Hillary is right (about Bush and Beijing)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I haven't said that in a long time: Hillary is right.

Specifically, she's right that Bush should boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics (as Ben Smith reports here and on which The Raw Story has more here -- see also the AP here.)

I remarked earlier today, commenting on Mark Penn's semi-resignation/demotion, that the post-Penn Hillary would be softer and more amiable -- and certainly more positive -- than the Penn-driven Hillary. Well, going after China (or, rather, the brutal Chinese regime) is certainly more positive than smearing Obama, which has been the focus of the campaign for weeks and weeks now.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already announced that she will not be attending the opening ceremony, but, contrary to what most people seem to think, her non-attendance will not be a boycott. As Deutsche Welle has reported, Merkel had decided not to attend before the Chinese crackdown in Tibet -- this according to Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Some world leaders, such as Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, won't be there either, and in their cases non-attendance will be a boycott, but others, like French President Nicolas Sarkozy, remain non-committal. The E.U. has yet to set a unified policy on the matter.

Now, as for Hillary and Bush, let's not delude ourselves. She may be right -- and I agree that Bush should boycott the opening ceremony (indeed, I would make the case for a much stronger boycott than that) -- but consider the timing: the day after Penn's semi-resignation/demotion.

Yes, what a Monday it was -- what a fresh start, what a new beginning. Hillary went on Ellen and called on Bush to boycott the opening ceremony in Beijing. There's your double whammy: the softer, more amiable, more positive Hillary. And cynicism is the appropriate response. She needed to deflect media attention away from the Penn saga, and away from the inner workings of her campaign, and so she took the (hardly courageous) step of supporting Tibet from afar. Bush likely won't have anything to do with a formal boycott, but at least Hillary looks good and at least the media have something else to talk about.

Am I being too negative now? Sure, maybe. But the timing of her announcement wasn't an accident. She needed something else to talk about, and that something was this. Oh, and you want cynical? The announcement was exclusive to Drudge.

Softer, most amiable, more positive? The new Hillary is pretty much the same as the old one.