Islamic World News
No Burqa For Clinton
"It's time for Barack Obama to let Hillary Clinton take off her burqa." It's a line that brilliantly managed to belittle our female secretary of state under the guise of supporting her, to offend her and "defend" her at the same time: No wonder the insult that Tina Brown lobbed at the White House two weeks ago continues to echo around Washington. Since Brown wrote her article (snidely entitled "Obama's Other Wife"), even Clinton has been forced to respond.
"I don't pay a lot of attention to what is said," she told an interviewer before setting off on a trip to Asia, during which she seemed deliberately to court media attention, and to care a lot about what was said. "I broke my elbow, not my larynx." And then, defensively: "I have been deeply involved in the shaping and implementation of our foreign policy."
Let Hillary take off her burqa. Yes, it was memorable. And yes, it reflected just how hard it is to understand how, exactly, foreign policy gets made in this country. If only President Obama really were sitting in the White House, scheming with his inner circle, dreaming up diabolical plots, sending out detailed instructions to Clinton, Vice President Biden and the director of the CIA -- issuing metaphorical "burqas" -- then at least we'd all find things easier to analyze. But that's how foreign policy gets made in North Korea, not the United States.
The fact is that the post of secretary of state is a fabulously ill-defined job. If she so desires, Clinton can engage the world in multiple ways. She can visit, she can write and she can speak, knowing full well that everyone will hang on her every word. She can hold town-hall meetings in the countries she visits, and indeed she has done so. She has done television interviews, too, both in the United States and abroad. One presumes that she consults with the president on major speeches and key issues, but other than that, she sets her program.
http://newageislam.com/no-burqa-for-clinton/islamic-world-news/d/1577
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