April 15, 2010

What, No Hillary?

By Ken Blackwell

The White House very quickly got out in front of a story. There is no truth to the rumors that President Obama might name Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the Supreme Court. The president has the highest respect for his onetime rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, we are assured. But why did the administration go out of its way to shoot down this particular trial balloon? They didn't jump up to say no, they would not be naming outgoing Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) or current Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (D). Or even HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Why did they jump up so fast to jump down on the name of Hillary?

Well, the summer might already see a battle over this nomination. With Stevens leaving after nearly thirty-five years on the Court, his replacement is sure to raise a storm of controversy. Do they really want more?

Let's see. Senators on the Judiciary panel might be most interested to learn what, if any, role Hillary Clinton played in the 2001 Marc Rich pardon. Remember him? He's the fugitive felon who got a pardon after his ex-wife, Denise, made some hefty contributions to the Democratic Party. As TIME Magazine reported at the close of the Clinton administration:

Marc Rich's socialite ex-wife has donated an estimated $1 million to Democratic causes, including $70,000 to Hillary Clinton's successful Senate campaign and $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library fund. She also lobbied heavily for Marc's pardon. Investigators want to know if Denise's contributions led to a direct quid pro quo exchange for her ex-husband's pardon. Clinton has denied any connection, saying he relied solely on the information provided by Jack Quinn (former White House counsel and Rich's current lawyer) when he was weighing the pardon request.

Inquiring minds might want to know what role the Secretary played in this affair when she was First Lady.

Then there were Mrs. Clinton's famous files from the Rose Law Firm that went missing in the Clinton White House for several years.

Hillary seems to have been given a mulligan on those scandals. They're so nineties.

So, how about what she's been doing lately? Wouldn't it be interesting to know what she really said to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? She reportedly gave him a tongue-lashing for forty-five minutes by phone when some low-level Israeli housing official approved an apartment building permit in East Jerusalem.

Didn't "Bibi" know that that was a historic area? Why, that plot was once the home of Islamic "scholar" Haj Amin Al Husseini. Everybody remembers him. Husseini is best remembered as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. This particular scholar spent most of World War II in Germany as the guest of the Grand Mufti of Berlin, Adolf Hitler. Hey, his front porch is more historic to our Palestinian peace partners than King Solomon's.

Madam Secretary might be asked about the $900 million in U.S. taxpayer funds going to those peace partners, the PLO. They have such a sense of history that they name public squares for suicide bombers. And the PLO has schoolchildren performing dressed as suicide bombers. Not exactly your Mom's PTA.

Other questions might be raised at a Hillary confirmation hearing, like what exactly was the purpose in berating the Prime Minister of Canada in his own capital? Hillary did that because Stephen Harper had the temerity to offer a helping hand to struggling third-world nations on maternal mortality -- without offering abortion. Big no-no, for Hillary.

Speaking of those huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the Obama administration, led by Sec. Clinton, is pressuring Kenya to adopt abortion on demand. Kenya, like many African states, abhors the destruction of unborn life. Obama and Mrs. Clinton are unwilling to "interfere" with Iran's internal affairs, but they are most willing to muscle pro-life Kenya.

Maybe that explains why Hillary won't go through another round of confirmation questioning. The Obama administration doesn't want to raise any questions about why it's pushing for fewer birth certificates in Kenya.

Ken Blackwell is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council. He serves on the board of directors of the Club for Growth, National Taxpayers Union, and National Rifle Association.