Subject: Correct The Record Thursday August 7, 2014 Afternoon Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2014 13:46:57 -0400
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

**

*Correct The Record Thursday August 7, 2014 Afternoon Roundup:*

*Tweets:*

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: HRC "worked diligently during her
tenure at the @StateDept <https://twitter.com/StateDept> to strengthen the
U.S. economy and create American jobs"
http://thediplomat.com/2014/08/the-economics-of-us-foreign-policy/ …
<http://t.co/q3dlDfLT5F> [8/7/14, 10:25 a.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/497388028877627393>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: .@HillaryClinton
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton> knows the economic value of diplomatic
leadership, Amb. M. Osman Siddique writes in @Diplomat_APAC
<https://twitter.com/Diplomat_APAC>:
http://thediplomat.com/2014/08/the-economics-of-us-foreign-policy/ …
<http://t.co/q3dlDfLT5F> [8/7/14,10:03 a.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/497382465552789505>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: .@HillaryClinton
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton> launched the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy
Finance Initiative to bring clean energy to Africa. #HRC365
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/HRC365?src=hash>
http://www.state.gov/secretary/20092013clinton/rm/2012/06/193912.htm …
<http://t.co/obGPhrjj0E> [8/6/14, 5:01 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/497125424263364609>]

*Headlines:*

*Roll Call opinion: Burns Strider: “7 Themes Emerge for Hillary Rodham
Clinton and 2016”
<http://www.rollcall.com/news/7_themes_emerge_for_hillary_rodham_clinton_and_2016-235582-1.html?pos=lopilr>*

"Why would right-wing extremists devote their time, energy and money so far
away from an election attempting to discredit someone who hasn’t even
decided to be a candidate? It’s as simple as apple pie: If Clinton runs,
their agenda is in trouble.

They have to stop her in order to secure a shot at the presidency for
themselves."

*Glamour: “Career Advice from Hillary Rodham Clinton: ‘You Don't Have to Be
Perfect. Most Men Never Think Like That.’”
<http://www.glamour.com/inspired/2014/08/hillary-rodham-clinton-career-lessons>*

“She's been leaning in for four decades—but now, in between a major book
tour and a possible history-making presidential run, Hillary Rodham Clinton
is putting her feet up and offering ‘hard-earned’ career lessons she says
all young women should know.”

*Long Island Press: “Hillary Clinton’s Book Revue Signing in Huntington
Draws Hundreds”
<http://www.longislandpress.com/2014/08/07/hillary-clintons-book-revue-signing-in-huntington-draws-hundreds/>*

“In all, the store sold out its supply of 1,200 books—and the staff
lamented that they could’ve moved more product if they’d had the inventory.”

*Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Ties to Myanmar Are Called Into Question”
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-ties-to-myanmar-are-called-into-question-1407424561?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj>*

“Any backsliding, analysts say, could stain this legacy and harm Mrs.
Clinton's bid for the Democratic nomination in 2016.”

*CNN: “Russia gives Snowden 3-year residency”
<http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/07/world/europe/russia-snowden-residency/>*

“Edward Snowden, who leaked secret information about U.S. spying programs,
has been granted an extension to stay in Russia for three more years, his
attorney said in a televised press conference in Moscow Thursday… Former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently commented on Snowden's case in
an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel.”

*Town Hall opinion: Conn Carroll: “Hillary Clinton's Corporate Welfare Bank
Problem”
<http://townhall.com/tipsheet/conncarroll/2014/08/07/hillary-clintons-corporate-welfare-bank-problem-n1875936>*

"At an Africa Business Forum this week, the former-president said,
'Economics is not theology. If you're running a country, you've got to try
to create an opportunity for all of your businesses to be competitive. ...
That's all the Ex-Im bank does, and I've heard more ridiculous things said
about the Ex-Im bank in the last six months than I have in my adult life.'"

