In a battle for who can say the most undermining thing, Joe Scarborough suggests that Bill Clinton travel to Africa on a "mission of mercy" and rescue his wife, just as he rescued Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Because getting criticized in the media for standing up for yourself (all this analysis is apropos of Clinton's comment that "my husband is not the Secretary of State, I am") is just like being captured by dictatorial regime, and being rescued by her husband is exactly what Secretary Clinton needs to help the world take her policies more seriously. But Tina Brown interrupts this already offensive suggestion to basically call Clinton fat. How is Clinton supposed to make good on her promise to make women's issues "central" to foreign policy, if the US media keeps making her looks and her husband central to her policy?

In her latest 'Domestic Disturbances' column, Times opinion writer Warner writes,

As she circles the globe in coming years, making the case for women's empowerment, starting with their basic right to be taken seriously, Clinton really has her work cut out for her. And it isn't just because the situation of women around the world is so dire, and the ocean of problems confronting them - maternal mortality, sex trafficking, domestic abuse, malnourishment, lack of education, lack of adequate medical care, just for starters - is so wide and so deep. [...] It's also because the tide of trivialization that washes over all things "Hillary" is just so powerful. That tide threatens to drown out anything of substance Clinton might attempt for a population whose problems have long been obscured in the androcentric world of diplomacy. And that's a huge pity.

Both Scarborough and Brown imply that Clinton needs to make us respect her, either by "being careful what [she says] in front of cameras" (Scarborough) or, by working out more (Brown). But why is "trivialization" our default mode? Of course, Hillary Clinton isn't our first female Secretary of State, and her current position as figure of fun may have to do with her longstanding role in the Clinton media circus. Because of her husband's indiscretions, people got used to making jokes about her personal life and appearance long before she ran for President or held a Cabinet position. But those jokes weren't acceptable then (remember all the scrutiny of her thighs?), and they're even less acceptable now that she's trying to be an ambassador for women's rights around the world.

In fact, today, Clinton will visit the African nation of Liberia, where she will meet with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female head of state. Yesterday, she told a Nigerian talk show host,

From a moral perspective, we?re in the 21st century; all human beings, no matter what religion or ideology you reference, have the right to develop to their God-given potential. And too many women in too many parts of Africa are not being developed fully.

Will anyone pay attention to this message, much-needed not just in Africa but throughout the world? "Maybe," says Warner, "if we stop viewing everything Clinton does as entertainment."

Hillary Fights A Tide of Trivialization [NYT]
Clinton Heads To Liberia To Show Women Power [AFP]

[Nairobi, August 6. Image via Getty.]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) gestures as she stands with survivors, after laying a wreath of flowers on the site, August 6, 2009,of the bombings against the US embassy in Nairobi that killed 213 people in 1998. Clinton, who kicked off a seven-nation, 11-day tour of Africa in Nairobi two days earlier, took part in a wreath-laying ceremony where she renewed her administration's commitment to combat extremism in the region and elsewhere. AFP PHOTO/ SIMON MAINA (Photo credit should read SIMON MAINA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, July 20. Image via Getty]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) interacts with members of an audience at Delhi University in New Delhi on July 20, 2009, following the delivery of a speech. Clinton hoped to seal a defence pact boosting US arms sales to India in talks that should also see agreement on the siting of two US nuclear reactors. On the business end of her five-day visit to India, Clinton was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna for talks aimed at deepening strategic US ties with an emerging player on the world stage. AFP PHOTO/Findlay KEMBER (Photo credit should read FINDLAY KEMBER/AFP/Getty Images)

[Tokyo, February 17. Images via Getty]

TOKYO - FEBRUARY 17: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Meiji Shrine on February 17, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. Clinton is on her first diplomatic tour to Asia, visiting Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China. (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

It was striking that in Clinton's opening statement, between comments about poverty, international crises, AIDS, organizational issues and everything in between, Hillary took a minute (as we noted yesterday) to talk about women's issues.

We have to expand civil and political rights in countries that are plagued by poverty, hunger, and disease. But our pleas will fall on deaf ears unless democracy actually improves people's lives while weeding out the corruption that too often stands in the way of progress.

Our foreign policy must reflect our deep commitment to help millions of oppressed people around the world. And of particular concern to me is the plight of women and girls, who comprise the majority of the world's unhealthy, unschooled, unfed, and unpaid. If half the world's population remains vulnerable to economic, political, legal and social marginalization, our hope of advancing democracy and prosperity is in serious jeopardy. The United States must be an unequivocal and unwavering voice in support of women's rights in every country on every continent.

