Meet The Press: Hillary Big-Foots Bob Gates
Was Hillary Clinton defending the Secretary of Defense . . . or jerking him back into line?
It was a stunning power play. On Meet The Press this morning, after Defense Secretary Bob Gates conceded that Libya is not a "vital interest" of the United States--but before he could complete his comments--Hillary cut him off. She launched into a minute-and-forty-second monologue seeking to justify US military involvement in Libya.
Gates had to sit and take it . . . and never got to say another word.
View video after the jump.
Watch Hillary big-foot Bob Gates.
DAVID GREGORY: Secretary Gates, is Libya in our vital interest, as a country?
ROBERT GATES: No, I don't think it's a vital interest for the United States, but we clearly have an interest there, and it's a part of a region which is a vital interest for the United States.
Gregory clearly addressed his follow-up question to Gates.
GREGORY: I think a lot of people would hear that and say, well that's quite striking. Not in our vital interest and yet we're committing military resources --
Before Gates could respond, Hillary jumped in.
HILLARY CLINTON: -- but, but then it wouldn't be fair to what Bob just said.
So rather than letting Gates respond, Hillary broke in. Under the guise of "being fair" to Bob, Clinton in essence corrected his statement, from the Obama admin perspective.
CLINTON: Did Libya attack us? No, they did not attack us. Do they have a very critical role in this region, and do they neighbor two countries in this region, you just mentioned one, Egypt and the other one, Tunisia, which cannot afford to be destabilized by conflict on their borders? Yes.
Hillary went on to argue that Libya is in the vital interest of certain European allies and that we were responding to their urgent request to get involved. She drew the analogy to Afghanistan, where our European allies joined our alliance after 9-11 although it was the United States, and not Europe, that had been attacked.
Clearly Clinton didn't trust Gates to make a sufficiently muscular defense of President Obama's policy. Host David Gregory never gave Gates a chance to defend himself. When Hillary finished her monologue, Gregory moved on to another subject: inviting Hillary to comment on the death of Geraldine Ferraro.
Gates never got to say another word. It was a classic DC big-footing, and one the Defense Secretary would seem unlikely to forget anytime soon.
- Mark Finkelstein's blog
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Comments
we all know
Submitted by ripper58 on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:05am.
who wears the pantsuit in this Admin. !!
Thats what I'm sayin....
Submitted by GregE on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 6:08pm.
http://www.scpronet.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/hillary20ur...
I'd like to see the rest of
Submitted by bkeyser on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:50am.
I'd like to see the rest of the clip and Gregory's response.
Oh, and if Gates had any backbone at all, he'd resign. He's clearly uncomfortable working under Barack Obomba™ and his lapdog loyalty has made him look more the fool than anything resembling a Secretary of Defense.
[Edit] Thanks for the update Mark, your commentary answered my question above.
one eye on hillary and one eye on the exit
Submitted by MidAmerica on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:01pm.
I too am wondering how long before Gates announces he wants to spend more time with his family.
I'll bet Gates got spanked
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:12am.
I'll bet Gates got spanked even better when they went to commercial!
This whole administration is incompetent. They can't even keep their stories straight.
BTW...isn't it funny how now all these little countries in the Middle East are in our "vital interest" now, when the drumbeat used to be Iraq did NOT attack us on 9/11!!
so we had no "interest" there.
What's funny mb, is that on
Submitted by bkeyser on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:29am.
What's funny mb, is that on more than one occasion I've heard liberals try to defend this action by using Pan Am 103. Even BOR has said that we should "arrest" Gaddafi while we're involved in this debacle.
Pan Am 103 was 22 years ago.
I suppose Angela Merkel better be ramping up her security.
bkeyser
Submitted by Jerry Mack on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:27pm.
When this first started BOR was using revenge for 103 as a major reason/excuse for Obama's action. He has quit using it after 2 or 3 shows. He also touted the CNN poll that said 60% of Americans approved of the President's action.Waiting to see if he quotes new polls showing diminished approval.
BOR, you have Barbed wire rash: The result of straddling a fence. (guest from Texas)
Bill Would Know
Submitted by northone on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:21am.
Now Gates knows exactly how Bill Clinton feels. Hillary is still in charge of that testicle lock-box.
The real winner in this Kinetic Military Action is...