*Articles:*

*Roll Call opinion: Burns Strider: “7 Themes Emerge for Hillary Rodham
Clinton and 2016”
<http://www.rollcall.com/news/7_themes_emerge_for_hillary_rodham_clinton_and_2016-235582-1.html?pos=lopilr>*

By Burns Strider

August 7, 2014, 12:00 p.m. EDT

Republican operatives are as lost as last year’s Easter egg when it comes
to stopping Hillary Rodham Clinton. It’s two years from the presidential
election, important 2014 elections are in front of us, and Clinton hasn’t
even decided whether she will run. But the well-oiled Republican attack
industry has thrown everything at her but the kitchen sink.

Last week, the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee confirmed what
we’ve known all along: its most tried and most misleading attack, Benghazi,
is baseless.

The committee’s two-year investigation-turned-political-shenanigan has
further discredited right-wing conspiracy theorists. No deliberate
wrongdoing occurred, there was no intelligence failure before the attack
and no stand-down order was issued. Furthermore, Clinton took
responsibility, took action and was fully transparent.

Now, the right is left with nothing. And yet they continue to try to
mislead the American people.

Why would right-wing extremists devote their time, energy and money so far
away from an election attempting to discredit someone who hasn’t even
decided to be a candidate? It’s as simple as apple pie: If Clinton runs,
their agenda is in trouble.

They have to stop her in order to secure a shot at the presidency for
themselves.

But their baseless and politically-motivated attacks on the tragedy in
Benghazi haven’t worked. They have been proved false time and time again.
Truth rises; lies sink. In the course of our work, I’ve seen seven key
themes emerge. I wanted to share them with you all.

1. Public opinion is much better for Clinton now than it was in 2008. The
strength of Clinton’s poll numbers now, compared to this time in the 2008
cycle, is astonishing. This widespread favorability extends outside the
Beltway to Iowa and New Hampshire, where her favorability ratings with
Democrats are 89 percent and 94 percent respectively.

2. Americans across the ideological spectrum are looking positively to a
potential Clinton run. Republicans are trying every tactic in the book,
even trying to convince Democrats that Clinton is not liberal enough. But
only 6 percent of liberal Democrats don’t think she should run for
president.

3. Voters, specifically Democrats, are eager for her experience. If Clinton
chooses to run, she will be the most qualified candidate in the modern
history of the United States.

4. Clinton is in step with her party on core issues, particularly income
inequality. While Republicans try to convince people that she doesn’t
connect with the liberal base on income inequality, her lifelong record and
her own words tell us differently.

5. No credible challenger can amass the kind of broad party support Clinton
has. The energy and excitement for Clinton is unprecedented. In all my
years in politics, I have never seen such unified excitement for a single
potential candidate, while the Republican field is anemic at best.

6. Voters are behind her, not just politicos. What’s special about
Clinton’s broad support is that it’s not just people inside the Beltway.
Americans across the country have attended rallies, hosted house parties
and donated small dollar amounts to Ready for Hillary. On her book tour,
people have waited for hours, sometimes even overnight, just to see her,
just to get a book signed.

7. Lastly, but most importantly, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s work ethic has
been on full display for months. Clinton and her supporters, if she chooses
to run, do not want a coronation. America is a democracy, not a monarchy;
and we do not crown our presidents. Instead, our candidates work for it.
Clinton has demonstrated that she’s ready and willing to put in the hours.
Competition makes you work hard, and she will; she does. And we, her
supporters, will work hard, too. These seven themes showcase the
excitement, anticipation, and dedicated support for a Clinton candidacy. We
must stay focused on the future, because I believe that Hillary is the best
person to lead us there. We want someone focused on the hard choices that
loom.

In the meantime, I’m waiting to see how House Republicans explain to their
constituents back home this August that they’re continuing to waste
millions of taxpayer dollars funding a wild-goose chase on Benghazi, when
their own, Republican-led committee has already determined this attack to
be baseless. While they’re stuck in the past, Democrats are looking forward.

