Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said recently that she doesn’t plan to disengage from American politics, which is not entirely surprising. After all, she has been in the game for the better part of 40 years.
What some are finding hard to believe, however, is that staying active in the political scene apparently means advising one of President Trump’s cabinet nominees, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who is gearing up now to become the next secretary of state.
Politico reported Tuesday [emphasis added]: “[N]ow that Pompeo faces a tough confirmation process to become secretary of state himself, he has reached out to Clinton and Kerry, as well as every other living occupant of the office, to ask for guidance. Clinton, for one, has been willing to help.”
The CIA director allegedly contacted Clinton for a very simple reason: She once held the position for which he is now preparing. Clinton reportedly obliged Pompeo, walking him through various strategies for navigating the confirmation process successfully. She went as far as to offer him advice on how to deal specifically with Democratic pushback.
An interesting note: Pompeo supposedly reached out to John Kerry as well. The Politico report, however, makes no mention of whether the former Massachusetts senator, secretary of state, and failed presidential candidate extended a helping hand.
For some critics, there are two immediately notable and/or confusing details about the Clinton story.
First, offering Pompeo confirmation tips is somewhat remarkable considering he was one of her harshest critics during her time at the State Department. In fact, after she was cleared of any wrongdoing in the fatal Benghazi fiasco, he wrote in a House report that, “[the State Department is] seemingly more concerned with politics and Secretary Clinton’s legacy than with protecting its people in Benghazi.”
Yet, here we are, with Clinton reportedly helping Pompeo prepare for his confirmation fight.
Secondly, it has not gone unnoticed that Clinton reportedly offered aide to a member of the Trump administration. The Trump administration! As a self-professed leader of the anti-Trump resistance, Clinton’s actions here are decidedly off-brand. Perhaps she is not familiar with the resistance’s “this. is. not. normal.” mantra. Then again, maybe she is and she simply isn’t interested in adhering to the “don’t normalize Trump” rule.
All that said: Is this story really that remarkable? Is it really that strange that one former secretary of state would advise another potential secretary of state on how to navigate the confirmation process?
Perhaps the real takeaway from the Politico report is that it’s surprising that it’s surprising. Clinton agreeing to help Pompeo speaks well of her. It does not, however, speak well of the current state of American politics, which has become so rotten, so overrun with acrimony and bitterness, that a friendly gesture is considered shocking and wholly unexpected.
Let’s not file this story away under, “You won’t believe this.” Let’s file it away under, “This is actually perfectly reasonable, but things today are so unreasonable that it seems shocking.”
