Sec. Clinton interview in March 2009 marginalizes human rights, says Mubaraks are ‘friends of the family’

During a March 2009 visit to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave an interview to al-Arabiya television. Clinton deemphasized the annual human rights report that criticized Egypt’s human rights record and talked up her friendship with the Mubaraks: More…

Hillary Clinton can’t escape the internet

As the Wikileaks endless U.S. diplomatic document dump continues, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is battling back calls to resign for a UN espionage scheme, she’s leading the government’s defacto public relations campaign against Wikileaks and she’s battening down the hatches at the State Department. She is, in More…

GOP House Leaders Tout Bold New Candidates, Discourage Government Shutdown

When the dust settles after election day, what will the new House Republican caucus look like? The Wall Street Journal reports that while the campaign trail rhetoric among GOP challengers has been feisty this season, Republicans in leadership are wary of shutting down government like they did following a standoff More…

Meek’s Surge Bodes Ill for Crist

President Clinton will campaign today in South Florida on behalf of Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fl.). Meek is coming off some decidedly better poll numbers in his race against billionaire Jeff Greene for the Democratic Senate nomination and says that Clinton’s appearances in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade, “will More…

Jacob Lew to Move from State to Office of Management and Budget

For all the wonks out there: President Obama said today that he plans to nominate Jacob Lew, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, to become director of the Office of Management and Budget. Peter Orszag, the current head of OMB, is leaving for the Council on More…

Who’s Responsible for the National Debt?

Annie just noted that the national debt hit a (somewhat meaningless) milestone this week, topping $13 trillion yesterday. As a quick addendum, it’s worth pointing out which presidents are most responsible for running up the national tab. We’ll go back five. (All numbers come from the Treasury Department, More…

It’s Back to the 1990s for the Stock Market

The stock market continued its cliff diving today, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard and Poor’s 500 Index closing at their lowest levels in more than a decade — cementing worries about the deepening recession.

As Calculated Risk puts it, it’s time to party like it’s More…

The Coming Military-Civilian Resource Shift, Cont’d

Remember about a month ago, when President-elect Barack Obama announced his foreign policy team, and it looked as if there was going to be a shift of emphasis from the military to the civilian agencies of government, in terms of money, attention and influence? Secretary of State-designee Hillary Rodham More…

Clinton to Create State Dept. Post for Iran Outreach

So reports my friend Eli Lake in his debut as the Washington Times’ national-security correspondent:

Will Sec. Clinton Ban Private Military Contractors?

Over at TPMmuckraker, Justin Elliott remembers that during the Democratic primary, Secretary of State-designee Hillary Rodham Clinton was an enthusiastic advocate of banning private military contractors from “combat-oriented and security functions in Iraq.” The State Dept. that President-elect Barack Obama tapped her to take over has, over the past More…