Hillary Clinton cares nothing for democracy

Though if Obama has executive experience, the local garage band are the Beatles as well.

Obama never claimed executive experience.

That analogy fails.

By the way, Hillary doesn't have any of that either.

From that perspective all politicians are lobbyists, because they do the same thing. The president is simply a leader and hopefully one that can be depended upon to do the right thing.
Well, is foreign policy experience necessary? Actually, experience isn't necessary when it comes to choosing a President. Hell...NOBODY (unless they're being relected) has the experience to lead a country, save (possibly) a governor who's lead a state. Senators are completely different from governors (state and US).

I hate the fact that Hillary has made it an issue to "have experience" because it's simply preposterous; she doesn't retain half of the experience she claims. Traveling to Bosnia carrying flowers and singing songs is a nice gesture, but hardly foreign policy experience. Now what she did in Ireland is commendable, but still...it is TOTALLY different as a president.

...But making trips to foreign countries hardly counts as foreign policy experience. Obama is well traveled himself. If traveling to other countries and visiting with everyday people there counts as foreign policy experience then Obama has the same experience. Granted, he didn't sing songs with Sheryl Crow and Sinbad...but he's been places as well.

Neither of the two have anything near executive experience. Hillary wasn't Bill Clinton's intern (no pun intended, please) so I'm not sure when she was obtaining this experience she professes to have. The only way I could see that is if she's claiming to be a Bill Clinton puppet...and if that's the case, I definitely don't want to have 4-8 years of a power tripping president who just couldn't let go.

I think Hillary needs to show some more humility for me to even consider voting for her. At the moment she seems very unapproachable and talks to the American people as if they're dumb like George Bush does...except Bush is actually dumb, so I can let him slide on it. She claims experience that she doesn't have and slings mud worse on her own party than she does on the opposite party.

Here's what she did in Northern Ireland:

An (Ireland) Belfast park - which Clinton a decade ago proclaimed would become Northern Ireland's first Catholic-Protestant playground - was evidence that her contribution as peacemaker. It was more symbolic than substantive.


"She was in charge of christening this wee corner (of the park) as some kind of peace playground. It never made any sense then, and there's nothing there today," said Brian Feeney, a Belfast political analyst, author and teacher. "Everything she did was for the optics."


Critics say the playground-that-never-was illustrates the wider lack of accomplishment from Clinton's half-dozen visits to Northern Ireland - that they emphasized speechmaking, chiefly to women's groups, leaving no lasting mark.

Clinton twice addressed audiences of schoolchildren at Belfast's Musgrave Park, in September 1998 and May 1999. She declared that Protestant and Catholic youths must learn to play together but needed a safe place to do it - and helped plant a tree on the spot where a special cross-community playground would be created. Belfast did have other parks."
The Belfast group touting the "Play for Peace Fund" silently shelved the idea within months although [Hillary] Clinton often referred to the project as an inspiration to a divided world."


and the support HIllary's contributions to Northern Ireland peace by the OTHER nobel prize winner, Hume? Hume has an agenda:

Clinton's campaign has distributed statements backing up her claim from Nobel laureate John Hume, the Catholic intellectual heavyweight of the peace process, who credited her with making "countless calls and contacts," and leaders of Sinn Fein, the party that former President Clinton helped to bring in from the diplomatic cold caused by Irish Republican Army violence.


In Northern Ireland, the endorsements from Hume, Sinn Fein and Ahern are broadly recognized as reflecting Irish Catholics' desire for maximum international sympathy, specifically from the U.S. The retired Hume, in particular, boosted his clout by carefully cultivating friendships with U.S. politicians, chiefly Democrats.
For them, a President Hillary Clinton offers the best chance of a return to the pro-Irish policies of her husband, who broke with decades of State Department deference to Britain, an approach resumed under George W. Bush.

----
and the end of the day, Hume is giving her clout because they want HER husband's political interjection....pro-Irish, versus politically deferring to the UK political matters in Ireland.

Which means the catholic vs. protestant political tension is still alive and well - in spite of Hillary's lasting influence on peace.

When Hillary first touted her foreign policy experience, her own advisers drew a pause. She means she's been tested throughout her life. Then came these prepared remarks about Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Kosovo. It's all garbage.




She's an opportunist.

People don't vote on issues for president.......they vote on Personality.....Who would you rather "share a beer" with? Barack or Hillary?

Barack has the issues, too...lol

DING DING DING!!!! I don't understand why more people can't see this. Then again, I don't understand why people can't see that obama and wright are more than just pastor/church attendee. The last few years I always believed that if she ran for President, it would basically be a *wink wink* kind of thing, to get Bill back in charge. But I think the dems are being stupid and turning their backs on her (and him). Have they no respect for the man?

I say lets put Bill's puppet and Wright's puppet in the white house. Bill is the fucking man, and Wright tells it like it is; that is the kind of shit I want in the white house. People who can keep it real. Mugs will be having all kinds of parties in there and shit.