Submitted by ricklail on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:27pm.
according to Andrew Wilcow is going to be DADT. As he puts it the media will go find a gay pilot, a gay Marine that rescued the downed pilots,a gay sailor that loaded the armaments on the planes or a gay sailor that fired the Tomahawks and declare them to be the example of how they are so productive in the KMA. Far fetched? Not for the MSM
Obamabots' reaction?
Submitted by Ashrak on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:25am.
Blame Bush. Gates is Bush's guy.
rampant
Submitted by CoolShades on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:26am.
Does Obama's administration officials even speak with each other? These communication irregularities have been wildly rampant from the onset of the Libyan protects. The Bush II administration would have been skewered in the media with all the inconsistencies.
Not just Libya, but here's
Submitted by Van Halen on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:49am.
Not just Libya, but here's Obama's breakdown of how he handled Egypt:
On Tuesday the Obama Administration asked Hosni Mubarak to step aside.
On Wednesday they said that transitioning power “now means yesterday.”
On Saturday morning the Obama Administration said Mubarak must stay.
On Saturday evening the Obama Administration said Mubarak should step aside.
On Sunday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Mubarak must stay in power.
On Tuesday the Obama Administration said that political reform will be a gradual process.
Finally, we were told Mubarak was stepping down only to be told later in the day that Panetta's CIA had no idea what was going on.
Sad, but true
Submitted by CoolShades on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 12:08pm.
LOL. Sad, but true. And we're experiencing the same waffling with the Libya.
Hypocrisy!
Submitted by iveseenitall on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:44am.
The complete hypocrisy of Hillary Clinton and the rest of the left is on display for all to see in the Lybian "war". Every argument with which they pounded President Bush can now be used on them. Unfortunately, the RINOS won't do to Barry what was done to President Bush---call for his impeachment.. ....[NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal" (progressive)]
So tell me again why we're in
Submitted by Van Halen on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:44am.
So tell me again why we're in War #3 in a country that we had been pretty much ignoring for the last few years and who hasn't bothered us in a very long time nor does it stand any chance of invading us. And the rebels we're supporting are linked to Al Qaeda. And this military action is unfunded. And Congress was never consulted. And it appears to be in the interest of defending Europe's oil supply. And we're forcing Democracy with the barrel of a gun. And we get a different reason why we're there depending on what day or what Administration official we ask. And there was a massive rush to war. And 5 UN countries did not approve of this. And we just killed innocent civilians in Libya.
Why are we fighting in Libya again?
Sadly
Submitted by StarAZ on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:49am.
I am just waiting for those tribesmen, freedom fighters, rebels, farmers, unemployed people, AQ or whateever they are to abuse some civilians--then what? It has probably altready happened. War is hell. As they say. "We have saved countless people," huh. Countless--meaning we can't count, we don't know. We are letting Valerie Jarrett and David Plouffe play soldier. Not good.
Star, great point. A couple
Submitted by Van Halen on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 11:52am.
Star, great point. A couple more comments on that:
1) How long before Libya turns on us?
2) How many people here know Valerie Jarrett, who is never away from Obama's side and sits in on all high level meetings, was born in Iran?
And Where's The Press?
Submitted by iveseenitall on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 12:02pm.
The pathetic, ignorant, hypocritical media---their silence is deafening. As I've said many times, they have a Constituional responsibility to seek the truth and expose the lies and corruption --- yet they are not living up to it......[ NEVER.NEVER trust a "liberal" (progressive) ]
And tell me again Van Halen....
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 12:12pm.
....why you don't have your own Sunday Morning Talk Show? Because you, my friend, are asking better questions and making better points in two posts here than all of the talking heads on all of the morning shows.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Hillary's Last Gasp (Grasp)
Submitted by JustAl on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 12:15pm.
I think this was the Hildabeast's "Hail Mary". If the coalition held together and results were obtained quickly at minimum cost she casts herself as more "presidential" than the man child. Had that happened she would have, at a minimum, been assured a place on the supreme court to keep her from running.
Alternatively, she might have arranged to run as the political "widow" of His "O"lliness ala the Trotsky treatment the left often uses when a player isn't of value to the team anymore.
The fact that this "mission" is rapidly turning to s__t means she is effectively neutered politically unless she pulls something really, really Clintonesque. It's hard to say if this makes Obummer safer or in more jeopardy in every way imaginable.
