Althouse: "Wait. You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?"

August 10, 2009

"Wait. You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?"

A revealing look at Hillary Clinton:

Don't get on her bad side!

67 comments:

JAL said...: Saw that on Nightline a little while ago. I wish there was a bigger excerpt which included the question. It is unlclear whether she misunderstood the question (a possibility) -- although being asked what Bill thought is entirely possible.

Good for her.; 8/10/09, 11:57 PM
JAL said...: Which raises the question -- What does Meade think?; 8/10/09, 11:58 PM
Synova said...: LOL.

I sympathize.

OTOH, is it the old fashioned sexism if you did, in fact, gain power on your husband's shirt-tails? It's got to be difficult to become an independent entity in people's minds.

Either way, she's got to try and refusing to answer for Bill is the right thing to do.

OTOH again... what the heck was she wearing and what did she do with her hair?; 8/11/09, 12:02 AM
Meade said...: "Which raises the question -- What does Meade think?"

I've always thought Hillary loved power more than she loved Bill.; 8/11/09, 12:10 AM
Ann Althouse said...: She should be dignified, not pugnacious. Even if she's sick of people thinking Bill is more important/better than her, at her level, she should completely hide it.

I do think she's very tired here, but she's the one who made a big deal about how good she'd be at 3 a.m.; 8/11/09, 12:11 AM
muddimo said...: Given that it was a student asking the question, Hillary was extremely rude and unprofessional. Why shouldn't a student ask what her husband would think if that is what he/she wants to know?; 8/11/09, 12:23 AM
muddimo said...: By the way, please take bear spray with you on your hikes in bear/lion country. Seriously. People do get attacked even in groups of two.; 8/11/09, 12:25 AM
Steven said...: Yeah, my reaction was, What an idiot.

The correct response is to answer from her own perspective, and then on the end to add, "As to what Bill thinks, I don't know, we've never talked about it."

A sandbag like that hits far more powerfully than a display of outrage.; 8/11/09, 12:29 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Why would she channel Bill when she's got Jean Houston for that?

That bitch can fool y'all with her bullshit (women fall for that "you go, girl" shit every time) but all it makes me think is I should start loudly applauding whenever Al Sharpton says something indignant or clever sounding (emphasis on the word "sounding"),...I mean, we're both black, right?

Women can be such a fucking joke sometimes it's painful.; 8/11/09, 12:31 AM
XWL said...: I sense some wishful thinking on her part.

As far as I understand these things, only the DEAD (or non-human spiritual entities) get channeled.

Ergo, Hill wishes Bill were dead (given the use of a term which only refers to the departed).; 8/11/09, 12:33 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Oh, please, people. Hillary is NOBODY without the Clinton presidency. She's a carpet-bagger who never earned the high office she so badly serves. She has also failed even in her current pathetic office (the SoS is defined pathetically) to do anything useful.; 8/11/09, 1:02 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: The question was mistranslated. The student actually asked what Obama thought. ← 100% of fact.

"your president"
"your man"
"your boss"
"the first black president"
"the one with the shoes"
"jefe"
"El primo chingas"

↑ largely imagined

It's all so confusing.; 8/11/09, 1:30 AM
Chase said...: Not one of Hillary's best hair days.; 8/11/09, 2:17 AM
Daryl said...: Barack Obama said this would happen on a monthly basis if Hillary was given any real responsibility.; 8/11/09, 2:24 AM
Revenant said...: He's thinking "I'd like a beer, and I'd like to see something naked."; 8/11/09, 2:36 AM
Kansas City said...: American politics can be funny, in terms of who reaches the top. Hillary is someone with only the most modest of personal accomplishments and, because she was willing to suffer the humuliation of years of marriage to Bill while riding his coattails, she darn near became president and now is secretary of state. I suppose the question could be asked about a lot of politicians of both parties, but what has she done to deserve the office and acclaim that is accorded to her?