Clinton didn't just speak of women's issues in terms of improving the lives of women, or ending patriarchal oppression or even as something we should do for the sake of doing the right thing. Rather, she put it into the context of our larger foreign policy goals, which are expanding civil and political rights to improve our own security. Clinton stated, on behalf of this Administration, that if they do not improve the plight of women in the world, they cannot improve the status of nations or expand democracy.

But she didn't stop there. During questioning by California Senator Barbara Boxer about Clinton's commitment to women's issues and the plight of women in the developing world, Clinton, in my opinion, was more fired-up, less scripted and more honestly committed to the issue than at nearly any other time in the hearing.

And I want to pledge to you that as secretary of state I view these issues as central to our foreign policy, not as adjunct or auxiliary or in any way lesser than all of the other issues that we have to confront.

I, too, have followed the stories that are exemplified by the pictures that you held up. I mean, it is heartbreaking beyond words that, you know, young girls are attacked on their way to school by Taliban sympathizers and members who do not want young women to be educated. It's not complicated: They want to maintain an attitude that keeps women, as I said in my testimony, unhealthy, unfed, uneducated.

And this is something that results all too often in violence against these young women, both within their families and from the outside. This is not culture. This is not custom. This is criminal. And it will be my hope to persuade more governments, as I have attempted to do since I spoke at Beijing on these issues, you know, 13 and some years ago, that we cannot have a free, prosperous, peaceful, progressive world if women are treated in such a discriminatory and violent way.

But she didn't even stop at condemning the behavior or feeling sympathy for its victims. She was very clear about what she planned to do about it:

So we're going to have a very active women's office, a very active office on trafficking. We're going to be speaking out consistently and strongly against discrimination and oppression of women and slavery in particular, because I think that is in keeping not only with American values, as we all recognize, but American national security interests as well.

Barbara Boxer said, "Well, I couldn't have asked for a better answer," and I agree.

But she wasn't done yet. Florida Senator Bill Nelson brought up the issue of American women contractors being raped in Afghanistan and Iraq somewhat later in the hearing.

I had the privilege of our subcommittee on this committee of chairing the hearings about rapes of American contractor women in Iraq and Afghanistan. And what we found in dramatic testimony from very courageous women that came forth and testified to the committee was that there was always an attempt among State Department contractor personnel — and that, of course, was the jurisdictional hook through our Foreign Relations Committee. But the same applied to contractor personnel in the Department of Defense.

Always, the attempt to sweep it under the rug, not have it conveyed to the U.S. attorneys for the proper prosecution. When we got this out in the open, we have tried to encourage the cooperation and collaboration between those three departments — Justice, Defense, and State.

I bring it out for your consideration.

While not addressing the rapes specifically, she did address the abuses of power and the lack of oversight within the State Department of those abuses.

We have seen the abuses by contractors, but even when there are not headline-grabbing abuses, there has been a steady transfer of authority and resources from government employees and a chain of accountability to contractors, and we have reaped the very difficult consequences of that. We — we know, obviously, of the security contractors and some of the difficulties that they have presented, but it's been contractors across the board.

We have used so many of them, particularly in Iraq, but not exclusively, and I think we have to take a hard look at whether we want the U.S. government to turn into a contracting agency

Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson, a Republican, also brought up an interesting point about putting preconditions on foreign aid in ways that can help women.

Talking about preconditions for a second, I am one that feels like foreign aid invested, especially with preconditions for results is beneficial to the United States of America. And I shared with you the issue on women's education in Muslim countries Africa who, prior to 2001, we weren't really aware that we had money going to NGOs than going to education. It was only teaching Muslim men, not Muslim women.

And we put a precondition post-9/11 and built schools for women in Egypt and Ethiopia and other places. And the payback has been a renaissance in those countries, at least, in raising the educational level of all.

I'd appreciate your comments on the extent to which preconditions can be used in foreign aid — not preconditions to agree with us but preconditions to see that the result brings about a benefit like, in this case, the education of women.

Preconditions on foreign aid aren't exactly beloved in the progressive community because of the types of preconditions often set forth by our government, but Clinton gave a rather balanced response.

