It always amazes me, and I suppose it should not, that when Hillary Clinton’s supporters and fans feel she has been too long under the toxic cloak of the Obama administration and start agitating for her to resign, they do not seem to realize that of all her responsibilities and initiatives there is one that singularly ties her to the post until its completion. I refer, as I have so frequently in so many venues to her Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review – dubbed The QDDR – initials that tumble from her lips at the speed of a bullet.
I say I should not be amazed that so few know not only about the QDDR but also the extent to which Mme. Secretary is invested in it because at the time she announced it many of us Hillary bloggers fell into the trap of distraction that had been carefully set to divert our attention from this historical and ambitious effort. While I should have been posting the text of certain presentations here, I was busy over at The Department of Homegirl Security battling the “Vampire Tales” as I had dubbed the toxic memes that would not die. This post illustrates what we were battling as well as any: The Heart of the Mean Season.
So, in my carelessness as a scribe and zeal as a defender, I dedicated too much of my energy to argumentation, and posted here just one video of an important pair. Had I done a better job here, more Hillary supporters might have known what I knew. Oh negligent and gullible me! (Note to self: Never again let Dick Morris or Tina Brown distract you from what Hillary Clinton is actually doing.)
So to make up for past failings, here is a quick review of the QDDR effort, the reason Hillary Clinton cannot resign her post just yet.
Many will recognize this picture, few will know the context.
Wearing one of those adorable expressions only Hillary Clinton can make, and with the Elbow of State encased in the official Sling of State, she appears to be having a friendly chat with her State Department employees. The truth is that she was embarking on an extensive tour of every bureau and agency in the department and at USAID in order to tighten efficiency and better coordinate efforts among them where responsibilities overlap. She commenced this monumental (and historical) process in a high-wire act worthy of The Flying Wallendas, by presenting and explaining the initiative to the State Department and USAID personnel in two face-to-face town hall meetings over a three day period. Anyone whose department has ever been under review can appreciate the predisposition of the folks filing into the town hall meetings.
The idea came to her based on her tenure on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Department of Defense presented a Quadrennial Defense Review every four years to keep that sprawling department in check and well-coordinated. Our innovative SOS decided that if such a review keeps the Pentagon streamlined and efficient, it might be a good idea to establish a similar tradition at State, a department that had been allowed to grow unchecked from the days of Jefferson into the 21st century. It was a truly historical, courageous, and brilliant decision. It was her decision. Any other effort on her part, from winning back the trust of the Chinese, to reaching out to the Muslim world, from brokering peace in the Middle East to encouraging friendship and trust between India and Pakistan might be interpreted, on the larger scale as assignments, a carrying out of Obama administration policy. This one thing. This one endeavor was entirely of her own making. It was and is the single signature enterprise by which one very spectacular and accomplished Secretary of State, the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, intends to leave her mark forever upon the department she leads like no other before her.
One thing Hillary says about herself and everyone knows about her is that she is not big on quitting. Well, our government posts are not filled by Presidents or Secretaries for Life (as in some countries). There is turnover. There is transition. One day Hillary will walk away from State, and perhaps there will not yet be a Palestinian State or (God forbid) a ratified Start Treaty. Those are administration initiatives, not hers, and will be carried forward. But there will be an established tradition of quadrennial review at the State Department and USAID of diplomatic and development efforts. Hillary will make sure of that. When that is established, and not a single New York Minute before, she will consider herself free to go.
Now, to atone for my negligence, here are the videos of those two dramatic and excellently presented town hall meetings (I did post the State Department one on July 10, 2009, but should have given it much more fanfare and should have posted the text.) This is Hillary’s signature work at State, and it is outstanding.
At the State Department:
Read the text here.
At USAID:
For a preview into some of what the QDDR will yield, see this Washinton Post article by Carlos Lozada.
Thanks for the heads up, Still. I thought Obama was supposed to be the “agent of change”? Hillary continues to amaze.
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One thing I know: If she gets into the Oval Office, she will order a review like this in EVERY department – starting with the MOST disorganized – Homeland Security – which was never properly organized to begin with. SHE will be the “transformative president” they all kept saying he would be. They should let her have the nomination just so she can do this! She would overhaul the executive branch – and it NEEDS it!
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Hillary will win in 2012. The people want change bad enough at this point. We’ve only had men as Presidents and with the exception of Hillary’s Husband it hasn’t gotten us very far lately.
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😀 Your first sentence. No ifs. ands, or buts. Clear statement of fact. Yes!
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Here is a former SOS discussing Hillary’s tenure at State:
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Well, that was surprisingly positive.
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I actually like Condi. She seems very fair and positive now that she doesn’t have to be the Bush-Cheney mouthpiece. She is a good role model for young women. I have seen her on a few talk shows, and she is very cheerful and nice.
The Tea Party women drive me right up a wall with their screechy slogans, but the Old Guard GOP women who are reasonable like Condi, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe represent fine examples of women in government. I may not agree with their positions on a lot of things, but I feel you can have a conversation with them (as opposed to a shouting or wisecracking match).
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I agree with you about Dr. Rice. I thought she might be more critical because Secretary Clinton has made so many changes to the Department. Dr. Rice is a good role model as are the others you mentioned. Members of my family have been personally helped in a big way by Olympia Snowe and, even though I disagree with her on some issues as well, she is an excellent Senator.
Women, and men for that matter, with rational, well grounded ideas are what is needed in DC – not crazy, squawking, hyper-ideological wingnuts from either extreme. Unfortunately, I believe the “Old Guard” from either party is on the decline in favor of louder, more extreme voices. I saw a “Glenn Beck for President” bumper sticker today – ’nuff said.
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OMG!!! Eye bleach needed!! You SAW that? People are nuts!
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I know! And in Connecticut no less. I hate to think what it’s like further away from *my comfort zone.
*My Comfort Zone – a region containing excellent bookstores, lots of exposure to the arts and other intellectual pursuits, superior coffee shops, and good pizza. In other words Cambridge to Baltimore. Anything too far from that is known as “The Wild”.
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The Frontier.
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You had to know this would be making an appearance.
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YAY! My fav!!!!!! So true! And validated by William Labov (Ph.D. Lingusitics, Columbia, currently faculty at UP) whose “dialect map of the US” is similar. Lots of nuanced dialects in the east and then there’s “the west.”
Actually, I believe Labov is right, because Sarah Palin sounds like Marge Gunderson in “Fargo.” When she was nominated and began talking, people were asking , “Where does that accent come from?” LOL!!! Everybody knew she was raised in Alaska – it comes from Alaska – and Minnesota and the Dakotas and … “the west.”
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There are so many great take-offs on this.
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