This is a great day. A proud day. It’s hard to know where to begin.
I have traveled a long road with Hillary Clinton over the last many months. There have been incredible highs and very low lows. I’ve walked beside her, had her back, cleared the path as best I could for people to move with her to fully back Barack Obama. But nothing prepared me for President-elect Obama’s incredible courage and intellectual strength as he nominated Hillary Rodham Clinton to be Secretary of State.
Obama has reinvigorated the “water’s edge” philosophy through the political diversity of his national security team. Elevating Susan Rice, who will be our U.N. Ambassador, to cabinet status says it all. Obama intends to be a hands-on president. He again made clear his commitment to assign a new mission to the military in Iraq, but also Afghanistan, showing a direct shift in focus away from Iraq, in case anyone doubted where change will appear. But Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State foreshadows opportunity for Obama, especially in the Middle East and with Iran, picking a tough advocate who can pave the way for the change he obviously intends to bring through his diplomatic muscle. Where women around the world are concerned, in countries from Pakistan to the continent of Africa, Clinton can continue her work for women’s rights as human rights, which has the potential of tipping the balance in failed states, prevention being a national security priority for Obama, replacing Bush’s preemption. But it’s Maj. Gen. Jones as national security advisor that sends the message that Obama intends to run a very disciplined ship, just in case anyone was wondering how he planned to keep the heavy weight talents on course. Biden rounding out the team makes the final statement that experience and knowledge is the energy behind Obama. Some on the left are talking about Obama appointing a “hawkish” national security team, but the people he’s chosen reveal just what a tough commander in chief he intends to be. No daylight for dovish talk when Obama begins to redeploy from Iraq.
But obviously, it’s a day where I’m just so extremely grateful to President-elect Obama for his political savvy, his depth of understanding what is needed in the world, but also his grace of executive class and the genius of his selections where national security is concerned.
People talk about “hawkish” policies or people, but for national security focused analysts, with earned expertise over years of study, like myself, it’s about America’s history of strength going back to Truman that Bush-Cheney and the Republicans have made a mockery through their campaigns of fear, snubbing diplomacy for bellicose saber rattling, using the military as a threat instead of a very last resort, while undermining our moral authority by sending a message to underdeveloped nations that the rule of law across the globe is not to be respected by the most powerful.
What Obama faces in Central Asia was instigated under Ronald Reagan, which I’ll leave for another time. But suffice it to say that it will take a strong team led by a 21st century mind to turn the U.S. ship of state in a new direction. Obama is that man, and today he proved he knows what it will take to get the job done through the choices of the people who will surround him.
Again, Dr. Rice as U.N. Ambassador will not go through Madame Secretary Clinton, but will have a cabinet post herself, with Maj. Gen. Jones coordinating these diverse voices, as Joe Biden acts as consigliere to them all. It’s a proud day to be a Democrat.
F.D.R., Truman and J.F.K. are smiling. Scoop just might be, too.
Comments are closed.