When you look at foreign aid, we want to be able to justify the investment to the American people and we want to get measurable results. Those are two goals that really go hand in hand. And so I believe strongly that as we try to shore up foreign aid, as we try to make the case for more development assistance, as we try to, you know, get back some of the authority and the resources that have drifted to the Defense Department, that we have to be ready to make that case.

And I think the, you know, conditional aid approach in certain countries and situations is one we have to look at more closely.

And, although not strictly about women, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold asked Hillary Clinton about domestic partnership benefits for LGBT foreign service officers, who are subject to different treatment than their heterosexual peers and have more difficulty keeping their families intact during overseas postings. Clinton responded:

Senator, this issue was brought to my attention during the transition. I've asked to have more briefing on it because I think that we should take a hard look at the existing policy. As I understand it, but don't hold me to it because I don't have the full briefing material, but my understanding is other nations have moved to extend that partnership benefit. And we will come back to you to inform you of decisions we make going forward.

There are a lot of LGBT Foreign Service Officers out there who might appreciate the irony of a heterosexual Secretary of State changing policies to allow them to serve and keep their families intact.

So was it enough for you? In betwen Gaza, Darfur, nukes, Pakistan, war and institutional reform, do you feel like it's possible that Hillary Clinton will be as much a Secretary of State for women as a woman Secretary of State?

Senate Confirmation Hearing: Hillary Clinton [NY Times]

Related: Hillary Shows Her Hand, And Her Heart [Foreign Policy]

Earlier: Warning: Obama's Letter To Malia & Sasha May Inspire Spontaneous Ovulatation
Hillary Will Not Let Women, Obama's Mom, Go Unheard

• Oprah Winfrey is talking her show on the road to D.C. during the Inauguration. Let the speculation begin about which members of the new Administration will be appearing. [Access Hollywood]
• Congress is going to pass a law to reduce the salary of the Secretary of State to block Republican efforts to keep Hillary Clinton from serving on Constitutional grounds. So much for pay equity in an Obama Administration. [Talking Points Memo]
• Al Franken says he's pulled ahead of Norm Coleman in the Minnesota Senate race. [Politico]

• Bill Richardson didn't win any points with Barack Obama when he showed up at the presser announcing his appointment sans beard. [Washington Post, CNN]
• But could the Commerce Department just be a stepping stone on Bill Richardson's path to his beloved State Department? [Washington Independent]
• Barack Obama told all the ambassadors appointed by Bush to be out by January 20th.There's no word whether the ambassadors to India or Pakistan might be staying on. [Washington Post]
• By the way, the Mumbai terrorists were high as shit on coke and LSD the entire time they were killing people. [Boing Boing]
• Possibly also high as shit was Karl Rove, who told a roomful of New Yorkers that George Bush is totally not the worst President in modern history. [Washington Times]
• Eliot Spitzer will begin penning a finance-and-government column for Slate. It won't talk about financing high-end sex with prostitution while being in government. [New York Observer via Attackerman]
• The anti Prop 8 folks get every actor you've ever seen to act in a musical. [Funny Or Die]

Between the P.U.M.A.s and La Palin, one would think that if this election season had taught the women's movement anything, it would have been that having a government that pushes for and fairly represents the interests of women is not necessarily related to having women in the government — let alone in proportion to their percentage of the population. Unfortunately, one would be wrong. And Hillary Clinton's primary loss still continues to smart for some women, despite her elevation to the highest cabinet position and to the line of Presidential succession today. As seen in a new story on Reuters:

"Secretary of State has become the women's spot — a safe expected place for women to be. In the ideal world, we'd see woman as Treasury secretary and throughout these ranks (of government)," [Carol Jenkins, president of the Women's Media Center] said.

So the Secretary of State — our face to the world at large, and the first Cabinet member in the Presidential line of succession — is now a soft position? Get a grip! If by virtue of the fact that two of its last three incumbents were women it's now a "girly" position, then we're all contributing to the ghettoization of jobs by making them supposedly too easy for a man to do. Gross.

Stacy Mason, the executive director of WomenCount, is similarly unenthused about the Year of the Woman.

The record number of women in Congress in the new session that opens in January still reflects small net gains in the November elections — one in the U.S. Senate and three in the House of Representatives. As of now, women will number 17 in the 100-member Senate and 74 in the 435-member House. One Ohio race was so close it has not yet been decided.