Nothing is more dangerous than a wounded Hildabeast. And very few found favorable outcomes from crossing the Clintons.
Gates is right. We have absolutely no business protecting islamic terrorists form islamic terrorists. Further, this sets a very, very dangerous precedent for what the UN "can" do. . . . perhaps someday to us.
I think we're witnessing the final days of SECDEF Gates
Submitted by Galvanic on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:47pm.
Gates had announced last year that he was leaving this year, perhaps early. I think what we're seeing now is the gradual marginalization of Gates and the acceleration of his resignation date.
Hillary went on to argue that Libya is in the vital interest of certain European allies and that we were responding to their urgent request to get involved. She drew the analogy to Afghanistan, where our European allies joined our alliance after 9-11 although it was the United States, and not Europe, that had been attacked.
CLINTON IS WRONG. The operative word is NATO.
NATO did not get involved in Afghanistan because it was a vital interest to the US. It got involved because the US was attacked by an enemy based in Afghanistan, and under the NATO Charter, an attack against one can be considered an attack against all. The members participating also realized that radical Islamic terror is a genuine threat to all, as attacks in Europe bear out.
Libya didn't attack any members of NATO. France and to a lesser extent the UK pushed intervention ostensibly on humanitarian grounds, and the Europeans and US pushed the UNSC into passing a resolution to give that intervention political cover. NATO has been drug into this by the US and France, and apparently in violation of its charter.
THE DILEMMA. Persuaded by Clinton, Susan Rice, and Samantha Power, Obama is flowing along with this intervention as long as he doesn't have to commit ground troops or direct it. He wants to see Qaddafi go because it'll make him look like a hero, but he doesn't want to be seen as leading the effort..
I'm sure Gates and the JCS have advised him that without a plan for removing Qaddafi by force, hoping that the coalition-supported rebels will remove him is a crap shoot.
THE TRAP. If (when) the rebels prove to be incapable of executing effective ground operations, we will insert advisers, trainers, communicators, intelligence personnel, possibly medical personnel & other relief aid, and security personnel to protect them. As we take more responsibility for rebel success, the French and Brits will pull back, ad we'll bear the burden, whether NATO is nominally in charge or not.
They're not waffling.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 12:35pm.
They are purposefully playing a semantic shell game with the American public and the MSM is their shill.
Whatever the outcome in Libya (or anywhere else in the Middle East) SOMEONE in the administration has at SOME POINT said that that was always their objective. The winning statement will then be trotted out by the shills and presented as evidence that this bunch of rat bastard Fascist bastards knows what the hell they're doing.
We are being played by a very accomplished con artist who won't even prove where he was born. I'm beginning to think that we are asking the wrong question about that subject. Does he even come from our species and our planet?
Aside from that depressing thought, the weather in the tropics is also out of this world. I can't believe that I ever chose to live anywhere else.
Okay...it'scoming down to the wire.
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 3:22pm.
Another completely random and gratuitous birther comment duly recorded. Only one more to go to make it "ten" this week which triggers the obligatory "it's just the libs who are obsessed with the birther issue" post.
Jer
Jer the Lib
Submitted by MrShy on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 3:35pm.
9/11 "truthers" are ruck dumb, enemy-of-America piss ants -- and could be sold the Brooklyn Bridge, thinking they've actually purchased it.
Birther truthers (the real ones) believe this to be plausible because there's ample evidence (and/or lack of-) resulting in us not being sure where the fudge this SOB was born, or raised for that matter (which was all over the globe.)
- Shy Vinyl
Join Mr. Shy and The 1* Percent
Distractions, distractions...
Submitted by 26CX on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 4:54pm.
And so Jer drags a Red Herring across the topic of this discussion.
CX...actually a Red Herring response to
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 5:18pm.
a Red Herring comment.
Jer
LOL!
Submitted by 26CX on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 6:02pm.
So you chose to compound the transgression?
"Shut up Bob.....let me handle this"
Submitted by redright88 on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:04pm.
"since I'm the only one in this administration to have any BALLS!"
Fair?
Submitted by djaymick on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:05pm.
So, whatever Bob says is fair and any criticism of him is unfair? That's the liberal response to everything.
Clinton treated much differently than Bachmann, too
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:30pm.
