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September 30, 2009

Obama – Clinton Clinton

Clinton Obama Situation Room..jpg

(Click for larger size)

After Obama delivered a prominent hug to Hillary just before his health care address to Congress, the Administration highlighted the moment on its Flickr stream.

On the “Bill side,” the Administration set up a very public encounter with 42 outside a NY restaurant five days later (and still another high profile appearance with Bubba at the Clinton Global Initiative the week after that).

Obama Clinton healthcare.jpg

(Click for larger size)

But then, the attention didn’t just start there. For example, there was also the very flattering “Situation Room” shot for BC on the WH Flickr stream the month before.

I was wondering, is all the attention, with the high-profile photo ops, based on that close a set of working relationships or are more strategic factors at play?

(image 1: Lawrence Jackson/White House. President Barack Obama hugs Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as he enters the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Sept. 9, 2009. linked image: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images. caption: US President Barack Obama (R) shakes hands with former US president Bill Clinton (C) as they walk out of restaurant Il Mulino, where they had lunch together, in New York on September 14, 2009. image 3: Pete Souza/White House. caption: President Barack Obama meets with former President Bill Clinton in the Situation Room of the White House, including (from left ) NSC Senior Director for Asian Affairs Ambassador Jeff Bader, Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, NSC Advisor General Jim Jones and Vice President Joe Biden, August 18, 2009)

  • Jason

    Former President Clinton (FPC)is a significant tool in the proverbial “tool box”. Hilliary is performing her role magnificietly. FPC’s resurection began when he brought those two young journalist home from North Korea. He is an echo from the past on health care reform. But sometimes “ghost” shock us into an appreciation for what’s facing us. Bill is Bill and Bill will always be Bill, the country is full of challenges and we benifit from all the leadership we can get. With that said I think President Obama and VP Biden have a very stealth look about them.

  • http://departmentofhomegirlsecurity.wordpress.com Still4Hill

    IF it’s true, and I am not sure it is, that Michelle asked Obama if he really wanted them down the hall if Hillary were VP, well now he has to go out of his way to court them and get their advice. Yes, it would have been wise to have them down the hall. Hindsight is 20/20 and now he’s got Biden down the hall and Hillary all over creation making giant foreign relations strides by being Hillary.
    Don’t play with firecracker.

  • jtfromBC

    Obama and the Clintons share the same agenda thats why they dig each other says Cornel West
    AMY GOODMAN: Last week, more than 750 Facebook users reportedly cast votes on the poll, titled “Should Obama Be Killed?” The poll has since been removed.
    CORNEL WEST: Yeah, but this is part of the sickness. I mean, this is part of the sickness. And this is part of the white supremacist element. Thank God that America is not as racist as it used to be, but I think this certainly shatters all claims about America being post-racial. And this actually is very important, because, see, in the campaign—of course, I had supported Obama very strongly, would do it again, but promised him, when he won, I would be a major critic, because it wasn’t just about him, it was about the cause. It was about how do you unleash democratic possibilities, how do you get healthcare for everybody, how do you make sure the levels of unemployment and underemployment in poor communities, and disproportionately black and brown, are eliminated and so forth. And what is—
    AMY GOODMAN: You’ve talked about being Frederick Douglass to his Abraham Lincoln.
    +++CORNEL WEST: Absolutely. If he’s going to be Lincoln. So far, he’s only been a black Clinton, a black neoliberal. Let’s see the real progressive move, Mr. Obama. You see what I mean? That’s hard to do.+++
    AMY GOODMAN: What does it mean to be Frederick Douglass?
    CORNEL WEST: And Frederick Douglass is truth-teller, truth-teller, and truth-telling in such a way that you’re willing to cooperate but not be co-opted. You know, in fact, when I made that remark about, you’ll find me in the crack house rather than the White House, a lot of people said, “Oh, West is losing his mind. He’s against the White House.” No, no. The question is, there’s nothing wrong with going into the White House, but to take a job there, when one’s vocation, like Douglass, is to bear truth, bear witness to truth and justice, it’s a very different thing, you see. And in a crack house, reform can take place, too, but you don’t stay there, either, you see. But it’s your calling that is first and foremost. And what has happened is, people are so drunk with power and success, they’re losing sight of truth and the costs that go with bearing witness to justice
    @ http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/30/dr_cornel_west_on_his_new
    interview @ Dr. Cornel West http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/30/dr_cornel_west_on_his_new

  • ggb

    Speaking as a Canadian, who can’t figure out what the **** Americans are so scared of universal health care about, the more time Mr. O spends with Mr. C, the better off the USA will be.

  • jtfroBC

    Comrade Canadian, it seems a majority of Americans don’t fear a Single Player program.
    A New York Times/CBS News poll released last week shows, yet again, that the majority of Americans support national health insurance
    http://www.healthcare-now.org/another-poll-shows-majority-support-for-single-payer/

  • jtfromBC

    caffeine has just kicked in, so Player = Payer,

  • ggb

    Sorry, guess I should have been more specific – Why are most crazy, right-wing, older, rich Conservatives afraid of universal health care?