*Glamour: “Career Advice from Hillary Rodham Clinton: ‘You Don't Have to Be
Perfect. Most Men Never Think Like That.’”
<http://www.glamour.com/inspired/2014/08/hillary-rodham-clinton-career-lessons>*

By Cindi Leive

September 2014 [on newsstands on August 12, 2014]

She's been leaning in for four decades—but now, in between a major book
tour and a possible history-making presidential run, Hillary Rodham Clinton
is putting her feet up and offering "hard-earned" career lessons she says
all young women should know. Below, read an excerpt of Editor-in-Chief
Cindi Leive's interview with her from Glamour's September issue.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has been many things. You know the list: a lawyer,
our First Lady, a senator, a presidential candidate, a pantsuit icon, a
political lightning rod (remember health care in the 1990s?), the "most
admired woman" in America (for the twelfth year running, according to
Gallup), and, most recently, the most traveled secretary of state in
American history, visiting 112 countries in that job and doing everything
from fighting for human rights in Burma to facing criticism for the attack
on the American compound in Benghazi, Libya.

But right now, without a government gig for the first time in over three
decades, what she seems most like is a woman in between. Behind her is a
high-octane book tour for her new memoir, Hard Choices (not without its
speed bumps; her remark to ABC's Diane Sawyer that she and her family were
"dead broke" when they left the White House provoked skepticism, and she
later acknowledged she could have discussed the subject in a more "artful"
way). Ahead of her is a choice about whether to run for president once
again, after the 2008 race that won her 18 million votes, exponentially
more than any female candidate before her. "Toward the end of the year,
beginning of next year, I'll have to make a decision," the Secretary told
Glamour. (On The Daily Show, she gamely filled out a career aptitude
checklist to help her decide: "Do you like a home office?" Jon Stewart
asked. Yes, she said, she did.)

In the meantime, though, she is focusing on an issue women of all political
parties—people of all political parties—can and should get behind: the
advancement of women and girls around the world. Nineteen years ago this
month, then First Lady Clinton delivered a 20-minute speech in Beijing that
put the phrase "women's rights are human rights" on the map; today, at the
Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, she has launched No Ceilings:
The Full Participation Project, dedicated to collecting data on the state
of women globally. "No Ceilings will effect change for millions of women
and girls in the twenty-first century," Melinda Gates, cochair of the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, tells Glamour. "I'm optimistic that it will
[help address] these inequalities once and for all." I interviewed
Secretary Clinton about that—and about her career advice for women, because
the book offers a detailed portrait of her work life: negotiating,
networking, mentoring, and being mentored.

Here, excerpts from our interview, the complete version of which can be
found in the September issue of Glamour, available on tablet now or on
newsstands starting August 12. Listen in for her advice on everything from
networking to dealing with doubters. Whether or not you share her political
views, she's a work coach with serious experience to share.

Cindi Leive: You've been on the book tour to end all book tours! One of the
things that I found fascinating about your book was the amount of
personal-relationship building that goes into diplomacy—the long walks, the
teas, the personal conversations that then allow you to get things done. Do
we underestimate that piece of diplomacy?

Hillary Rodham Clinton: I think we underestimate it even beyond diplomacy.
I think that relationships are at the core of any political system and
economic system—any family—and I think we drifted away from understanding
that in our country. The people-to-people level is critical. It is ironic,
though—we can text with anybody in the world, we can have a videoconference
with anybody in the world, but [there should be] an even higher premium on
showing up and getting to know someone. Looking them in the eye, listening
to them, trying to understand where they're coming from.... When I became
secretary of state, I felt one of my primary jobs was building
relationships around the world. And I did spend a lot of time and effort
thinking through, How do I connect with this person?...

CL: You've said many times that your own approach to sexism, when you
encounter it, is to just smile and keep going. But it can get pretty
vile—during the 2008 presidential campaign we all remember the use of the
word bitch. How do you know when you should smile and when you really have
to call somebody out?

