Firing Hillary that quickly would be admitting he made a mistake, and Obama doesn't make mistakes.

He won't be able to fire her for incompetence. He needs foreign policy to be in competent hands so he can focus on domestic issues.

If he fires her in a year or two she will run against him in 2012, but if she is SoS she won't. But if he is reelected, she is toast.
 

This administration will be toxic. The forces of reaction will love entering 2012 with both the Obama and Clinton brands discredited.
 

She has been underestimated before. He needs her to do a great job and she will exceed that expectation and serve this country with enormous distinction. Doing so will not make her an Obaman beanbag but rather a world-wide personage of even greater renown and respect than she is now (which is considerable); adding to her star power here as well as abroad. Obama's instinct for self preservation is the seed of his need. He'll need her for at least three years, perhaps longer if he is perceived to be vulnerable in 2012. And he no longer feels threatened by her, so why cut off his nose to spite himself if she is serving his need and preserving his neck?

With her unimpeachable domestic cred and a successful stint on the world stage, she could become peerless. Hillary couldn't become toast till the run up to 2016...yes, quite a ways in the future; but then I remember 2000 (though I try not to). I also remember dreaming of 16 years of Democratic rule, with Obama following Hillary. It could happen the other way around. If she takes the SOS job, she's not betting on an Obama administration becoming an abysmal failure. In fact, she'll do her best to help it succeed. (As execrable as he is for the ills he and his minions wrought, his administration's failure will cause each of us, and especially those who can least withstand it, undue hardship. Why root against him at this point?) But even if his administration is a failure, that would most likely stem from a collapse on the domestic front, from which Hillary would be amply distanced.
 

But it should also be added, speculation is plenty of fun, but let's first see if 1) his offer is authentic, and 2) if it is, if she accepts it.
 

The Guardian might be wrong. Tht being said, yours is the best summing up of the possibility.
 

I'm feeling a bit more optimistic, Joseph. I think that if she accepts, Hillary will redefine the SoS role in ways we have yet to imagine. She will easily outshine the Barry, however, her perfomance will make it politically impossible for him to simply dismiss her. (And, after watching his interview with Michelle on 60 minutes, I suspect Barry will secretly enjoy this, but that is another matter for a future thread.)

Never forget two things:
Hillary has keeping her enemies closer for decades now, and she is probably the world's foremost expert at dealing with malignant narcissists who also happen to be POTUS.

When it is all said and done, Hillary will save Barry's sorry ass until she tires of doing so. She will then leave exactly when she chooses and not a minute sooner. If she accepts, that is.

Kim in PA
 

If true, it will be the first good appointment Obama has made. Serves his fans right, too.
 

Clinton taking the s.o.s. job, maybe not so much:

http://tinyurl.com/5s93l9
 

Firing Hillary that quickly would be admitting he made a mistake, and Obama doesn't make mistakes.

He won't be able to fire her for incompetence. He needs foreign policy to be in competent hands so he can focus on domestic issues.


myiq2xu

Obama doesn't have to admit any kind of mistake; all he has to do is what he did with Wright and Rezko, and say something like "That's not the Hillary I knew" and that answer will be accepted.
And he doesn't need anything to go right; he can just do what he has always done, which is blame others for his failures (remember what he said about the people in PA, KY, and WV who didn't vote for him?), and again, that answer will be accepted.


Never forget two things:
Hillary has keeping her enemies closer for decades now, and she is probably the world's foremost expert at dealing with malignant narcissists who also happen to be POTUS. [Kim in PA]

Hey now, there's no call for Bill-hating here; in fact, he is just the opposite of what you describe: he's a guy with insecurities - probably stemming from having no dad - that he hadn't resolved (or was, since he's now gotten therapy for that). Lots of guys have the same problem.
Obama, on the other hand, does exhibit many of the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

If Hillary accepts State, she'll either: be blamed for Obama's failures (and not be able to run for Prez, or probably Congress); if he fails, be taken down by him (same); if he succeeds, be neutralized in one way or another (same); and in any case, she'll be unable to exercise an independent presence for years.

On the other hand, I wouldn't put it past her to be clever enough to get out of this trap. Bill probably could, I bet, and HE says she's "the smarter Clinton."


Sergei Rostov