Machiavellian Intrigues Afoot

This is going to get interesting. You've got to know that there was some ego sublimation in the negotiations that got Hilllary to support the Messiah, if only by not actively obstructing him, during the last days of the run-up to the general election. Obama clearly had no reason to like her. She had no reason not to feel bitter about the loss of that old Clinton mojo.

The VP slot was never going to be in play for her. He couldn't afford to have Hill's husband as the third member of the menage a trois in the White House. She had already played pretty strongly in the presidential backup role for eight years. What could be offered? The two prizes seem to have been Secretary of State--no way she could have handled Defense--or a Supreme Court nomination. One was a bird in the hand, the other remained perched in some future bush. She got State.

Now, read this:

Who Wants to Talk to Hillary? Anybody? Bueller?

I know I could never be a diplomat. I tend to say what I believe and mean what I say. A top level diplomat needs to be, well...diplomatic. What to make then of this:

In a bizarre name-calling exchange last month during Clinton's trip to Asia, she compared the North Koreans to "unruly children" demanding attention, and Pyongyang's foreign ministry retaliated by calling her a "funny lady" who sometimes "looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping." The ministry was quoted as calling her remarks "vulgar" and saying "she is by no means intelligent." The State Department returned fire with another tapestry of put-downs.

And, of course last week's set to about the questioning student who really meant "what did President Obama think" about a topic, not President Clinton. That was undiplomatic for sure.

So, what is going to happen on this front. She's a street brawler. He's a Chicago capo. The turf war is going to be bloody. The nation meanwhile remains adrift with sparks in the tinder.