Her anger here is understandable on a human basis, and particulary in view of how her dependence on Bill for her success must really eat at her on the inside.; 8/11/09, 3:18 AM
Chris Arabia said...: the other thing about why the question irked her is that she probably has no idea what's going on with bill, other than that wherever she is, he'd rather be elsewhere.

hard to decide whether hillarycare or her spectacular come from ahead loss to obama is her greatest failure. i'd say she's mediocrity incarnate but her accomplishments pale in comparison to those of V.M. Molotov (which is to her credit).; 8/11/09, 3:35 AM
LoafingOaf said...: You know, Althouse has really lost it these days. In this post, the clip she provides is an abridged version from the one we all know she saw via the Drudge Report.

Althouse's blog is quickly becoming little more than a comment section for extreme partisan Republicans on whatever Drudge is pushing today, plus some pretty photos from Althouse's travels. But why didn't Althouse at least provide a more in-context clip, as Drudge did?

If you linked to the full clip, Hillary Clinton's reaction is perfectly understandable.

The question she heard was: "What does Mr. Clinton think through the mouth of Mrs. Clinton...."

Which sounded ridiculous to her and she reacted in completely understandle fashion.

Maybe Althouse should not have concealed the context. But, then, these days Althouse is busy defending the asinine statements of Sarah Palin claiming Obama is pushing for a "death panel", etc. I guess she's trying to please her ultra-right-wing husband. Don't get on her bad side! But her blog is quickly going down the drain....; 8/11/09, 5:12 AM
OhioAnne said...: LOL! Sounds like someone is projecting.

While her original Senate election was a favor to her husband, Hillary Clinton had worked her way into a reputation as a solid Senator - as opposed to Obama who worked his way into a "absent" senator repuation. She could have created a notable position as "loyal opposition" in the Senate and still been young enough for another try at the Presidency. Given the disaster that the Obama presidency has been so far, she may have been able to run credibly against a sitting president of her own party in 2012 - had she maintained her distance from the administration.

Instead she made an inexplicably bad deal to become Secretary of State - a position, in the past, already held by women of both parties. Under her rival, the position has been reduced to essentially a variation of the VP position - funerals and photo ops.

Of course, she is angry at still being in her husband's shadow. Obama's commitment to women's issues - like most of his promises - is largely illusion, but she didn't find that out until too late. So, she settled for being treated badly - again.

Her response was honest, but she has no one to blame but herself for being in the position. I don't think her response was inappropriate, but sad.

And I liked her hair.; 8/11/09, 5:51 AM
bearbee said...: Longer video clip.

The clip posted on Althouse, I thought, was in front of am American audience. Turns out a she was being rude in front of a Congolese university audience.

Clinton: I’m secretary of state, not Bill

BTW, while Bill Clinton was president, in response to a situation wasn't she quoted as saying 'We are the president'?; 8/11/09, 5:59 AM
bearbee said...: Of course, she is angry at still being in her husband's shadow.

I think her anger is related to a perceived usurpation of her SoS role. The following MSNBC observation:
The president's ambitious travels have overshadowed her, heavyweight special envoys have been assigned to the world's critical hotspots, Vice President Joe Biden has taken on assignments abroad — and then last week her husband succeeded in a North Korean mission to free two journalists even as she landed in Africa on a seven-nation trip.; 8/11/09, 6:09 AM
chickelit said...: But her blog is quickly going down the drain....

That's just a vortex you perceive there Loafing Oaf.; 8/11/09, 6:11 AM
AllenS said...: Every time Hillary goes abroad, she always has in the back of her mind, will I have to dodge sniper fire? This makes her testy, and unfuckable. Bill has better things to do.; 8/11/09, 6:13 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: How can someone with this kind of attitude be allowed around foreign leaders?

This is going to haunt Hillary for some time. (She had actually been gaining some respect in my mind.)

I wish she had answered, "Bill thinks whatever I tell him to think."; 8/11/09, 6:15 AM
KCFleming said...: "I'm not going to be channeling my husband."

