think "proximity" is "experience" --

A patricular kind of experience, but meaningful. To have seen close-up, and been privy to "inside" information and analysis, has got to deepen a person's understanding of a given circumtance or process. When I was a reporter covering the state legislature, I did not "experience" the process an elected official, but my proximity gave me a much deeper understanding of that process than my listeners/readers had.

[babylonsister]

8. I wouldn't compare your experience as a reporter to this woman's

experience as the wife of a deputy to the ambassador of the U.S. Embassy in London {at the time the Northern Ireland negotiations and the Bosnia crisis were taking place}.

She doesn't see the correlations Clinton has tried to draw; she finds them offensive and demeaning.

[flowomo]

10. I don't... and have explained why... just another point of view.

I can see much room for disagreement on this and have no disrespect for those who see it differently than I do.

[sandnsea]

20. Does it give you the experience to be Governor?

Are you saying any given blogger has the experience to be Governor because of their proximity to the political process?

[flowomo]

21. of course not...

it would mean that someone who has been close to the political process would have another little piece of the total package -- say a blogger (not a great example, but I'll use it) who has worked in a large corporation, helped start a community revitalization project (as a volunteer even), is smart and well spoken, has some kind of "base" rooted in whatever (ethnicity, race, gender, religion). Well, that person actually could be a governor -- maybe a good one. "Experience" is not a complete qualification -- many experienced people are huge failures when they move up. But all experience counts -- even experience by proximity.

[sandnsea]

24. The work would be the experience

Not just blogging about the work. Hillary has made a huge mistake relying on her proximity to the President, instead of relying 100% on her own resume. Speeches aren't the same as creating policy, as she's said so many times in the last few months.

She wasn't really the President, she just slept with one at the Holiday Inn.

[panader0]

3. I saw Jimi Hendrix play once..........

That doesn't make me a rock star dammit!

[babylonsister]

4. Exactly. Nice analogy. nt

[flowomo]

5. not a convincing analogy....

no, it doesn't mean you can play like Hendrix, but it means you have witnessed personally what it means to play well. You have a huge advantage over someone who has never seen Hendrix (or any great guitarist) play. Now, will your understanding of what you KNOW makes Hendrix great make YOU great. No, you have to absorb the lesson and use the knowledge to build your own skills. But you have a foundation that people who never saw Hendrix do not have. So similarly, if Hendrix personally gave you lessons, let you play with him -- gave you THAT kind of experience -- it is no guarantee you will be any good. "Proximity" is a kind of "experience" because it is something you can build on. I give Hillary that much on it.

[pocoloco]

11. Proximity is really good when you are playing horseshoes

or hand grenades!!

[flowomo]

12. hmmmm... that doesn't quite engage my argument...

though I agree about the horseshoes. Lovely game!

[Johnny__Motown]

14. Is your boss's spouse the best qualified to take over if needed? I doubt it.

So why is Hillary?

[flowomo]

15. you just changed the topic....

the question was: is proximity a source of experience. I say yes.

you say: does that experience make you the "best qualified"? That's a totally different question. I would say, "obviously not necessarily."

[FrenchieCat]

6. I always thought that running on the experience

of her husband as being demeaning to women. I've had to tell my daughters that this is not how one gets ahead in life "normally". Ms. Deal is absolutely correct.

[AmericanUnity]

9. Was YOKO ONO a BEATLE? I mean, she has PROXIMITY too, right?

[JPZenger]

16. Here's PDF of Newly Released 2006 Hillary Tax Return

Here's a pdf of Hillary's newly released 2006 tax return:

[K Gardner]

17. Presidential Experience by Osmosis.

[Cha]

22. hilary has demeaned her

daughter, chelsea, too. She's put her on the spot to, either, lie or go against her mother. What kind of woman does that? And the female Soldier who was in Bosnia when she was there is accusing hilary of "Theft of Valor".

<snip>

"A veteran of Bosnia who was at the event in Tuzla where Hillary Clinton falsely claimed to have landed under sniper fire is accusing the Senator of theft of valor. As General Walter L. Stewart Jr. of the Pennsylvania National Guard said earlier today on a conference call, soldiers who actually have been in war zones and performed under fire deeply despise those who falsely claim such valor. They feel this way because it attempts to cheapen or make less, their real and actual valor."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

hilary didn't stop to think how she would be disrespecting our Soldiers when she claimed to be in danger by Sniper Fire in Bosnia when they are in real peril.