Hillary's Resentment Complex

Over the weekend, Hillary Clinton said the following:

"I am going to level with you," she said. "The president has said [Iraq] is going to be left to his successor. I think it is the height of irresponsibility, and I really resent it."

In the article linked, John Podhoretz points out how curious and unpresidential it sounds for leaders to publicly express resentment over issues that began with their predecessor. Imagine Reagan expressing his resentment towards Carter during the 1980 campaign instead of offering a visionary (and to his detractors, phony) picture of a better, renewed America. Blame takes the place of policy here, and Podhoretz suggest that this way of thinking is the real Hillary, beyond the endless positioning.

It does lend some credibility to those who claim that Hillary wants the presidency not to serve the challenges of the day, whatever they may be. Instead it seems more plausible that she has a social agenda which she seeks to put forward - one which, in her mind, will make America a better place.

On the first day of a Hillary administration she would most certainly inherit Iraq, and an almost-nuclear Iran, and a Middle East that threatens to boil over and throw the world into chaos. She can resent whoever she likes, and attempt to gain political leverage by vilifying her perennially conspiratorial enemies. This will grow old very quickly with the American people - who elect a president to get the job done, even if the job is ugly.

In the absence of any coherent statements - since she never says anything that can be backed away from later - the Hillary Clinton model of foreign engagement should be assumed to be an approximation of the most left European policies. Avoid conflict, deny and appease, deflect blame for problems for as long as possible - even while the threat grows. But spun properly through the Clintonista PR machine this will, at first, be sold as "reaching out" to build new relationships, to leave behind the "failed policies" of the past.

Peace may suddenly break out all over. But for that to happen, radicals who still carry a grudge from the 12th century and leaders like Iranian president Ahmadinejad will need to be persuaded to forget their own "resentments". How likely is that?