Congrats to the Clinton and Mezvinsky Families *updated*
I am sure it will be a wonderful wedding and I wish both families the best.
Here are some widely circulated photos from the pre-wedding dinner last night:
Former US President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attend daughter Chelsea Clinton and her fiance Marc Mezvinsky's pre-wedding party at the Beekman Arms Inn on July 30, 2010 in Rhinebeck, New York.
I just came across this photo of Secretary Clinton visiting Chelsea’s apartment in NYC on Tuesday:
The Wedding: The Media Is Out of Control
I realize that for public figures there is really no such thing as privacy and that it can be both a blessing and a curse. My own feeling is that we should err on the side of caution (ie. privacy) with respect to coverage of this wedding, particularly given Chelsea Clinton is currently not a public official even if she is considered by some in the media to be a public person by virtue of her parents being high profile leaders.
Susan Estrich has a commentary which I thought I’d post because I largely agree with her assessment of the media hype. It also is a very nice homage to Hillary and Bill Clinton’s parenting of Chelsea:
No, I wasn’t invited. I shouldn’t be. I’m a friend of her parents. They aren’t getting married. She is. The rule that invited guests should have a personal relationship with the bride or the groom is only the latest example of how good the Clintons (and the Mezvinskys) have been at the most important job in the world: being parents.
I have, sadly, been to plenty of weddings where the only way I knew the bride was by the dress. I have always felt silly in such situations (unless I knew the groom). What was I doing there? Whose party was it?
I don’t care how much the cake cost. I don’t care how much any of it cost or who paid or why. I don’t care who made the list. This is not a political event. It’s not a state dinner or anything close to that. It’s the wedding of two pretty terrific young people. That’s enough.
Anyone who has raised a child knows that there are no guarantees. You can try your best, but there’s no instruction manual, and there are no sure things.
Still, there are things that make it more difficult — for parents and children. Fame and too much money are among them. TMM, we call it out here. When you see kids who have no values, who don’t understand what matters and what doesn’t, who are spoiled and silly, the first thing you think is TMM. Or too much fame.
The Clintons didn’t have so much money when Chelsea was growing up, but fame and fancy friends certainly made up for it. There was no place they couldn’t go, nothing they couldn’t do or have. They made their share of mistakes.
But Chelsea wasn’t one of them.
[snip]
Over eight sometimes difficult years in the White House, they were also parents. They made clear that she was their beloved daughter, not a prop.
When she so famously crossed the White House lawn with one hand holding that of each parent, we saw not the most powerful people in the world, but a family fighting to stay together, and the girl in the middle fighting just as hard as either of them.
She picked a college 3,000 miles away. She chose to be her own person, to live privately, to stay out of the limelight.
[snip]
It is that very similarity, the normalcy, the fact that she will be surrounded by her friends and his friends — not her parents’ big donors or fancy supporters — that is the ultimate testament to what matters most.
I certainly wish the bride and groom a long, happy life together and I hope they have a wonderful day tomorrow- I am sure they will. That said, the guest list, the cost of the wedding, the type of gown and the honeymoon plans are really none of my business unless someone in the Clinton clan chooses to make it our (ie. the public) business. I understand that many Hillary fans are interested in this wedding because they are interested in the Secretary of State and simply want she and her family to be happy. But I am hoping that the media, and also the blogosphere, try to have some respect for their privacy. I know I will try. What I mean by that is that if official photos are issued- fantastic, I’d love to see them and I’ll post them here. If they aren’t issued and the only stuff circulating are illicit photos taken by some guest with his/her camera phone or by a TMZ staff person hanging from a tree, well, that crosses a line in my opinion, and you won’t see them here. Basically, I try to think to myself, “would they [the Clintons] want this photo/information posted on a blog?” I know sometimes it’s a blurry line in this age of social media and that such a judgment call can be subjective. But at the end of the day the important thing is that we at least try to use what so many in the media seem to lack- judgment.
ps. Scooter is still holding out for her invite…;)
Secretary Clinton has most of the week off to prepare for her daughter Chelsea’s wedding- and by “off” I mean not-in-the-State-Department-building-but-still-working-24/7. She has still been issuing statements and attending key foreign policy/security meetings with the White House via secure link:
President Barack Obama met on Thursday with his national security team to discuss Afghanistan and Pakistan. The 7th such regular meeting on the subject came as the government pressed ahead with an investigation into the leak of tens of thousands of classified documents about the war in Afghanistan.
Taking part in the meeting in the White House Situation Room, either in person or by video link, were some 22 civilian and military officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Vice President Joe Biden and CIA Director Leon Panetta.