Notice too David Gregory never asks followups as he did when he couldn't get Michelle Bachmann to give the answers he wanted.
Clinton asserted there were consultations and meetings with members of Congress but when Gregory asked if John Boehner had any objections she gave a rambling statement about information being disseminated but never remotely answered his specific question.
And Gregory? No pressing Clinton, just move along to the next question.
Mostly lots of empathy, concerned looks, and lots of smiles from all ... until Richard Lugar came on.
Oh, and I missed the first part, but how do you show an interview with Dennis Kucinich and not mention or ask about his statements regarding Obama acting without Congressional approval and possible impeachment. Or was that covered earlier?
The reverent, almost
Submitted by stratman on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 3:59pm.
The reverent, almost embarrassed, tone in Gregory's voice plus his failure to ask follow-up questions, let alone hammering something over and over, are typical of his bias.
Mushroon theory
Submitted by Jerry Mack on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:31pm.
Messiah Policy for American Public: Keep them in the dark and feed them different kinds of ####.
The Hildabeast now has another title: Secretary of Offense.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:37pm.
.
This is so embarassing....
Submitted by Prester John on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 2:13pm.
...that it's embarassing.
"U.S. Won't Intervene in Syria as Assad Differs From Qaddafi, Clinton Says"
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-27/u-s-won-t-intervene-in-syria-un...
It seems that since Assad is a "reformer" it's ok for his goons to be gunning down people on the streets.
Lord have mercy.
And Assad rules a nation that
Submitted by Free Stinker on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 2:33pm.
And Assad rules a nation that borders Israel . . . Obama and his fellow anti-Israel crowd can't be seen opposing someone in a position to directly attack Israel.
YES! I AM ACCUSING OBAMA OF BEING ANTI-ISRAEL !!
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
When will someone point it out
Submitted by jon_torlin on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 2:32pm.
When will someone point out in the media (other than the UK media) that the rebels are being helped by al qaida and helping the rebels is the same as helping the terrorists that we are fighting in Afghanistan?
No wonder that one pilot was in fear of his life of the people even though those people claimed to want to help him after his plane crashed.
This is so fracked up.
-Jon
Why are we in Libya?
Submitted by Ashrak on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 2:52pm.
Obama needed another diversion to make sure the media was not focused on his failed economic failure. He has fouled up Afghanistan so bad that he has to keep the media off that subject as well.
Big Media barely even started to question "The One" about his Egypt follies and he was losing control of the message. Remember, controlling the media has always been his primary goal.
A scandal of epic scale, one that reaches deep into not only the Democrat party and Obama politics of creating a crisis to attain political gains, but also into the Executive branch and their abuse of alphabet agencies, like the DEA and the BATF&E to create it.
GunWalker is a pressure cooker and Big Media is ignoring Iraq and Afghanistan. CBS had started to report on GunWalker and Obama had to escalate. GunWalker is bigger than Watergate and Obama knows it. Libya is about wagging the dog. Plain and simple.
Ashrak, I agree with your assessment
Submitted by Dave. on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 8:51pm.
There are a lot of things going on right now here in America that this administration does not want people chewing on for too terribly long, lest somebody in the MSM gets a little restless and decides to start being a for-real journalist.
That would not be good for this administration in a lot of areas.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
WHO are we helping?????
Submitted by Cincinnatius on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 2:54pm.
Hillary's slap down of Gates should surprise no one, he is a wimp. The elephant in the room which the media nor the administration is loathe to mention is: who are the rebels? The best source is the Mad Dog of Libya himself and he says it is al Qaeda. I BELIEVE him. So, we are fighting against them in Afghanistan and for them in Libya?? Who is in charge of this Keystone Cops operation??
You are correct
Submitted by jon_torlin on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 3:31pm.
You are correct that Kadaffy was saying it, in fact, he had been saying al qaida was involved from the beginning which was last month I think it was. At the time, I didn't believe it was AQ, but then who would have believed it anyway from a guy who addresses the Chairman as his son?
The US is being put into a very bad situation by the Chairman and his cohorts like Hillary and so on.
This is not going to end well at all.
-Jon
Who's in charge??
Submitted by Joe W. on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 3:43pm.
To answer your question, it would appear as though Corporal Agarn from "F" Troop is in charge.
