Hillary Clinton is fed up with the military spending

Listening to Hillary Clinton's interview with NPR the other day was an exercise in suppressing my gag reflex. The golden quotes came so fast that even with my unreal 101 WPM typing speed (it's all I have; let me have it), I couldn't type them fast enough. Take this one, for starters:

"We tried to get international support and legitimacy for the Arab League peace plan to have some leverage, but unfortunately Russia and China vetoed it."

What a bummer that a couple of world powers can veto an otherwise effective U.N. resolution and throw a wrench into your plans. You know who else hates vetoes? These guys:

Palestinian children: These rocks used to be our school.

So yeah, vetoes suck, especially ones that help make atrocities possible for 40 years. I guess you can't always get what you want, Madam Secretary.

After that, listen to her lament all the crazy military spending:

"...you have one of the most highly-militarized, best-defended countries on earth because of course they spend an enormous amount of money with their Iranian and Russian friends so equipping themselves..."

Unless the line immediately following that one isn't "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" you have to assume she wasn't joking and the irony was lost on her. Is it fine for us to spend 600% more on our military and support similar regimes for any reason other than that we're the ones doing it?

I'm tired and I don't think this last quote even needs further comment:

"It's important that the United States, which supports the aspirations of all people everywhere, also stand up for the values and principles that make democracy workable over the long term."

If I were her and heard myself saying such things, I'd want to resign at the end of Obama's current term too. You almost have to respect her for it. The story can be read and heard here.

In other sort of amusing news, Leila Hatami, star of Oscar-winning Iranian film A Separation, made The Vancouver Sun's Academy Awards 2012 Worst-Dressed list. I couldn't find it in the actual piece (I saw it in the Google result), but there's a Mary and Joseph reference somewhere in there:

It's a bit tacky to pick on someone for wearing this ensemble when their other choice is to not wear it and face arrest and indefinite detention upon returning home. We take a lot of things for granted. In any case, expecting a team covering the Oscars to be privy to the finer points of Iranian constitutional law concerning public dress is probably sort of a tall order, so whatever. It is what it is.