Hillary Clinton in Politico.com
On Drugs:
Medical marijuana now; wait-and-see on recreational pot
When CNN hosted a town hall with Clinton last month, interviewer Christiane Amanpour asked her about marijuana. Clinton said she was "committing radical candor" in her answer, a reference to the newfound freedom she said she was enjoying.
Clinton said it should be available medicinally for people with "extreme conditions" and that she wants to "wait and see" the evidence in states legalizing it for recreational use before taking a position.
Source: Politico.com, "Clinton Book Tour"
Jul 31, 2014
On Foreign Policy:
Russian reset: Pushed Obama to keep Putin at a distance
Clinton writes about the memo she sent Obama in her final days at State on how to handle Russia going forward. "The reset had allowed us to pick off the low-hanging fruit in terms of bilateral cooperation. And there was no need to blow up our
collaboration on Iran or Afghanistan. But we should hit the pause button on new efforts. Don't appear too eager to work together. Don't flatter [Russian president Vladimir] Putin with high-level attention. Decline his invitation for a presidential-level
summit in Moscow in September."This was months before Obama ultimately turned away from meeting with Putin, as Russia harbored NSA leaker Snowden. But by including this memo, she reminds readers that Clinton--who became the face of the Russian
reset as the top spokesperson for the Obama administration--was more hawkish on Putin than others in the administration.
It's helpful to her at a time when Republicans have been lambasting her over Russian's aggression against Ukraine.
Source: Politico.com on Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton
Jun 7, 2014
On Foreign Policy:
Arab Spring: Egyptian uprising had destabilizing impact
Clinton writes that one of her envoys who she sent to deal with then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak displeased the White House when he said publicly that Mubarak should remain in power to "oversee a transition." Clinton was not among Obama advisers
who wanted to side with the uprising instantly, and saw a potentially destabilizing impact if Mubarak left immediately."The President called me to express his unhappiness about the 'mixed messages' we were sending," she
writes. "That's a diplomatic way of saying he took me to the woodshed."
There are some other instances throughout the book in which Clinton was in a different place than Obama,
but this is the one of the only times in which she describes the president as genuinely unhappy with something that the State Department did.
Source: Politico.com on Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton
Jun 7, 2014
On Government Reform:
You can win by 3 million votes and still lose
[Excerpts of DNC speech]: "For four years, people have said to me, 'I didn't realize how dangerous he was.' 'I wish I could go back and do it over.' Or worst, 'I should have voted.' Well, this can't be another woulda, coulda, shoulda election,"
Clinton said. "Don't forget," she added, "Joe and Kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose. Take it from me. So we need numbers overwhelming, so Trump can't sneak or steal his way to victory."
Source: Politico.com on 2020 Democratic National Convention
Aug 19, 2020
On Health Care:
Non-employer system better; but don't turn back ObamaCare
Hillary Clinton showed more signs of flexibility on how Obamacare is implemented, but she insisted the law is too important to "turn the clock back." Clinton said, "I have said many times that if we were starting from scratch, we wouldn't have built
an employer-based system," But since that's the system we have, she said, it's important to make it work.Clinton suggested she's open to different ways of achieving the health law's goals. She praised Arkansas for carrying out a new approach to
expanding Medicaid coverage, by using the federal money to buy private health insurance for more than 100,000 low-income residents.
But the main goal, Clinton said, should be to keep moving ahead with the law. And in a subtle swipe at the Obama
administration, she suggested that the law's supporters haven't done the best job explaining what Americans stand to gain from it. "We have to do a better job than has been done, quite frankly, in explaining the benefits," Clinton said.
Source: David Nather on Politico.com, "Obamacare too important"
Mar 5, 2014
On Homeland Security:
Dozens of Benghazi attackers had dozens of motives
On the Benghazi attack: "There were scores of attackers that night, almost certainly with differing motives. It is inaccurate to state that every single one of them was influenced by this hateful video. It is equally inaccurate to state that none of
them were. Both assertions defy not only the evidence but logic as well."On the President's actions during the Benghazi attack: Obama "gave the order to do whatever was necessary to support our people in Libya.