HRC: There's no easy answer. I'll give you some guidelines. I have
generally not responded if it's about me. And I have responded if it's
about somebody else, because if women in general are being degraded, are
being dismissed, then I can respond in a way that demonstrates I'm not
taking it personally but I'm really serious about rejecting that kind of
behavior. Now, sometimes when it is about me...you have to not just remain
silent but try to figure out a proper response—again, though, not going to
the place of anger and feeling sorry for yourself, because that kind of
plays into the hands of the sexists.... It does take practice though,
Cindi. This is not something that your average 25-year-old—well, let me
talk about myself: me at 25—would have either fully grasped or been able to
respond to. So I've got a lot of hard-earned lessons that I can fall back
on.... Back when I was going to school, I remember being in a big
conference hall at Harvard and taking the Law School Admission Test...and
some of the men were just rattling us.

CL: How?

HRC: [Saying], "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here." "You're
taking a place of a man who could maybe get drafted and die in Vietnam." It
was just really personal! Personal and pointed. So I was in that group who
were kind of on the front lines of a lot of this change. I think we're in a
much better place than we were, but we still have to stand up for
ourselves, and stand up for each other. Women standing up for each other is
critically important.

CL: You've talked a lot about the importance of young women running for
office. I hear from many of our readers that they're not all that
interested. They think it just looks like it's going to be incredibly
difficult—a blood sport.

HRC: It is.

CL: You quote Theodore Roosevelt, who called it "the arena." That sounds
like The Hunger Games! How do you persuade women this is something worth
doing?

HRC: I start by saying there are many ways to be influential. I mean, you
can work for politicians...or in government and make a difference.... And
for young women who are interested in running for office, you just have to
decide you're going to follow Eleanor Roosevelt's maxim about growing skin
as thick as the hide of a rhinoceros, and you have to be incredibly
well-prepared—better prepared [than a man], actually—and you have to figure
out how you're going to present yourself, and you have to have a support
group around you, because it can be really a brutal experience. But I think
if you were to talk to women who have run, both successfully and
unsuccessfully, nearly all of them would say, "You learn so much." You
learn about yourself, what you're capable of doing.... And it doesn't have
to all happen when you're young—I mean, one of the most powerful women in
American politics is Nancy Pelosi. She had five children. She didn't go
into politics until her youngest child was in high school.... That's one of
the great things about being a woman in today's world: You have a much
longer potential work life than our mothers or our grandmothers did.

CL: You joke about the attention paid to your hair, to your pantsuits, to
every fashion choice. Is it ever valid to look at those things?

HRC: It is. I mean, clearly people should meet an acceptable threshold of
appropriateness! [Laughs.] But I think that for many women in the public
eye, it just seems that the burden is so heavy. We're doing a job that is
not a celebrity job or an entertainment or fashion job.... In a
professional setting, treat us as professionals.... [And] it takes a lot of
time. I've often laughed with my male colleagues, like, "What did you do?
You took a shower, you combed your hair, you put your clothes on. I
couldn't do that."

CL: If the next president, whoever he or she might be, is a Democrat, that
person may face a Republican House and Senate. What do you think that
president can actually hope to get done, given how little the parties seem
to want to work together right now?

HRC: I don't in any way underestimate the difficulties, because it's only
gotten harder. But I do think you just have to go into it with the attitude
that you're going to speak clearly and authentically about what you see the
country needs...and seek out whatever possible partners you can, even in
the other party. I've looked at successful presidents going back. Some of
our most successful governed through periods when their party was in
charge, and when the other party was in charge. There's no magic formula.

CL: Esquire once said that your job as secretary of state was to "deal with
difficult men."

HRC: There's truth to that!

CL: What advice do you have for our readers about how to deal with
difficult men or women at work?

HRC: I will say, keeping your head down and doing the best job you can in
the beginning gives you the opportunity to be evaluated on the basis of the
contributions you are making. I often would listen more than talk in my
early meetings with people.... [Then], when you feel strongly about your
work or about a position, you'll be given more attention [than] if you
hadn't done that constantly.