Hell yeah dude!

And we could put Marion Berry in charge of the DEA and make Eliot Spitzer Attorney General.

Party up!

NOT!

I think he is joking.

And Skull, you have very chauvinistic reasons for Hillary to be in office. I think Hillary is better than that. And Obama is hardly a "Wright" puppet.

Well at least McCain will be happy with your vote.

Obama was looking at laws on a state level for one state - illinois. And he has little to show for that.

Sen. Clinton was exposed to Executive Decisions of the Commander in Chief on the National level from the White House. Sen. Clinton's experience as First Lady on Domestic and Foreign Policy is invaluable and your attempt to discredit it is only showing just how little experience Obama has.

So Trinity... if Hillary loses, who you gonna vote for jack?

Be honest.

The First Lady's Office in the Executive Office Building of the Presidential Administration is honorary. And Hillary Clinton established herself as a true political force in her honorary position in the White House. She did much more than politely accept a teapot in Northern Ireland.

No. Ireland's Nobel Peace Prize Winner John Hume Endorses Hillary Clinton in Interview


Hillary traveled to Northern Ireland seven times between 1995 and 2004, and gave what Northern Irish leader and Nobel Laureate John Hume recently described as “decisive support” to the peace process in Northern Ireland. She focused especially on encouraging the emergence of women in the political process. In addition, Hillary's work at the grass roots and behind-the-scenes helped cultivate the conditions necessary for the peace to take hold and last.
As political leaders on all sides of the process have attested, Hillary made important contributions in a wide variety of ways. She made private calls to the negotiating parties on all sides and at all levels to encourage them towards peace. She gave advice and technical assistance to Northern Ireland leaders on a range of governance issues. She used the bully pulpit to inspire and to challenge at a major address in 1998 before leaders from the contending sides.
In 1998 under the auspices of the U.S.-led Vital Voices Democracy Initiative, established by Hillary and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright the previous year – Hillary brought together 400 women in Belfast, Northern Ireland to foster their rise to prominence and leadership and to ensure that their success helped support peace. She met with community workers and with women politicians in Northern Ireland to encourage them to take on a larger role. She carried a pledge to the government of Ireland that the United States would remain a partner in the peace process.
Senator George Mitchell said that “She was very much involved in encouraging the emergence of women in the political process in Northern Ireland, which was a significant factor in ultimately getting an agreement.”
Hillary’s efforts have continued as Senator. She visited the Republic of Ireland on her first trip during her Senate term, and Northern Ireland on her second trip, where she spoke with all of the major leaders in Northern Ireland.
Every year, she meets with the Taoiseach and other party leaders from Ireland. She continues to take calls from all parties to provide help behind the scenes and to keep the process moving forward. And she has held meetings in her office at the request of Northern Irish officials on job creation, trade, agriculture, autism, policing, economic development – and of course reconciliation.
In December 2007, when Martin McGuiness and Ian Paisley were in Washington, they met with President Bush and Hillary, thanking Hillary for her contribution to the peace process.

Testimonials:

Statement from John Hume former MP MEP, founder of the SDLP and an architect of the Good Friday Agreement. He is the only person to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, the Ghandi Peace Award and the Martin Luther King Peace Prize.

“I am quite surprised that anyone would suggest that Hillary Clinton did not perform important foreign policy work as First Lady. I can state from firsthand experience that she played a positive role for over a decade in helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

She visited Northern Ireland, met with very many people and gave very decisive support to the peace process. There is no doubt that the people of Northern Ireland think very positively of Hillary Clinton’s support for our peace process, due to her visits to Northern Ireland and her meetings with so many people. In private she made countless calls and contacts, speaking to leaders and opinion makers on all sides, urging them to keep moving forward.

Anyone criticizing her foreign policy involvement should look at her very active and positive approach to Northern Ireland and speak with the people of Northern Ireland who have the highest regard for her and are very grateful for her very active support for our peace process.”

Inez McCormack, first female president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions:

"Hillary Clinton took risks for peace in asking me and others to bring women and communities from both traditions to affirm their capacity to work for common purpose and to assert, when there was no public dialogue which supported it, that working for common purpose on the basis of mutual respect was the core of effective peace building. She used her immense influence to give women like me space to develop this work and validated it every step of the way. This approach is now taken for granted bit it wasn't then. She told us that if we take risks for peace, she would stay with us on that journey. In my experience, it took hard work, attention to detail and a commitment of time and energy which she delivered steadily and where it was needed over the last decade."

Baroness May Blood of the House of Lords, who worked for many years as a community leader in the Shankill area of West Belfast

"The First Lady sent the message that the work and influence that grassroots women were undertaking within their communities was just as important as anything else that was taking place. I witnessed her building new confidence in women at the grassroots level and their stature grew within Northern Ireland as a consequence. All of a sudden they were being taken more seriously. The message we were also told by Hillary Clinton was that this work needed a political focus."