Replace the verb, and their relationship is explained.; 8/11/09, 6:32 AM
KCFleming said...: And I'm digging her new Kinko's-branch-manager look.

I saaaid, where's my COFFEE?; 8/11/09, 6:45 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I almost expected a cackle followed up by I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too!

Does anyone else think that she is a complete dumbshit for giving up a lifetime senate seat to play chief diplomat? I mean she takes this job and other than breaking her elbow she's been relgated to the backroom while Billy Boy gets the glory of rescuing a couple of chicks from a NORK prison. Kind of makes you wonder what the hell is going on over there.; 8/11/09, 6:48 AM
Shanna said...: It's fine in theory to say "if you want to know what my husband thinks, ask him not me" but she definately comes off as if a nerve was hit. Not wise.; 8/11/09, 6:57 AM
KCFleming said...: Hell of a diplomat, she is, too, barking at a Congolese student who was being mistranslated.

We're in the best of hands.; 8/11/09, 7:03 AM
Joaquin said...: I don't understand why so many folks think she should have stayed in the Senate. It's a known fact that she didn't 'take to' the legislative monotony and wasn't into cutting deals which is the norm in the Senate.; 8/11/09, 7:03 AM
KCFleming said...: Mebbe she should press the restart button.; 8/11/09, 7:04 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I don't understand why so many folks think she should have stayed in the Senate. It's a known fact that she didn't 'take to' the legislative monotony and wasn't into cutting deals which is the norm in the Senate.

Yet she wanted to be President. If that is truly the case she probably needs to find another line of work out of politics cause this SoS thing doesn't seem to be working for her either.; 8/11/09, 7:14 AM
KCFleming said...: Kinko's, Hoosier.

She'd be great.; 8/11/09, 7:16 AM
jag said...: I feel sorry for HRC, forever living in the shadow of Billy.

Though not at her best here, she is one of the brightest minds on the American stage.; 8/11/09, 7:16 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Hell of a diplomat, she is, too, barking at a Congolese student who was being mistranslated.

You know I would have credited her with a bit more restraint but I think her reaction to that guy showed how much she feels she is being marginalized in the job. She stayed home when Obama was hobnobbing with the Russkies, evidently only the male Clinton can go to North Korea and now she's losing her cool with college kids in the Congo while Obama is having his three amigos summit.

I'll give her till 2010 and she'll bolt.; 8/11/09, 7:18 AM
Issob Morocco said...: When did she become Secretary of State?; 8/11/09, 7:20 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I thought when Bill ran for president we got a twofer, two for one.

Something has changed?; 8/11/09, 7:29 AM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Okay... I listened intently to a longer clip that includes the question. Not to the translation, but the original question, in French, their official language. The student asks:

Que pense votre époux?

The word époux can mean only "male-spouse" or husband. The word mari means the same thing but would usually be employed only in casual conversation amongst friends.

The student's question was translated quite accurately.; 8/11/09, 7:34 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: No respect Rodney.; 8/11/09, 7:37 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Althouse's blog is quickly becoming little more than a comment section for extreme partisan Republicans on whatever Drudge is pushing today, plus some pretty photos from Althouse's travels. But why didn't Althouse at least provide a more in-context clip, as Drudge did?"

What about the pit bull and the bear? What about the Swedish painting? Hmmm?; 8/11/09, 7:40 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: The word époux can mean only "male-spouse" or husband. The word mari means the same thing but would usually be employed only in casual conversation amongst friends.

The student's question was translated quite accurately.

Even if it was, she should not have blown her cool like that. Just goes to show she isn't cut out for the job much less the job of President.; 8/11/09, 7:41 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: What about the pit bull and the bear? What about the Swedish painting? Hmmm?

Don't mind Oaf Professor. He sounds like someone who just needs more fibre in his diet.; 8/11/09, 7:43 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Tick tock tick tock. How long before we get the resignation due to exhaustion or some such?