President Obama’s national security adviser, General James Jones, was there. Participating from afar were the new U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, and the U.S. ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
[snip]
White House spokesman Gibbs said the regular Afghanistan-Pakistan session discussed the recent strategic dialogue Secretary of State Clinton held in Pakistan, and U.S. efforts to support Pakistani military actions against violent extremists in Pakistan.
The meeting also focused on what the Obama administration calls the success of the recent Kabul conference and steps to strengthen governance and pursue the re-integration of Taliban forces.
That’s dedication.
Wednesday: You Know This Already, But…
A painting by local artist Diana Huff congratulating Chelsea Clinton and her fiance Marc Mezvinsky hangs in the window of a shop in Rhinebeck, New York July 26, 2010
The Tuesday Schedule You’ve Been Waiting For…
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has NO PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS.
What’s that I hear? Wedding bells?
Good. I’m glad she’s taking this time off, she deserves it and she should be able to take the time to enjoy helping Chelsea get ready for the big day.
Thanks to the folks for the link to Laura Rozen over on Politico has this photo with a description of Secretary Clinton’s flight back to NY.
From Laura Rozen:
…The Secretary of State has cleared her public schedule the rest of week ahead of daughter Chelsea’s wedding. (Chelsea will wear a wedding gown by Vera Wang for the big day, while the Mother of The Bride plans to wear a dress by Oscar de la Renta, the Examiner reports.) The Jewish Federations of North America’s William Daroff, who was on her flight, said Clinton was accompanied by her mother and a bevy of staff, and discussed new EU sanctions on Iran with him.
Goodness, Iran, Iran, always Iran! Ok, I’ll stop with Iran. Or at least I’ll try.
Hillary Clinton & Israeli Defense Minister
I was going to title this post “Duck & Dodge with Israel” but decided that would be a bit too snarky. But honestly, I’m not sure what the point of allowing the press in just to watch them sit on a couch is, other than to provide reassurance to nervous dems and get AIPAC off their back photos which demonstrate that the Israel-U.S. Relationship is humming along quite nicely.
And here are the photos of the press availability. There aren’t too many thus far but that’s ok, he’ll probably stop by next week too so we’ll get a second bite at the apple then.
Sorry, but I’m just sick to death of the Netanyahu government.
UPDATE: Oh, ok, this is why he came to Washington. To warn us:
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is due to arrive in Washington on Monday bearing two warnings for American policymakers: Sanctions won’t thwart Iran’s push for nuclear weapons, and Israel will strike directly at Lebanese government institutions if Hezbollah launches rockets at Israeli towns.
[snip]“It’s still time for sanctions,” Barak said in the interview Friday in his office at Israel’s Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, but “probably, at a certain point, we should realize that sanctions cannot work.”
[snip]
Israeli officials have carefully parsed President Obama’s words, hoping to find evidence that he would be willing to use military force. For Barak, that evidence came in Obama’s December speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, when Obama said there will be times when “the use of force” is “not only necessary but morally justified.”
Another area where Israel believes force may be necessary is Lebanon. Since a summer war with Hezbollah ended four years ago with the deployment of a beefed-up U.N. contingent, Israel says the Iranian-backed militia has built an arsenal of 40,000 missiles and rockets. Barak warned that the next time violence breaks out, Israel would strike directly at the Lebanese government, which he said is allowing Hezbollah to rearm.
If Hezbollah fires a rocket into Tel Aviv, “we will not run after each Hezbollah terrorist or launcher. . . . We will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state, not just to Hezbollah.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has said Israel is “trying to justify a war against Lebanon that it could launch when it wishes” and has complained of Israeli surveillance flights over Lebanese territory…
Ummm, is it me or does it seem like Israel is spoiling for a fight and being intentionally provocative? And this pressure on the U.S. to attack Iran is getting really annoying. It seems like we are working at cross-purposes- the U.S. is trying to improve relations with the Muslim world and Israel’s knee-jerk response to every situation is to shoot at everything that moves or in the alternative, to threaten to. They also seem to ramping up their rhetoric with respect to Syria. Regarding Iran, it’s almost as though Israel doesn’t want sanctions to work.
I ran across these two stories today and both give credit to Secretary Clinton (and to a lesser extent, Secy Gates) for being able to balance the competing diplomatic concerns in a very difficult, and at times hostile, area of the world.
First, from the Miami Herald (excerpt):
If you want to find a harsh crowd for an American official, send him — or her — to Pakistan. That’s why reviews of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s stop in Islamabad during her latest dizzying tour of international trouble spots should make us take notice. “Drum roll for Hillary,” wrote Rizwan Ghani in the Pakistan Observer, “because she has hit a home run.”
