Barack Obama today named Hillary Clinton as his choice for the post of secretary of state.
His statement, upon nominating her, is an interesting one:
"I assembled this team because I am a strong believer in strong personalities and strong opintions," he said. "I think that's how the best decisions are made. One of the dangers in a White House, based on my reading of history, is that you get wrapped up in group-think and everybody agrees with everything and there's no discussion and there are no dissenting views. So I am going to be welcoming a vigorous debate inside the White House. "But understand, I will be setting policy as president. I will be responsible for the vision that this team carries out, and I will expect them to implement that vision once decisions are made."
Sounds like he's aware of some of the objections raised to Clinton joining his cabinet.
Myself, I think he should have listened to the critics. He campaigned on "change." Naming Hillary to his cabinet doesn't represent change. Why on earth does he want or need the never-ending drama of the Clintons now becoming attached at the hip to his administration? And I think Mrs. Clinton will have a very difficult time subordinating herself to Obama's leadership. She's going to want to make policy as she sees fit; she made it clear during the primary campaign that she didn't think Obama was up to the job. Does anyone think she's really going to go along quietly with decisions from which she vigorously dissents? Not for long.
This thing is a powder keg waiting to explode. Stay tuned and watch the fun.