It's obvious to me, Hillary is watching Obama F up everything back in the states so she was wondering why the hell she was stuck in Africa taking questions from kids.; 8/11/09, 7:47 AM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: In other news from Ms. Clinton's trip ... while she was in eastern Africa a certain Godwin Kipkemoi Chepkurgor, a 40-year-old Kenyan, proposed to purchase Chelsea for marriage in exchange for 40 goats and 20 cows.; 8/11/09, 7:48 AM
The Dude said...: She is obnoxious, but that's not exactly news. She looks rolly polly in that clip - that was not filmed from a flattering angle for a short fat chick.

If that's what passes for one of the brightest minds in government, then we are all in a world of hurt.

Oh, right, we are.; 8/11/09, 7:54 AM
Der Hahn said...: ...Hillary Clinton had worked her way into a reputation as a solid Senator - as opposed to Obama who worked his way into a "absent" senator repuation.

Being a twenty-year backbencher didn't hurt John Kerry in the Democrat primaries. (See also the perennial bunch of wannabee's that stroke their egos every four years.) Hillary had to take a calculated risk in 2008 while Obama was at his weakest as a first-term Senator. Obama would likely improve his chances the longer he stayed in the Senate. A run in 2012 probably wasn't viable for her from the Senate since she might face more than a token challenger for her seat.

I'm not sure if she could credibly bail from the job in time to challenge Obama in 2012. I think it's more likely that she'll grit her teeth and serve through the end of Obama's term. Whether Obama is re-elected or not she's positioned for a run in 2016.; 8/11/09, 7:55 AM
KCFleming said...: "The student's question was translated quite accurately."

She needs to react like a diplomat to stupid questions from nongovernment officials, and not like she's chair of the Feminist Studies Dept. at Berkeley taking Great Offense at the Blatant Misogyny and Patriarchal Hegemony in some frat party flier pinned to the bulletin board in the quad.

For example, ignore the question and answer the question you want to cover.; 8/11/09, 8:00 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: LoafingOaf : Althouse's blog is quickly becoming little more than a comment section for extreme partisan Republicans on whatever Drudge is pushing today, plus some pretty photos from Althouse's travels.

If true, the fault is hardly Althouse's, but that of the Obama administration. It seems like every ideal the Democrats have is being publicly strangled to death by it's own party officials every day. Health care being the latest victim.

Just as Bush discredited Republicans, Obama is doing the same thing to Democrats. It really shouldn't be at all shocking to see Conservatives feeling more and more energized.

Even though Republicans have no one to stand for them, they have a host of people on the other side to stand against, and that's almost as good, if not better.

It's all the Democrats have been doing for years.; 8/11/09, 8:01 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Althouse : What about the pit bull and the bear? What about the Swedish painting? Hmmm?

I bet you could have dozens of examples and you wouldn't convince LoafingOaf.

When someone complains about you changing (true or not) it's really a compliment.

LoafingOaf might as well have said, "I loved you so much!"; 8/11/09, 8:06 AM
paul a'barge said...: Hillary is putting on some lbs.; 8/11/09, 8:09 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I bet the Obama team in the WH laughed their asses off at this video.; 8/11/09, 8:13 AM
knox said...: How can someone with this kind of attitude be allowed around foreign leaders?

That could be said about the Obama administration itself. Look how bad they've coped with resistance from just regular folks about healthcare reform. It's driving them crazy: they immediately became petulant and began hurling insults. Not the greatest diplomacy skills, or maturity. How in the world would these people handle a 9/11?; 8/11/09, 8:47 AM
Irene said...: Andrea Mitchell's take on "The Today Show" this morning was that Hilary was either: (1) jet lagged; or (2) having a bad hair day.; 8/11/09, 8:51 AM
Fred4Pres said...: When you said you saw a cougar cross your path, I immediately thought of this and posted it!

The funny part is it was a mistranslation. Opps. I hope she gets asked this more often.