"It's a really really dismal number ... the U.S. still ranks 83rd in terms of the number of women in elected office," said Mason.

It is not a great number, but, as has been noted before, the number of women who hold political office in a country is hardly the way to judge their equality, positions in society or opportunities. Furthermore, many of us would probably agree that we'd rather elect 100 Joe Bidens or Barack Obamas than 100 Sarah Palins to Congress — let alone Marilyn Musgraves or Liddy Doles. Both of those women lost re-election to other women, which resulted in no net increase in the number of women in Congress but significantly improved the representation of progressive women's issues.

So, while we're more than happy to see more women running for and elected to office, let's all take a deep breath and recognize that if the women's movement is supposed to be one for rights and equality, electing women to office cannot be the be-all, end-all measure of success. Then let's take a deeper breath and think about the fact that of the first 2 people in line for succession to the Presidency, two of them are women. Yes, there are gains to be made — necessary gains, even — but insulting the position of Secretary of State, bemoaning the loss of women without consideration given to their politics and generally insisting on unattainable goals before being able to crack a smile about the achievements of other women aren't going to get us there.

Women See Clinton Job As Triumph, Disappointment [Reuters]

Related: United States Presidential Line Of Succession [Wikipedia]

Earlier: As Far As I'm Concerned, Former Ms. Editor Elaine Lafferty Can Go F-ck Herself
Sarah Palin: When Choosing A Woman Might Not Be Choosing For Women
Do Women Want Equality Of Outcomes Or Opportunities?

MEGAN: So, welcome to Crappy Hour, where lacking coffee is only one of many things wrong with every morning.

REBECCA: Well, I have to confess that over the past year, I've always taken the title of this feature as a reference to the general crapitude of the news discussed. I now understand that it is a reference to the actual hour at which the conversation takes place. It is indeed crappy. But I am awake! I have coffee! And a question.

MEGAN: By all means! I promise an answer. I won't promise that it will be good.

REBECCA: When someone becomes president, do his friends really stop calling him by his first name? I have wondered this many times, actually. Mostly while watching Aaron Sorkin movies. I wonder it now because we are living in an Aaron Sorkin movie.

MEGAN: It also worked like that for Michael Douglas in An American President. But Sorkin — and particularly Mary Louise Parker — was who I thought of when I saw the executive director of EMILY's list was joining the Obama Administration as communications director.

REBECCA: I'm really glad you brought this up. This makes me so happy. Count me among the happily surprised. I am a huge fan of EMILY's List, and I think this appointment is remarkable. To go into EMILY's List, an organization that by dint of its stated project supported HRC in the primaries — and busted its hump to get its constituents on board with Obama from the second Clinton conceded — is a real show of respect, and a tribute to his recognition of their impact on the political process, on Obama's part.

MEGAN: Also, as Executive Director, she's doing way more of the day-to-day work of the organization than Ellen Malcolm, and yet you have to be really, really into it to know her name. Which fits with No Drama Obama.

REBECCA: But then of course, I'm also one of the few, the proud, the thrilled...about Hillary.

MEGAN: Who, it is said, is willing to give up her lifetime Senate seat because she's "disenchanted" with the institution.

REBECCA: Regarding Clinton's "disenchantment.:" Sigh. Being happy about Hillary is always such a fraught position. I am amused, however, to already see the articles burbling with speculation about the nature of her relationship with Obama

MEGAN: Let alone her potential future relationship with him.

REBECCA: Well, the stuff about their relationship cracks me up in part because there is always — with regard to any Clinton — such a massive degree of projection into the particulars of a personal dynamic. The L.A. Times story, a heavy breathing, even without sexual intent or implication "Mr. Obama, who was in the first steps of what would become a strategic courtship, called afterward to thank her."

MEGAN: Maybe that's what it all is, it's just sexual fan fic. Maybe people aren't worry about Hillary crushing their balls, that's just mad they can't possess her sexually. All those Republicans and their repressed sexual fantasies.

REBECCA: Back when there were big heated arguments about whether he should pick her for veep, I used to think that it would be the right choice precisely because they are the Brangelinaniston of the political world. People cannot get enough of who called whom, who dissed whom, who had a secret conversation behind whose back, and who plotted to get rid of Bill!

MEGAN: It was really uncool of Obama to pretend that he wanted her as VP while snuggling up to Joe Biden.

