Thus far, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made two diplomatic blunders during her visit to Mexico that the U.S. Old Media are shockingly uninterested in highlighting. One was a policy blunder and the other a cultural/religious one.
Clinton's first mistake was in imagining she is still a Senator that can make pronouncements on pending laws and policy plans instead of a mere envoy of the president, a mouth piece that hasn't the same freedom to invent policy prescriptions and laws that a Senator does. Last week, Clinton told Mexican officials that "we" -- as in the U.S. government -- are considering re-upping the so-called assault rifle ban because Mexico's drug violence is "our" fault.
When asked on March 27 about plans to return to the 1994 law banning "assault weapons" (a vague and illegitimate term at best), Obama's press secretary replied that he was unaware of "any plans" to reinstitute the ban.
Clinton obviously spoke out of turn making promises to Mexican officials that she was not authorized to make.
"Who painted it?"
The second Clinton gaffe concerned her abstruse question at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Thursday, March 26. Her question showed that Clinton was woefully uninformed about the most important feature of the church, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe enshrined there since 1531.
Catholic tradition holds that the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on a cloak belonging to Saint Juan Diego in 1531. As Monsignor Diego Monroy brought Clinton before the shrine, Clinton asked her blundering question.
After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked “who painted it?” to which Msgr. Monroy responded “God!”
Now, perhaps Clinton being so woefully ignorant of anything religious isn't such a surprise, but for a Secretary of State to be visiting one of the most famous and important churches in the region, one holding a much beloved religious relic, without even finding her staff informing her "who painted" the image reveals a shocking lack by professionalism of both the Secretary of State and her staff.
Add this to the "button gaffe" of March 7 where Clinton's staff failed to find out how to spell a simple word in Russian and we are seeing a Secretary of State failing in the simplest of tasks making a mockery of our "diplomatic" outreach.
Sadly, the Old Media is letting her off the hook with aplomb.
(Photo credit: Estrella/Getty - New York Daily News)
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Accurate reporting about
March 29, 2009 - 06:55 ET by snaggletoothieAccurate reporting about important public officials is for countries with a free and responsible press. That horse has left the barn and we have to makedo with CBS, NBC, PBS, ABC, and CNN.
Guns in Mexico
March 30, 2009 - 04:16 ET by LoosMooseHillary is so lost.... what a clown act.... anyone that grew up in South Texas as I did knows... that the best gun deals were IN Mexico. They are ILLEGAL there... which means that they have EVERYTHING! ALL guns are illegal.... so whether it's a Nazi Walther from WWII, or a bonafide Soviet made AK-47... you are just as illegal with one or the other. We could buy full auto weapons there LONG before you could in the USA and you didn't have to go through the FFA license and fees to do so, and this goes back to the 60's.
Mexico needs to get guns from the USA about like Dolly Pardon needs a padded bra.
I had a nightmare that Keith Olberman was run over by a bus,....... and lived.
Obama's gaffsters
March 29, 2009 - 07:27 ET by jdlybrandClinton "Who painted it?"
Msgr. Monroy "GOD"
Clinton "GOD who?"
Yeah Hill-a-Beans; everything's Americas fault. You moron!
Here's how I bet
March 29, 2009 - 07:50 ET by Warner Todd HustonHere's how I bet it went down after the Msgr said "God" painted the image...
...and Clinton walked away asking staffers when it was that Barack Obama had the time to paint a pretty picture in Mexico while he was running for president?
I always felt like she was
March 29, 2009 - 07:29 ET by ricklailI always felt like she was shooting to be co-president. She has no authority to make policy. This idea that we caused the violence in Mexico is BS. The country has been corrupt way before there was the term assault weapon.
Did she bother to ask the Mexico government when they were going to stop terrorist from crossing our border?
"Democray used to be a good thing, but now it has gotten into the wrong hands"-Jesse Helms (Prophetic?)
Is the Extent of Weapons Smuggling being Distored by the Media?
March 29, 2009 - 07:50 ET by allanfI view reports of large scale weapons smuggling into Mexico with great skepticism. A few well placed dollars (or peso's) can buy all the M16 rifles you need from the Mexican Army or police. It can probably buy the soldiers themselves.
Why would anyone engage in a large scale plot to smuggle weapons into the United States on piece meal basis? These cartels have access to arms dealers.
If the "straw man" purchaser claim is true -- it would seem that ATF has a real entry into the cartels US operations if they grab the purchasers.
This will continue.......
March 29, 2009 - 08:02 ET by DanoThis BS will continnue until they are out of office. This whole regime is like pulling a class of 7th grade students out of school to run the country. The gaffes just keep on comin'.
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
– Thomas Jefferson
wow, the arrogance...
March 29, 2009 - 08:24 ET by clinging to my guns and my religion...of her tripping all over the world so indifferent to what her hosts find important is stunning!! hey hillary, here's a suggestion: do a little research or find someone among your staff who will! this administration is confirming on a global scale what fools our electorate was for putting these idiots in office. when will the msm stop covering for obama and his sidekicks?
"i believe he will not stop until we are all jobless, homeless, hungry, and cold!"
Who...?
March 29, 2009 - 08:46 ET by supercon" After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked “who painted it?” to which Msgr. Monroy responded “God!”
Oh yeah.... she heard of that guy.I guess he's some sort of bigshot in the church.
Because with a name like Obama... you know it has to be good.
Never...
March 29, 2009 - 09:11 ET by unkeeafMSM = PR firm for the Democrat Party
our fault
March 29, 2009 - 09:28 ET by bknownstI assume when Secreary of SNAKE Clinton said "Mexico's drug violence is "our fault " she meant her, Bubba and all the other liberal scum who think this country is to blame for all of the world's prblems.