Hillary, as she is known around the globe, does not earn accolades just for her cheerful smile. She is tough as nails. In fact, she’s much tougher than her boss, President Barack Obama. And her mastery of complicated issues can leave observers’ jaws dangling from their hinges. The Pakistani daily Dawn spoke of her “Iron fist in a velvet glove,” as it described her taking on Pakistani officials over tense problems, including Afghanistan, the Taliban, China-Pakistan nuclear cooperation, Indo-Pakistani water disputes, and so on.
And that was just one stop on the trip. In South Korea she sent one of the strongest messages this administration has issued to Pyongyang, and then walked right up to the edge of the DMZ, within inches of nervous North Korean soldiers. On Afghanistan, no U.S. official can deal more openly and effectively with President Hamid Karzai….
[snip]
In fact, Hillary Clinton, who was supposed to ignite the flames of conservatives’ hatred, is becoming more popular every day across the political spectrum. Her hawkish foreign policy views gain her support on the right, and her well known views on domestic policy keep the home fires burning on the left. The two fields intersect in one of the areas where she displays the greatest passion, her signature issue on foreign policy: the need to empower women in poor countries in order to transform the world.
[snip]
Clinton, whose approval ratings easily surpass those of the president and the vice-president, has acted as something of a bad cop to Obama’s good cop. It’s impossible to know how much of what she says is directed by the White House and how much is her personal message. She was always much more hawkish than Obama on Iran’s nuclear program, for example, showing skepticism that his `outstretched hand’ would nudge Tehran to change course. Her doubts proved correct, and Obama is now pushing the line she advocated two years ago. On Israel, she spoke harshly to the Netanyahu administration, surprising Israelis who had learned to trust her over the years. But now the White House is sounding more like Hillary did in the old days.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/25/1745397/hillary-hits-home-runs-on-tour.html#ixzz0uoOqMd6M
Now, I’ll admit, it pains me to have to hear her repeatedly referred to as the major hawk in the administration in article after article, being the dove that I am, but hey, I can’t have everything so I’ll just suck it up for once.
And then over at Foreign Policy (excerpt):
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have just completed a very successful trip to Asia. Their foray into Asia stands in stark contrast to the president’s own disastrous trip (see Leslie Gelb’s critique here), and the inappropriate “we are back” braggadocio displayed by his White House advisers (see Dan Twining). Despite the White House’s smack-talk, the President has now cancelled his return to Asia three times, to the great consternation of Asian leaders.
Here is what Clinton and Gates accomplished: They shored up the South Korea alliance, and in so doing, they reassured Japan. Mrs. Clinton deftly forged closer ties with Vietnam while at the same time pushing them to respect human rights. Mr. Gates lifted restrictions on cooperating with the Indonesian military, paving the way for a stronger defense relationship. And both spoke out strongly about the South China Sea, which China has provocatively claimed to be its territorial waters. Here is Clinton on the matter: “The United States has a national interest in freedom of navigation, open access to Asia’s maritime commons, and respect for international law in the South China Sea.”
Clinton and Gates are practicing what one might call a distinctly American realism. The realism is manifest in the return to balancing China’s power in the region, something the president said he would avoid as anachronistic. The distinctly American approach is practicing balance of power politics without abandoning our principles. We want and need a better relationship with authoritarian Vietnam. But we need not ignore Hanoi’s poor human rights record. On Indonesia, the military undoubtedly committed abuses in the past. But Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a democrat who has done a remarkable job consolidating his country’s democratic transition. There are sound strategic reasons to closely engage Indonesia, and Jakarta’s president is removing obstacles to a tighter partnership.
…
Monday July 26th Appointments: SOS Hillary Clinton
9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the Assistant Secretaries, at the Department of State.
10:10 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and National Security Advisor General Jim Jones, at the White House.
11:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton attends a meeting at the White House.
1:35 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the participants in the July Ambassadorial Seminar, at the Department of State.
2:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, at the Department of State.
4:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with President Obama at the White House
Ok, is it me, or does Secretary Clinton meet with an official from Israel like every week? What’s up with that? Maybe they can talk about this. Or this.
Brought to you by Scooter & Notch, who insisted that they have not just two, but FOUR photos featuring them at the end of the Bomb!
Some of these- a lot actually- are from her recent travel but I found some that I hadn’t seen before in places other than Daylife and State.gov so I thought maybe you hadn’t seen them either.
For your viewing pleasure:
Hillary at the DMZ- the soldier peeking through the window is a North Korean soldier
White House Photo by Pete Souza
Scooter doing her sad look b/c her sister won't play with her
Notch hangin' in the closet to get some peace and quiet (ie. get away from Scooter whom she can only take in very small doses)
Scooter-In-A-Box!
Notch doing her favorite yoga pose: Sleeping Cat. It looks deceptively simple