REBECCA: The Pres-SecState that launched a thousand US Weeklies! Or a thousand touchy-feeling lurid relationship speculation pieces in the Times, and that gives life an energy to ye olde favorite Dem past-time, Clinton-hating! It's like a mitzvah for the Clinton critics! Something to kvetch about for....an indeterminate number of years! Yay!

MEGAN: But Rebecca! She's totally going to, like, start another war! She's not a flaming liberal! She is married to Bill!! We voted for chaaaaaange. (By the way, how come I haven't seen a piece in a major paper about Obama's supporters not being over the primaries yet? Hmm?)

REBECCA: Megan, no one wants to be over the primaries!

MEGAN: It was an exciting time, it's true.

REBECCA: The primaries were the most fun anyone in Democratic politics has had in a thousand years! This is why keeping Clinton in the picture is so crucial. Obama's great and mythic and No Drama and good and ethical and just and plain spoken and all.

MEGAN: He will dick you over, though. Just ask Susan Rice.

REBECCA: Or JOHN KERRY. Man, he must be pissed. But you know, Luke Skywalker would have been totally boring without his almost-rival partner in crime, Han Solo, who was flawed and possibly corrupt and motivated in part by personal gain but also really wanted thebest for the rebel alliance.

MEGAN: And at the end of the day, did you really want to hang out with Luke? Even his own sister preferred Han's company.

REBECCA: Um, BINGO! You want the character who's going to keep things interesting! And, on a serious note, could really shake things up by making some Obamaland hires at State, starting with Sam Power. I have no evidence that this is going to happen; it is simply my personal fantasy. But wouldn't that be interesting? But back to The Greatest Story Ever Told, can we talk for a minute about Andrew Sullivan?

MEGAN: I dunno, if she's getting her own staff picks, I'm guessing Sam Power will stay ensconced at Harvard.

REBECCA: Yeah, I know. I'm just looking for the plot twists. But did you see Sullivan?

MEGAN: Man, what is Sully's problem?

REBECCA: Writing about the benefits of Clinton working the Middle East, he writes, "And, of course, we all long to see Clinton in a veil." That was definitely my favorite part.

MEGAN: I liked "Her Imperial Highness of Appalachia."

REBECCA: Yeah I liked that too. He is so confused. I think a week ago, he was calling her the "permanent menace." He loves her! He hates her! He loves her! He hates her! His sister! His Daughter! His sister! His daughter!

MEGAN: Also, the part where Sully's all like, send her abroad so Bill can fuck around again was very classy.

REBECCA: He's a classy guy.

MEGAN: I mean, if there could be more sexual innuendos and double entendres in that piece, I'm not sure how.

REBECCA: No, it is a fine piece of campaign literature. Remember, she's the"good cop" to Obama's "bad cop."

MEGAN: Obama will be able to "show his dominance."

REBECCA: It's all part of Sully's elaborate fantasy world, where Hillary Clinton appears to him in a veil and punishes his transgressions.

MEGAN: I guess it's cheaper than advertising for it on Craigslist.

REBECCA: Suddenly, my Hillary-hiring-Sam-Power fantasy seems a touch bureaucratic.

MEGAN: So, you want to talk Geithner for a second? Speaking of fantasies.

REBECCA: You're pleased with the Geithner pick, I'm gathering...

MEGAN: Well, he is a hipster wonk that says "fuck" a lot. What's not to like? He's not Sheila Bair, it's true, but he's definitely not Larry Summers, and he's better looking to boot.

REBECCA: Better looking than Sheila Bair? Never! But ys, the Summers bullet dodged. I do think it should be noted that this piece begins "Mr Geithner looks a lot younger than his 47 years ..."

MEGAN: Which, after becoming Treasury Secretary, he probably won't continue to do so for very long. But it'll be sexy while it lasts.

REBECCA: Well, to be fair, the parenthetical immediately following says, "(though not as young as he did before the crisis began)" But today we are hearing how Larry fits in. I'm curious, myself.

MEGAN: Behind every great Treasury Secretary is a former one, grumbling and fingering his shiv? Wait, I'm sorry. No one should be forced to imagine Larry Summers fingering anything.

REBECCA: I was just going to object to your choice of words. And then take a long long cleansing swig of coffee.

MEGAN: I think I might need the whole pot.

REBECCA: Seriously, do you have any feeling about what we're going to hear about Summers' role today?