Maybe if these people, who admit to blame for all of the world's problems, did the responsible thing and eliminated themselves the world would be a better place?
Hill-arity
March 29, 2009 - 10:12 ET by Joseph BrownHill didn't get the memo: HE won!
It should be difficult for the Left to continue with their...
March 29, 2009 - 11:16 ET by ThalpyIt should be difficult for the Left to continue with their obvious misconception about Mrs. Clinton's touted level of intelligence. With each passing day, she tours the world removing all doubt.
Gun Laws and Drugs
March 29, 2009 - 11:24 ET by slickwillie2001I've never seen the level of demagoguery that we are seeing on the issue of US gun laws and crime in Mexico. Even on Fox News, you would think that an illegal alien can walk into a corner gun shop in Texas and walk out with hand grenades and rocket launchers and military-style full automatic weapons. The BS is knee-deep on this issue and it's as much ignorance as it is politics. I don't think Greta knows which end of a gun the bullet comes out of.
Hannity and O'Reilly might know, but they don't seem to want to get into the details of this issue. Yet with a single phone call, any of them can have an NRA talking head there that can straighten the issue out in 60 seconds. Why don't they?
Todd, shouldn't the Secretary of State...
March 29, 2009 - 11:30 ET by ThalpyTodd, shouldn't the Secretary of State show proper respect by wearing proper headcovering or in Mexico's most holy place of worship?
You can
March 29, 2009 - 11:39 ET by UpNorthbet that, had this been a mosque, she would have been wearing the hijab and a burka. Her ignorance is just appalling, and the cover the Lame Stream Media provides her is despicable, as usual.
Clinton's political career,
March 29, 2009 - 12:13 ET by celatorClinton's political career, like Obama's, is one blunder after another. It's interesting that both Clintons, like Obama, were influenced by Saul Alinsky. Hillary's thesis, of course, was about Alinsky, who considered her a "great organizer" using his techniques.
Here's a reminder of the political Alinsky craziness swimming around inside Mzzz Hillary's and Obama's heads.
http://www.washingto...
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Since the camel's last straw has been or will be placed...
March 29, 2009 - 13:03 ET by ThalpySince it seems that the camel's last straw has been or will be placed on its back, celator, what's to be done?
Thalpy... that's the key
March 29, 2009 - 14:14 ET by celatorThalpy... that's the key question.
Whatever the solution is, it must start with us. There is no solution from the political class. The leftists believe, with Obama, that they finally have the perfect storm for the success of their revolution. If we wake up in time, they will be in for a surprise. If we don't, it's going to be heavy sledding through this.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
hillary
March 29, 2009 - 12:22 ET by jessieHJessie R. Hamby How the hell did this idiot get in office?
Send her to Bosnia
March 29, 2009 - 14:22 ET by Kat Outta the BagSend her to Bosnia so she can dodge sniper fire again. She seems to be good at that...or so she said.
someone start the clock
March 29, 2009 - 15:23 ET by RousseSomeone start the clock on Hillary. She's near to overstepping herself, then Obama will have to fire her---which has been the DNC's hope (hope! now we know what they were talking about) since last summer.
Clever Democrats. Hillary is gone from the Senate, will be gone from the Obama administration, and soon---very soon---gone home to Chappaqua to keep house for Bill.
This could be their finest hour.
Re Hillary
March 29, 2009 - 16:03 ET by slickwillie2001Not sure I agree. I see Hillary as unfireable. She is by far the most credible threat to the Bamster in the democratic primary in 2012, and if he continues on his disastrous path to fascistic socialism there will be a serious challenge from the democratics' side. If and when the Bamster loses the House in 2010 and many Senators, the Bamster will go under the bus. He has to keep Hillary busy.
To her advantage, his hunger for power and total control has taken huge chunks of responsibility away from her, in Israel-'palestine', Iran, and other trouble spots, by assigning White House czars to those issues. If they are successful there, the Clinton machine can take credit; if they fail there, the Clinton machine can point to the Bamster's mismanagement. She has plausible deniability in any world hotspot. And her total commitment to foreign affairs totally insulates her from responsibility for the Bamster's domestic incompetence, even more than when she was a Senator. Deniability again. Hillary will be politically spotless in 2012. And she doesn't have many years of political viability left.
Would it have made Hillary
March 29, 2009 - 18:56 ET by zfWould it have made Hillary feel any better if the drugs lords were pushing each other off cliffs instead of shooting each other?
I also like how she claims our "demand" (more like enslavement) for illegal drugs is to blame. Right, like Canadians and the Mexicans themselves don't have citizens hooked on drugs too.
Would it have made Hillary
March 29, 2009 - 18:56 ET by zfWould it have made Hillary feel any better if the drugs lords were pushing each other off cliffs instead of shooting each other?
I also like how she claims our "demand" (more like enslavement to) for illegal drugs is to blame. Right, like Canadians and the Mexicans themselves don't have citizens hooked on drugs too.
NRA Free membership
March 29, 2009 - 20:15 ET by adagioforstringsott, but on the topic of blaming the 2nd Amendment for undocumented drug dealer violence. The NRA is offering a one year free trial membership:
https://www.nrahq.org/nrabonus/accept-membership.asp
The adjective 'ditsy' comes
March 29, 2009 - 21:14 ET by RR GOPThe adjective 'ditsy' comes to mind, followed closely by 'buffoon'.
I don't know if even Dan Quayle as SoS could have been this bad.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).