You should have said CPT
Submitted by ricklail on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 5:01pm.
You should have said CPT Parmalee. Agarn did have some intelligence.
Hillary will be taking gates
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 4:00pm.
Hillary will be taking gates to the tool shed and administering him some strap-on discipline.
The Testicle Lockbox Rears Its Ugly Head
Submitted by ItchyZ on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 4:00pm.
That scene would make a great gag on SNL if they'd hold off trying to present lefty views long enough. Never thought I'd see henpecked American leaders.
Gates needs to do a McCrystal
Submitted by Thoreau on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 4:39pm.
Gates needs to do a McCrystal or risk losing what's left of his dignity.
For what it is worth the Ice
Submitted by ricklail on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 4:59pm.
For what it is worth the Ice Cream Emperor's NCAA bracket is busted. Virginia Commonwealth U just beat #1 seed Kansas, his pick to win it all, to advance to the Final Four. Now he can turn his attention back to golf. Lord knows he is not going to give the budget problems or the middle east his attention.
While this is completely off
Submitted by ThatDude on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 5:38pm.
While this is completely off topic, I don't think many people expected VCU to put up such a good showing. Even people I know who are still going to the college are surprised by it.
I didn't either.I knew that
Submitted by ricklail on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 6:17pm.
I didn't either.I knew that Obama jinxed Kansas when he picked them. This is not the game I expected them to lose.
That's an understatement, TD
Submitted by ckc1227 on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 7:50pm.
Based on their regular season, VCU probably shouldn't have even made it into the tournament. They finished 4th in one of the weakest conferences in the country. Now they have a pretty good shot to win it all. It's crazy.
Gates will be gone by the end of the week
Submitted by Dave. on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 6:26pm.
And if this is not the most incompetent administration since the beginning of American history, I would like for someone to tell me which one was.
You would think they would at least bother to communicate with each other and agree on what line of BS they are going to blow up our skirts before they all come out with different policy pronouncements, all of which usually change by the next day, if not within the hour.
-Unless, of course, they are purposely fomenting confusion and chaos.
With this crowd, just about anything is possible.
Just nothing good.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Gates was right
Submitted by melvin on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 4:53am.
Gates was right on Iraq, and right on Libya. He was against going into both of those countries. Hillary is a ultra-hawk. She supported the Iraq debacle, and the Libya mission. If she was elected in 2008, we would have invaded Iran. Thankfully that didn't happen.
Well, melveeng---
Submitted by matthewdean on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 5:13am.
If you prefer Obama to Hillary, who you say is a (sic) ultra-hawk, then you, melveeng melvinger, are an ultra-putz.
MD
Stop with the name calling MD
Submitted by melvin on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 5:35am.
If you want to debate, fine. But if you are going to refer to me as melveeng or melvinger, I'm not going to respond.
Melvin......
melvinmushmouth mofo---
Submitted by matthewdean on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 9:00pm.
Stop. Stop. Stop.
Your threat to not respond to me is devastatingly --- hysterical.
Debate what?
The usual liberal troll keyboard diarrhea that you underbridge dwellers espouse?
What could you possibly have to say that would be any different from the liberal tripe that has been trundled across these many threads for lo these many years, by your forebears.
You know, your troll ancestors who proudly put the "ass" in asswipe, the "stupid" in stupidity, and the "mook" in mookdom.
Please do not give me orders over an electronic transmission line again; the first occasion caused me to laugh so hard I think I cracked a rib.
I may be forced to sue your ass for practicing comedy without a license.
MD
I am getting verkempt.
Submitted by The Vet on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 9:44pm.
No. No. Not that please. Please melveeng or melvinger, please don't let the word bully get to you. You are the wind beneath our wings. For all of us little people trolls. You stand up to the word bully and respond with the ferocity of a caged orc from mordor. I am so mad the word bullies here get to go around and pick on any trollie they want. I, ewwwwww, my blood, ewwwww, boiling. Trollies have a right to spew anything, spew any lie, spew all the propaganda they want and word bullies should have to sit and take it and shut the mordor up.
Please, for us, melveeng or melvinger, respond. Drop an F Bomb or two on those word bullies. That will show them.
Oh, I am getting verklempt again... I can't.... I have to.... I must stop now...
Fight melveeng or melvinger. Fight on!