MEGAN: Blah, blah, blah, advisory role, yadda, yadda, great to have him as part of the team.

REBECCA: So let me ask you — do you think it's blah blah advisory role and not Treasury in part because of the women comments? I am genuinely curious on this point.

MEGAN: For my part, I think it was pretty clear that they were floating the fuck out of his name in the media to see if they could get away with it.

REBECCA: Yes, I thought so too. And it was such an explosive thing to float. Because that issue was so muddy, and Summers supporters are still so riled over the big deal those damn dames made. It was just a potential piece of dynamite, and I was surprised anyone at No Drama camp even dared to handle it at all. So I am interested to see how it gets tamped out and turned into a sweet smelling Connecticut Candle. I think that metaphor was way too labored.

MEGAN: I think it was the Obama camp testing what their mandate was on their left, and now they have an idea. Plus, if you're going to piss people off, you do it over Clinton and not Summers. People dislike Clinton for all kinds of reasons — include sexism — which can be marginalized or combated but most people just dislike Larry Summers for one.

REBECCA: Well, I move to end on a happy note, by sending former Washingtonienne sex blogger Jessica Cutler all our best wishes in her upcoming nuptials.

MEGAN: I'm glad she's found someone to spank her and fuck her up the ass but only after she's had a couple to drink, and most certainly with love. Who knew you had to move to New York for that?

REBECCA: An impressive recall of the Washingtonienne oeuvre! Though I think that Elliot Spitzer found that sometimes you have to leave New York to get all that.

MEGAN: It's morning again, and I'm finally awake enough to realize that I put my shirt on backwards when I went to bed last night... and I wasn't even intoxicated.

ANA MARIE: You put a shirt on to go to bed? lerjkewjr! Sorry that was my kind of clearing my throat. Typing- wise.

MEGAN: Otherwise my boobs get all wonky. Plus, I prefer my place kind of chilly and I haven't swapped in my winter bedclothes.

ANA MARIE: Ah, a nightshirt. I was somehow thinking you wore, like, a tux.

MEGAN: That would be kind of awesome, but I feel like the shirt studs would leave marks.

ANA MARIE: Should we talk about the news?

MEGAN: Anyway, so Tina Brown was just on Morning Joe looking kind of fabulous and speaking all British-y.

ANA MARIE: Yes, she sounds smart pretty much all the time. (Hi, Boss!)

MEGAN: Did you watch Arianna guest on Maddow last night?

ANA MARIE: I did. From the studio! Because I was on fake Countdown with fake Keith. I think maybe she and Cindy McCain have the same vocal coach.

MEGAN: A bit somnolent, right? The accent makes me want to get, like, cocoa. By a fire.

ANA MARIE: With that accent, I don't need cocoa. Mika just said "team of rivals" on Morning Joe. DRINK!

MEGAN: Damn it, the tequila is just out of reach! Tina Brown, though, sort of makes me want to learn to like whiskey, and I mean that as a compliment.

ANA MARIE: Hey, I have a question: WHY is Hillary considered a legitimate SecState nominee? Does she have some foreign policy experience I don't know about? I asked this of an MSNBC employee yesterday and she said, "Well, her husband..." and I was like, "If someone tried to give me a job because of my HUSBAND's resume, I would be embarrassed." I guess I might even make up some kind of story about Bosnian sniper fire! I mean, there's an argument that the President's job is big enough that foreign policy experience is just a PART of what you'd need to have. (Clearly, this was the American people's judgment.) But SecState? There's no other part of the job! Having worked on health care policy is kind of not relevant!

MEGAN: Well, but, frankly, what foreign policy (as opposed to defense) experience did Colin Powell have? Hell, what foreign policy experience do most of our ambassadors have? Clinton's nomination is, I think, a great deal about her international star power/prestige, etc. I think it's also about her supposed managerial ability, which, having tried to work with her Senate office and watched her campaign, I frankly question.

ANA MARIE: Then why not nominate Miley Cyrus? She is very popular and has not lied about being under sniper fire.

MEGAN: But it's no longer a nomination, didn't you hear? Only the story is probably completely false since no one else has been able to confirm it. Like, for real, people, The Guardian is the best source on this? I go back to: Hagel, Kerry, Grabbyhands, Nunn. And then you get Hillary Clinton.