Geraldine McAteer, Chief Executive of West Belfast Partnership Board

"As First Lady, Hillary Clinton was extremely supportive of the peace process in Northern Ireland, and in particular, of the women who live here. In her visits during the peace process negotiations she met with women from a range of backgrounds and she recognized there was a real need to strengthen and support the voices of women in the post conflict context and get the needs of women and communities to the forefront of the new political agenda. She recognized that this would be best done through building the skillls of women here. Through her Vital Voices Conference in September 1998, I and others were able to develop our skills for the betterment of our communities."

News reports:

2007: Hillary honored for her work on the Northern Ireland Peace process. Irish American Magazine named Hillary “Person of the Year”, celebrating “her work on the Northern Ireland peace process”. [Irish American Magazine, April/May 07]

2007: Hillary met with Irish leaders who wanted to 'pay their respects to Hillary' for her work on behalf of peace in Northern Ireland. Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley recently traveled to Washington on behalf of the fledging Northern Ireland government, and they specifically requested two personal meetings: one with President George W. Bush and one with Senator Hillary Clinton. They wanted to “pay their respects to Hillary” for her long and varied role in promoting and working for peace in Northern Ireland. [Guardian, December 8, 2007]. As McGuinness put it, “these are wonderfully exciting times for all of us back home, not least because of the contributions made by President Clinton and Mrs. Clinton.” [AP, December 7, 2007].

1999: Northern Ireland Secretary: ‘Hillary is one of the essential reasons’ Ireland had peace. An August 1999 issue of Talk Magazine quotes Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam: "Hillary is one of the essential reasons we've had 18 months of relative peace. Without her we would have no economic boom."

1999: Hillary made frequent trips to Northern Ireland where she was 'not just in the humdrum affairs of state…but in the nitty gritty of the political scene' “A few years back the notion of an American First Lady speaking out on any aspect of life in Northern Ireland would have been taboo. Now it is accepted that not just this First Lady but also her husband make frequent trips to the North, and that they become involved not just in the humdrum affairs of state such as opening a new training center or mouthing niceties at a conference, but in the nitty gritty of the political scene too." [Irish Voice, May 25, 1999]

No. I showed how much experience they both had. And it's about even. You're not making any sense and your arguments are subjective to your wish for Hillary to be able to win the nomination at best (which she can't)

Not really Zo. The points you make in an attempt to belittle Sen. Clinton's contribution to helping to bring Peace to Northern Ireland is almost sad. You talk about why the Nobel Prize winner is supporting her candidacy and more importantly supporting her contribution to the Peace Keeping Mission...they are valid reasons and only prove that Sen. Clinton has Foreign Relations and Foreign Policy experience.

You provided an article from a reporter at the AP who attempted to bring up some issues with Sen. Clinton's participation in Northern Ireland by citing a park and a teapot. However articles written by the same reporter from the time tell a different story. People can bring up facts (facts like a park or a teapot) to confuse the truth but it does not change the fact that Hillary Clinton helped to bring about Peace to Northern Ireland.

Just because Obama has no experience to speak of...don't try to belittle Sen. Clinton's.

First Lady Praises Northern Ireland Women As Peacemakers

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
Associated Press Writer
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) -- Arriving a day ahead of her husband, Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday called Northern Ireland's women a quiet catalyst for the Belfast peace agreement, but said they must play a bigger role in politics for real reconciliation to take root.
"It was women whose whispers of `Enough!' became a torrent of voices that could no longer be ignored," the wife of U.S. President Bill Clinton told 600 women's activists, community workers and politicians at a conference called "Vital Voices: Women in Democracy."
"It is up to you, the women of Northern Ireland, speaking out whenever injustice arises, to point out opportunities, to face up to challenges, and to speak for those who are still voiceless," she said.
Mrs. Clinton's speech brought together not only grass-roots Protestant and Catholic activists, but once-deadly opponents in Northern Ireland's three-decade-old conflict -- virtually all of them men.
Sitting in the front row of one balcony were Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Pat Doherty, leaders of the IRA-allied Sinn Fein party.
Behind them sat members of the Ulster Unionists, the major British Protestant party that also backs April's compromise accord on how Northern Ireland should be governed -- but refuses to talk directly with Sinn Fein.
After her speech, Mrs. Clinton attended a reception in her honor in Belfast City Hall along with the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith.
Mrs. Clinton is staying overnight at Hillsborough Castle southwest of Belfast as a guest of Mo Mowlam, Britain's first female secretary of state for Northern Ireland.
On Thursday, Mrs. Clinton planned to open a playground for Protestant and Catholic children in an underprivileged part of Belfast, then appear with her husband for his keynote speech.
Wednesday marked Mrs. Clinton's third visit to Northern Ireland. She accompanied the president during their precedent-setting 1995 visit to Belfast, and returned without him for more public engagements last October.