Two big stories are out there today -- from The New York Times on the mess at the Clinton Foundation and the explosion of violence in Egypt.
Coincidentally, both highlight the two big problems Hillary Clinton will have when she runs for president -- and suggest that the job isn't quite hers for the taking.
First, the Clinton Foundation. This story reminds those of us who remember the 90's about the unsavory scent of financial self-dealing and overall self-aggrandizement that almost always surrounds the Clintons. Is America really ready for four (or eight) more years of underwear deductions, sweetheart real estate loan deals, sweetheart commodities trading deals, missing law firm billing records, unsavory associates, selling overnights at The White House, generally trashy behavior, vast-right-wing-conspiracies and all the rest? (For those who claim that it's just GOP persecution: Do you really think -- if there had been analogous scandals to be reported about George W. -- the left and the press wouldn't have joined up with enthusiasm?)
Then, the explosion in Egypt. It confronts Hillary with the obvious question: What, exactly, did she actually achieve in her celebrated tenure as Secretary of State (or, for that matter, as NY's US senator)? Six months after leaving State, recitations of her accomplishments at Foggy Bottom pale beside images of Egypt on fire, closed embassies, Al Qaeda resurgent in Iraq, Iran about to achieve a nuke, the Benghazi attacks, the implosion of the US/Russian relationship (so much for the highly-publicized "reset"). As for her highly-touted Senate career, even liberals have disparaged it as a "myth."
With Washington set aglow by the rekindling of its love affair with the Clintons, no doubt observations are unwelcome. But that doesn't make them untrue.