ANA MARIE: Maybe this whole thing is a sideshow to make Kerry seem like a noble choice. Oh, and another thing? There are cabinet positions that Hillary would be qualified for: HHS, maybe even Defense (given her well-regarded service on the Armed Services Committee). But this whoopdedoo has probably scotched those. It's probably ruined her chances at State. To the extent it was ever real. I mean, seriously: Is this what the Obama administration is going to be like? Endless high octane pundit debates about things that won't happen?

MEGAN: I think the problem is that there isn't real news to talk about! It's the gossip season. Plus, at the point at which Chris Hitchens is drunkenly inveighing against you on TV, I'm sort of more pro-the idea, frankly. Plus, it would be nearly full employment for me.

ANA MARIE: Oh, and I love Christopher. I would be honored to be the subject of his inebriated inveighings. He should auction that shit off.

MEGAN: MEGAN: But does he need the money? Also, can we just mention, the music that is playing on Morning Joe: "North American Scum."

ANA MARIE: They have pretty good taste in music. There's a very disappointing relationship between taste in bumper music and shows themselves. Proof: You know who has GREAT bumper music? Laura Ingraham. I see that the New York Times is selling copies of its Nov 5 edition for $15. The print media industry is saved! We will borrow the Franklin Mint business model and print WEEKS-OLD NEWS!

MEGAN: And you know that the New York Times will totally make bank on that. I do not understand the people that collect that sort of stuff, but, then, I have moved around a lot in my life.

ANA MARIE: You have a life, maybe?

MEGAN: No, that's not true at all. I'm just too lazy to haul shit.

ANA MARIE: We're going to be LIVING THROUGH the Obama administration. That sort of is my idea of keepsake. That, and the policies he'll enact. Who told the entire MSNBC hosting staff they could go on vacation this week?

MEGAN: What in particular are you keen to see him do? After listening to Mika inveigh against the auto bailout, I now know what she really, really doesn't want.

ANA MARIE: My wishlist for his honeymoon period? Election reform — while it's fresh on everyone's minds — to include making election day a national holiday and some kind of reform to registration so that fake registrations don't slow down legit new voters. Statehood for DC (with the Utah congressional addition off set). Exec orders on torture and Gitmo. Card check.

MEGAN: Oh, see, I sort of hate card check. But I'm on board with the rest of it.

ANA MARIE: AND GET THE PUPPY ALREADY! Why? Oh, and gays in the military! More gays! He could executive order that shit.

MEGAN: Yes, an end to don't ask, don't tell! That would be awesome. On card check, I don't like the elimination of secret balloting. I don't know how that helps. But, then, my parents are required to belong to unions that have variously screwed over our family over the years, so I'm not exactly like "Woo, unions."

ANA MARIE: You've been listening to right wing radio or something. The American workplace is not a pure and formal democracy, and employers have never had much respect for the secret ballot when it came to unions in the past. Not that unions are all good either.

MEGAN: Yeah, well, how does card check help is my point? It fixes the management sins of 40 years ago? But, yeah, I remember when my dads union decided to flex their muscles for no sake other than flexing their muscles against management and my family went without health insurance for a while. Their families didn't, of course, since they were not covered by the same health insurance as us since they weren't actual employees of the organization. And we never got it back retroactive, either. But, hey, they showed management! Something. Yeah, I hold grudges.

ANA MARIE: Speaking of pointless flexing of muscles: I think Lieberman will not get much more than a wrist slap.

MEGAN: Ooh, I'm sure he's so scared at the loss of his subcommittee chairmanship. I can't believe that Jon Tester is defending him on MSNBC right now. How is fucking Tester scared of Jowls McGee?

ANA MARIE: Nice moment though: Jon Tester just started to say "Joe was wro— DIFFERENT on the war." I think we can say "wrong" now.

MEGAN: I think we could have said "wrong" then, That's on my list of stuff I'm looking forward to seeing change in an Obama Administration. I also want a full-on, prisoner-less, compromise-minimized 1984-style tax reform.

ANA MARIE: I don't think Tester or anyone is scared of Jowly Joe. I think this is an attempt to extend the "no drama" policy to the Hill. An attempt that will ultimately be unsuccessful but I admire the effort.

MEGAN: The point of the legislative branch is fucking "drama," so I just wonder when they forgot it.

ANA MARIE: And, yes, I think there will be drama to spare. No thanks to sleepwalkers like Mark Warner, but I have faith in, you know, McCain.