At the same time, you cannot be afraid to present yourself. And sometimes
that takes practice. If you're not comfortable with public speaking—and
nobody starts out comfortable, you have to learn how to be
comfortable—practice. I cannot overstate the importance of practicing. Get
some close friends or family members to help evaluate you, or somebody at
work that you trust.

CL: Women know they need a mentor. I'm curious—how do you decide, in your
own professional life, who you want to mentor?

HRC: I look for people who have raw intelligence and a great work ethic and
loyalty, and I can quickly identify people who have the right ingredients.
But sometimes it is more difficult to get them to accept the fact that they
can take on increasing responsibility....Oftentimes individuals will decide
how far [they] go by how much work they're willing to put in and how quick
they are to ask for help. I consider that one of the great skills: Too many
people...have this deep-seated fear that if they ask for help, they will be
thought less of. In my [view], they'll be thought more of.

CL: I thought it was interesting in the book how many times you asked
people for advice. You called [American diplomat] Richard Holbrooke,
[former Secretary of State] Condoleezza Rice—

HRC: I'm a big believer in that, because I don't think any of us have the
answers to everything. There's no human being on earth who fits that
category. So why wouldn't you ask for help? Why wouldn't you run ideas by
people that you respect? Too many young people cast around trying to figure
out what the answer is themselves, because they're afraid to come back and
say, "I'm not sure I understood you," or "Could you give me a little more
information about what you need?" Just do that. It saves you time, it saves
your boss's or mentor's time. And it's a great lesson to learn.

CL: Do women feel that they have to be perfect from day one?

HRC: Yes! And that's a huge impediment that we impose upon ourselves. And
I've seen it in so many talented young women who hold back because they're
not sure that what they say will be smart enough. Or maybe they've said
something in a prior meeting, and people acted like they hadn't said it,
and that was crushing. Then we have all had the experience where 20 minutes
later, a man says the same thing and everybody responds positively.... So
don't take it personally. Take it seriously so that you understand it, and
then try to devise techniques to overcome it. And I think
this..."perfectionist gene" that too many young women have holds them back,
and instead they should be really aiming for "good enough." You don't have
to be perfect. Most men never think like that. They're just trying to
figure out what's the opening and how they can seize it. They're not
thinking about, Oh my gosh, I'm not perfect, my hair's not perfect today, I
wore the wrong shoes. No.

*Long Island Press: “Hillary Clinton’s Book Revue Signing in Huntington
Draws Hundreds”
<http://www.longislandpress.com/2014/08/07/hillary-clintons-book-revue-signing-in-huntington-draws-hundreds/>*

By Spencer Rumsey

August 7, 2014

Some women had been waiting outside Huntington’s Book Revue from 11 p.m. the
night before, others had been there since daybreak as the line wound around
the block. Their goal was the same: get a signed copy of Hillary Clinton’s
new book, Hard Choices, and lug the 635-page memoir home with them. In all,
the store sold out its supply of 1,200 books—and the staff lamented that
they could’ve moved more product if they’d had the inventory.

Across the street was a much smaller group of boisterous people who would
never dream of reading anything written by New York’s former senator and
ex-first lady as they made clear by their shouts denouncing her. They stood
on the corner of New York Avenue behind a police barricade, waving the
yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag that has become an emblem of the Tea Party,
holding placards promoting Fox News and denouncing Clinton for “lying.” One
young man proudly displayed a black T-shirt with white lettering that read,
“Liberalism is a mental disorder.” A middle-aged guy wearing a tan cowboy
hat yelled at Clinton’s booklovers that “You don’t even know who Benghazi
is!” Not so, shouted a man in line outside the book store, “Yeah, he’s Will
Benghazi’s brother!” That riposte drew a big laugh from his side of the
street.

