by Mark Silva
Old State, new State:
President Bush stopped by the State Department today, as part of a farewell tour of Washington, to tout the "achievements'' of his a "freedom agenda.''
But, as the president delivered his final speech there, he quickly was pre-empted in the live cable news coverage of the day's events by Sen. Hillary Clinton's farewell speech to the Senate. Moments before, Clinton had won the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's support for her own confirmation as secretary of state - marking a new regime at Foggy Bottom.
"We have much to do over at Foggy Bottom, '' Clinton said, "and we need your help to kind of clear up the fog...
"Over the past seven years, thanks to so many of you... you have been there with us,'' Clinton said "of the progress that has been made bringing New York back...'' from the despair of 9/11.
"There is a lot to look back on with great nostalgia and excitement,'' Clinton said. "But I want to look forward now. Our challenge will be to come together, putting aside partisan differences... to meet the challenges of our time.... I think this could be one of the golden eras of the history of the Senate. This could be the time when people look back and say, 'You know, you can never count America out.'
CNN and MSNBC quickly shifted from Bush to Clinton, and FOX News Channel, well they shifted away from both of them.
Over at State, out of sight of the cable news stream, Bush delivered his remarks on a stage, introduced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and accompanied by his wife, First Lady Laura Bush.
"People ask me all the time about Condi,'' Bush said. "I tell them, she's like my sister - we've been through a lot together.''
Bush, who has traveled widely promoting a "freedom agenda,'' spoke today of the "transformative'' power of liberty.
"In the Middle East, we stood with dissidents in young democracies,'' Bush said. "We outlined a vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace... In Asia, we deepened our alliances with old friends... We may be the only administration that has had really good ties with Japan, South Korea and China all at the same time... and we opened a strategic and important relationship with India.''
In Africa, he said, "we helped resolve old conflicts and form new partnerships to confront hunger, disease and poverty.''
Comments
Good word for Hillary-
"Foggy" think she was a little Foggy on some of the questions at the Senate Hearing, "o well" Time Marches On.
Posted by: Inky | January 15, 2009 11:54 AM
i am so happy to no that Hillary will be looking after our country wish it was in the white house,
Posted by: janet | January 15, 2009 1:35 PM
Ms. Rice was not an effective Secretary of State. It is good to have this CHANGE we can believe in.
Posted by: stinky | January 15, 2009 5:51 PM
Congratulations to Sec of State Hillary Clinton. We all know she will do a better job than the last administration; but I fully expect her (and the new administration in general) to do a GREAT job putting our nation back together again.
Posted by: Jan | January 15, 2009 6:43 PM