MEGAN: Well, and let's not forget Max Baucus is running around with his own health care reform bill when Kennedy is promising his next year.

ANA MARIE: There you go. DRAMA! COMPETING HEALTH CARE BILL! I think we have the solution to reviving Heroes!

MEGAN: Well, and this is why everyone is focusing on speculating about the Cabinet and Hillary Clinton: everything else is just Nerd Drama. Like, woo David Frum is leaving the National Review?

ANA MARIE: So does that mean we can we talk about the new Star Trek movie?

MEGAN: I am so worried it will suck. For my dad's sake, of course.

ANA MARIE: Oh, and Frum is leaving to start some new "solo web project," by which he means, of course: porn.

MEGAN: But PORN WITH OTHER PEOPLE!! PORN WITH OTHER PEOPLE!! Please don't make me cry.

ANA MARIE: Hey, he's the one talking "solo."

MEGAN: And now my brain needs another bleaching, as, inevitably, I imagine David Frum jerking off on a web cam. This is why I wasn't reading his NRO columns, to avoid that mental picture!

ANA MARIE: I am clearly not the person you should be talking to first thing in the morning. I'm sorry. Tomorrow's mental images will be based on the Shiba puppy cam.

MEGAN: Yay puppies! Honestly, my preference in the morning is to grumpily drink my coffee while mentally cursing the supposed need to arise before 10:00 regardless. So, it's not you, it's me.

ANA MARIE: Well as long as I have someone to watch Morning Joe with I'm good.

• Officials are confirming that Hillary Clinton met with Barack Obama in Chicago to talk about a potential Cabinet slot. Two "senior Democratic officials" confirmed to the Huffington Post that Clinton was offered Secretary of State and asked for time to consider it, but she didn't admit to anything at a press conference in Albany. [NY Times, Huffington Post]
• Barack Obama and John McCain are going to meet this weekend to talk about how they might be able to work together on something once Obama is President. It was arranged by Senator Lindsay Graham, McCain's Number One Fanboy. [Washington Post]
• Vermont Senator Pat Leahy became the one who broke the seal, announcing today that he's not going to support Connecticut Senator Joe "Turncoat" Lieberman's efforts to hold onto his committee chairmanship in the Democratic-controlled Senate since Lieberman isn't a Democrat, campaigned against the incoming Democratic President and endorsed a Republican. Glad someone has more of a spine than Harry Reid. [Washington Post]
• Speaking of backbones, thousands of people are expecting to protest the passage of Proposition 8 tomorrow, in California and around the country. [Huffington Post]

• Other things coming to Washington include: Barack Obama's favorite pizza in Chicago, which is not Chicago-style but is, I guarantee, better than all but about 5 pizza outlets in the D.C. Metro area. [Huffington Post]
• FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair (a contender for the Treasury Secretary slot in an Obama Administration, if the rumors are true) unveiled her $25 million plan to stop 1.5 million foreclosures next year by offering incentives to financial institutions to reduce homeowners' monthly payments. Current Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson reportedly hates the idea, preferring to spend the money buying stock in banks and encouraging addition lending, let alone that he doesn't want to have to cede 3.5 percent of his Congressional spending authority to a girl to, like, help struggling Real Americans instead of banks. [Washington Post]
• California Congressman Dan Lungen is planning on challenging Ohio Congressman John Boehner for House Minority Leader. I wonder if he knows the perma-tan isn't one of the perks? [CNN]
• Former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele wants to take over the Republican National Committee. He faces a mass of other people that didn't have prime time speaking roles at the Republican National Convention. [Politico]
• McCain campaign manager Rick Davis took responsibility for not paying how much attention "a gal from New York" they hired to shop for Sarah Palin spent on her wardrobe since they didn't give her a budget or look at the bills. That only took until after your guy lost, dickwad. Nice timing. [CNN]
• Outgoing corrupt Republican Congressman Rick Renzi of Arizona (who will be replaced by Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick) will face racketeering and other new charges when he eventually goes to trial on being a corrupt bastard. [Huffington Post]
• Renzi's colleague-in-corruption Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has fallen behind in his bid to win re-election to the Senate seat he'd be forced from once he had to report to the clink. [LA Times]
• Joe The Motherfucking Plumber has a motherfucking book deal. I, on the other hand, do not. I can ask stupid questions! I swear! Call me, publishers? [Huffington Post]