But Hillary said speaking out is American and patriotic!; 8/11/09, 8:55 AM
s1c said...: There goes her run in 2012, I can already see the campaign against her.

"Is this how she would've handled that 3 a.m. call, vote for hope and change"; 8/11/09, 9:06 AM
Martha said...: Oh that is the Hillary we all knew and feared at Wellesley in the sixties--the militant feminist training to be a ferocious manlike competitor. That was before Hillary's blond makeover when Bill was Governor of Arkansas and her no-nonsense tough demeanor did not go down well with the Arkansas voters.
Hillary has had to sublimate her true self for so long that no one should be surprised that she might snap once and awhile. Just ask Bill.; 8/11/09, 9:34 AM
J Lee said...: I think she and her handlers misread how not just the Obama people would treat her in the SoS role, but how the media would as well.

Unlike Bush, or even her husband, Obama so far has not allowed the foreign policy stage to be seeded to his Secretary of State, the way it was with Powell and Rice under Bush, or even the way it was with Madeline Albright under Clinton. The second aspect is that, after her initial trip abroad last winter, the media really hasn't cared much about reporting her comings and goings in the way they did with Albright, Powell and Rice -- they're still too wrapped up in Obama to shift their focus elsewhere.

Combine that lack of TV face time or print coverage with the gobs of attention her husband just received for his North Korean trip, let that seethe for a weekend and then get asked a question in some far off place where you know the TV networks don't give a damn what happens, and you finally reach the boiling point.

The even worse part for Hillary is that while the media wasn't going to show any video of her routine stuff, they will go with this, and the comics will have a field day with it, because it fits the Bill-Hill meme and the media has moved on to Obama, and really don't care any more about burnishing her public image.; 8/11/09, 9:42 AM
Joan said...: What about the pit bull and the bear? What about the Swedish painting? Hmmm?

I don't know why, but that "Hmmm?" cracked me up - literally LOL.

Anyway, no sympathy for Hil. She's of a piece with this entire administration: unprofessional, not particularly competent, and yet 100% humility-free. I haven't noticed any members of the administration having any modesty or sense of responsibility at all. They apologize for missteps because they got caught, not because of any genuine remorse. The resentment they feel towards us plebes is palpable.; 8/11/09, 10:08 AM
Ritmo Re-Animated said...: I'm lovin these responses.
Especially the one about responding like a professor from Berkeley.; 8/11/09, 10:15 AM
lexy_nesbitt said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/11/09, 11:05 AM
knox said...: Joan you said what I wanted to say but a lot better

"100% humility-free"

LOL.; 8/11/09, 11:06 AM
Steven said...: LoafingOaf —

Being annoyed by the question is fine and understandable.

Allowing that annoyance to provoke a pugnacious response to a student question during a public relations exercise is entirely inappropriate for the chief diplomat of the United States.; 8/11/09, 12:41 PM
Kansas City said...: OhioAnne said Hillary was a "solid senator." What does that mean? Aside form the biased press repeating endlessly that she was a good senator, what else demonstrates that? He spend six years as a senator and ran for president.

As to taking the SOS job, you can be certain that the decision was made through the calculation of what best promotes her chance to be president. It seems obvious that she saw it as resume building, so that now she could claim expertise on foreign affairs when she nexts runs for president. I would not be shocked if she ran against Obama in 2012, but again, that decision will be made best on what maximizes her chance to become president, and I think that probably is a 2016 run. She is unlikely to ever make it. While Biden is an awful choice for VP, at least we can be thankful that it was not Hillary, because that obviously would have increased her chance to be president.; 8/11/09, 2:56 PM
miller said...: Well, I'm no diplomat, but the safe answer would have been something along the lines of "I'm sure my husband would agree with the goals and decisions of this administration." Safe, dull, predictable, and an easy out. This was a time to bloviate, not huff up in righteous indignation.

Plus, it's a kid, for gosh sakes. Just let it slide, lady.; 8/11/09, 9:58 PM
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