The Bill problem

It's hard not to wonder whether Hillary Clinton looks back on first days of Bill Clinton's "I did not have sex" mess and ask herself whether it wouldn't have been a better move to leave him then and there.  In almost every career move she's tried to make since that time, her messy husband --whether intentionally or not ( and that's another question altogether) -- has stood in the way. 

Hillary's own poor judgment and that of Mark Penn weren't enough to completely destroy her primary campaign last spring -- it took Bill to finish it off.  The question of whether she'd be invited to enter the Office of the Vice President always had "what about Bill?" breathing heavily in the doorway.  And now it's a matter of how much we want a Secretary of State whose husband whose job is to make ostensibly charitable -- but certainly also political -- arrangements with just about every world leader. 

Can we expect someone with Bill Clinton's massive ego to step aside and let his partner get a life?  Probably not.  He doesn't seem eager to be helpful.

"Mr. Clinton is not required by law to identify the donors to his foundation, and this year he declined to name them. Last year, while Mrs. Clinton was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, The New York Times compiled the first detailed list of 97 donors who gave or pledged a total of $69 million for the Clinton presidential library in the final years of his administration. The examination found that while some $1 million contributors were longtime Clinton friends, others were seeking policy changes from the administration. Two people pledged $1 million each while they or their companies were under investigation by the Clinton Justice Department."

Quite a few Obama supporters seem to feel that with or without the Bill problem, Hillary shouldn't be in the administration.

If Hillary Clinton becomes Secretary of State, Bill won't be her only problem.  She has ahead of her some deep corruption within the State Department.  Remember the builders who are under investigation for the rotten job they did on the new American Imperial Embassy in Baghdad?  Well, under investigation for fraud or not, the same builders are now doing a rotten job on the new US embassy in Gabon. 

McClatchy publishes an apt cartoon today.