Hillary Clinton’s grand arrival at the State Department this morning, greeted by a cheering crowd of employees, had a single constant message: The era of the Bush foreign policy really is over.
“There are three legs to the stool of American foreign policy: defense, diplomacy and development,” Hillary said. “And we are responsible for two of the three legs. And we will make clear as we go forward that diplomacy and development are essential tools in achieving the long-term objectives of the United States.”
And above all, Hillary promised openness and debate:
“This is going to be a challenging time, and it will require 21st-century tools and solutions to meet our problems and seize our opportunities. I’m gonna be asking a lot of you, I want you to think outside the proverbial box. I want you to give me the best advice you can, I want you to understand there is nothing that I welcome more than a good debate, and the kind of dialogue that will make us better.”
Barack Obama and Joe Biden will also be visiting later today. Their reception should probably be at least as celebratory as this one, if not more so.
