"Clinton in Europe: great grammar, and very on-message" ft.com/brusselsblog

[Captain_Nemo]

http://blogs.ft.com/brusselsblog/2009/03/clinton-in-europe-great-grammar-and-very-on-message/

Clinton in Europe: great grammar, and very on-message

March 5, 2009 6:34pm
Reporters are a fairly cynical lot - even we “interested pencils”. But when Hillary Clinton finished her first press conference in Europe as US Secretary of State a little while ago, I heard laughter and a short ripple of applause from the audience.

She got the laughs at the end of a lengthy and serious explanation of why anti-missile defence systems would be important for the US and its allies in the 21st century (rogue regimes and networks of terrorists will be tomorrow’s problem, not traditional nation-states). Noticing that her audience had gone quiet in apparent contemplation of the missile warfare awaiting us, she said brightly: ”And on that happy note…!” The mood lifted and the press conference ended.

She got the ripple of applause for what was a very assured performance on a range of foreign policy issues - Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, and the future of Nato. It is no exaggeration to say that she didn’t put a foot wrong, either in stating US policy or in formulating her sentences gramatically. The aphasiac era of US leadership has definitely come to a close.

You might say, well, what do you expect from one of the US’s most able political campaigners? True, true. Still, it’s reassuring to know that she has such a firm grasp of the issues.