It was imperative that all possible resources be mobilized immediately. When Americans are under fire, that is not an order the Commander in Chief has to give twice. Our military does everything humanly possible to save
American lives--and would do more if they could. That anyone has ever suggested otherwise is something I will never understand."
Source: Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, Politico.com excerpts
May 30, 2014
On Homeland Security:
Benghazi security was simply inadequate in a dangerous city
On the Accountability Review Board investigation into the Benghazi attacks: Clinton writes that the security upgrades to the Benghazi compound were "simply inadequate in an increasingly dangerous city." She notes that Benghazi compound personnel felt
their requests for additional security were not given adequate weight by the US Embassy in Tripoli, a point Republicans have argued does not absolve Clinton since those officials report to her. Clinton reiterates that she never saw cables requesting
additional security. The cables were addressed to her as a "procedural quirk" given her position, but didn't actually land on her desk, she writes: "That's not how it works. It shouldn't. And it didn't."On the claim that the investigation of the
attack was rigged since Clinton appointed some of the Board members and she was not interviewed, she writes that they "had unfettered access to anyone and anything they thought relevant to their investigation, including me if they had chosen to do so."
Source: Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, Politico.com excerpts
May 30, 2014
On Homeland Security:
Benghazi talking points were written by CIA for Congress
[Hillary] defends UN Ambassador UN Susan Rice for describing the Benghazi attack as a "copycat" of the video-spurred Cairo protests. Rice, Clinton writes, was relying on existing intelligence. The talking points she used were written by CIA officials to
help members of Congress address the attacks. CIA officials didn't know Rice would use them, Clinton writes.The talking points have been a focus of Republican critics, who insist they stemmed from the White House [as spin on] a terrorist attack on the
eve of Obama's reelection. "Susan stated what the intelligence community believed, rightly or wrongly, at the time," Clinton writes. "That was the best she or anyone could do. Every step of the way, whenever something new was learned, it was quickly
shared with Congress and the American people. There is a difference between getting something wrong, and committing wrong. A big difference that some have blurred to the point of casting those who made a mistake as intentionally deceitful."
Source: Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, Politico.com excerpts
May 30, 2014
On Homeland Security:
Benghazi: focused on rescue & prevention, not retrospection
[Writing about Benghazi in her book, Hillary] addresses her much-seized-upon remark before a congressional committee in January 2013, when she used the phrase "what difference at this point does it make." Republicans have claimed it betrayed Clinton's
lack of interest in getting to the bottom of the attack. Clinton writes that her words were blatantly twisted."In yet another example of the terrible politicization of this tragedy, many have conveniently chosen to interpret" that phrase "to mean that
I was somehow minimizing the tragedy of Benghazi. Of course that's not what I said," she writes. "Nothing could be further from the truth. And many of those trying to make hay of it know that, but don't care."
She adds, "My point was simple: If someone
breaks into your home and takes your family hostage, how much time are you going to spend focused on how the intruder spent his day as opposed to how best to rescue your loved ones and then prevent it from happening again?"
Source: Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, Politico.com excerpts
May 30, 2014
On War & Peace:
Invested in Israel: negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza
Clinton devotes many pages to her fealty to Israel, and to her understanding of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who fell from power then rose to it again: "I am not alone in feeling so personally invested in Israel's security and success," she
writes. "Many Americans admire Israel as a homeland for a people long oppressed and a democracy that has had to defend itself at every turn. In Israel's story we see our own, and the story of all people who struggle for freedom and the right to chart
their own destinies."Clinton has long paid heed to her standing among Jewish supporters, and she was clear in public comments in the last several months she remains "skeptical" about Iran's commitment to a true nuclear freeze deal.
The many sections on Israel--and on her role in negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza--serve a political purpose. But they also reflect the significance of Israel for any secretary of State, especially as the Arab Spring protests were unfolding.
Source: Politico.com on Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton
Jun 7, 2014
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