Hillary Clinton and Northern Ireland
Posted by Maman Poulet on 10 Mar 2008 at 01:34 am | Tagged as: Feminism, US Election 2008
Expect a lot of talk about Hillary and her foreign policy experience this week. Especially on Northern Ireland. (And very little discussion on how much experience Obama actually has as is the way in this Campaign that he can do little wrong.)
Her website says this:
She has continued to advance peace in Northern Ireland by maintaining close ties with Irish leaders and promoting business partnerships between Northern Ireland and the United States.
She told an audience in New Hampshire in January
“I went [to Northern Ireland] more than my husband did. I was working to help change the atmosphere among people because leaders alone rarely make peace. They have to bring people along who believe peace is in their interests. I remember a meeting that I pulled together in Belfast, in the town hall there, bringing together for the first time Catholics and Protestants…”
The fact checkers have been out including the Washington Post and they think she’s overstating it a bit.
Lord Trimble (Nobel prize winner according to the Telegraph- though not the most enthusiastic as I remember and now a Conservative – but was he ever not) is definite in his appraisal of Ms. Clinton’s contribution. He said that she is a ‘wee bit silly’ with her claims. Oh you can hear him telling her to make the fecking tea while she’s at it.
Slugger O’Toole’s crew are mulling it over with their memories. I remember the tea pot, the speeches, the hugs and the hype over the visits. I’m sure women politicians and activists have a lot more to impart about her support and backing for their initiatives but they won’t be listened to in the din.
But if we are going to go over Hillary and Ireland stories, how’s about Finola Bruton’s speech upstaging her in Dublin and causing major upset to the women present! Do we remember that one!
My recollection of the media was how Hillary met on several occasions with NI women’s groups, and was warmly received. When she ran for the Senate, I think she was praised for her contribution by women. Perhaps that’s why Trimble knows nothing about her role? Her claims point to her engagement with political issues before she held an elected office – and her interest in Ireland has been maintained since.
Obama does not have that political instinct. Look: there is a dreadful situation in Kenya over these past months … if Obama had an ounce of savvy, he would have booted over there, as a second-generation Kenyan/American, and tried (at least) to play a role in calming frayed nerves and seeking to stem the violence. But, oh wait, Kofi Annan did that!
But these are just words…
“Overstating?” oh just a tad. While Hilary may delude herself that she singlehandedly pioneered the bringing together of protestants and catholics for the first time, ( cue- fanfare of angels), the organisation which I worked for had been convening such meetings of women across the North on a regular basis 7 years before Hilary hit the ole sod. And we were not alone in those efforts several orgnsiations, mainly women’s organisations had been doing similarly for sometime. As one of the women who attempted to get Hilary’s people to do more than arrange photo opportunites in handpicked locations imbibing tea with carefully vetted “women community activists”, Hilary’s ventures in the North focused on the creation of an elite, groomed cadre of women who could emanate their contemporaries in the US Democratic party and bypass the obstreporous lassies who held to a socio-economic analysis of women’s oppression
in the north. But sure there you go, unfortunately, its not just Hilary who has tried to wipe out womens history in the north, homegrown “feminists” in the Republic are even better at it.
[...] Posted by admin on 14 Mar 2008 at 01:15 pm | Tagged as: Uncategorized, US Election 2008, Newstalk Even though some of my readers protest more on the US Election and what Hilary did to solve ‘The Troubles’. It has been rumbling on all week and Hilary herself has launched further defences. [...]