The mood inside the Book Revue was ebullient as the line of people weaved
between the stacks and up the stairs to a balcony and down. Each patron had
been frisked by the Secret Service, and the store was closed to customers
after 2 p.m.The bathroom was off limits after 5 o’clock. There were a few
people in wheelchairs, an elderly woman in a walker who’d come from
Hempstead, and an infant dressed in a red, white and blue jumper.

Clinton sat down exactly at 6 o’clock, as promised, sparking applause and
cheers, greeting the crowd with a big smile, “It’s good to see you! Thank
you for coming!” Beaming beside her were Huntington Supervisor Frank
Petrone, Town Councilwoman Susan Berland, and State Comptroller Tom
DiNapoli—all Democrats and all big fans. They posed for the first pictures
and took off. The store staff and volunteers, plus a handful of interns,
kept people moving like a human conveyor belt. There was constant laughter
and chatter.

Many people were wearing red and blue stickers on their shirts that read
“I’m ready for Hillary!” and some even had T-shirts proclaiming “Hillary in
2016!” She hasn’t come close to declaring whether she’s going to run for
president, but these people on line had already made up their minds. She
could count on them.

“I wanted the chance to possibly look in the face of the future female
leader of the free world,” said a young woman from Huntington, who said she
was a registered Democrat but declined to give her name. She’d been waiting
since 9:30 a.m.“with about 30 people” ahead of her. And more than a
thousand people eventually lined up behind her.

The last time Clinton had been at the Book Revue for a signing, J.K.
Rowling had just released another Harry Potter book so the store was
packed. “We had Hillary people and Harry Potter people,” said Loren
Aliperti, the Book Revue’s event coordinator, with a smile. “That was the
biggest business day we’ve ever had!”

For 23-year-old Danielle Steinmetz of Wantagh, meeting Clinton was one more
thing to cross off from her bucket list.

“I am a huge Hillary fan! I just love her,” said Steinmetz. “She’s such an
inspiration and a role model! It’s great to finally meet her—it’s a dream
come true!”

*Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Ties to Myanmar Are Called Into Question”
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-ties-to-myanmar-are-called-into-question-1407424561?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj>*

By Shibani Mahtani

August 7, 2014, 11:20 a.m. EDT

YANGON, Myanmar—With U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expected to visit
Myanmar for a regional security summit this weekend, some U.S. lawmakers
and human rights watchdogs are warning of stalled overhauls and urging
reconsideration of the increasingly cozy relations between the two
countries.

The pressure on the U.S. to be harsher in its dealings with the Myanmar
government, analysts say, reflects a growing skepticism—in Washington and
beyond—toward the depth of the country's reforms, posing a challenge for
the Obama administration, which has touted Myanmar's democratic transition
as one of its biggest foreign-policy achievements.

Last week, 72 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, both Democrats
and Republicans, warned in a letter to Mr. Kerry that conditions in Myanmar
"have taken a sharp turn for the worse on a number of important fronts."
They pointed to "horrific images of emaciated children" that continue to
emerge from Rakhine state, where more than 140,000 mostly Rohingya Muslims
remain displaced in camps after communal riots two years ago.

The U.S. lawmakers also warned of what they described as "stalled political
reforms" linked to a slow and uncertain process around amending the
military-drafted 2008 constitution, which gives the military a veto power
over political changes and bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from
assuming the presidency.

"Just as the beginning of the reform process required a calibrated
reassessment of U.S. policy three years ago, recent disturbing developments
call for a significant recalibration now," their letter said.

Other groups like Human Rights Watch and PEN American Center, the
free-expression advocacy group, have urged Mr. Kerry to keep human rights
and freedom of expression issues high on his agenda. The Myanmar government
recently sentenced four journalists and the chief executive of their
newspaper to a decade in prison for a report on an alleged military-run
chemical weapons facility.

Mr. Kerry will be visiting Myanmar for the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations' Regional Forum on Aug. 10, held in the capital of Naypyitaw since
Myanmar chairs the bloc this year. He will also hold bilateral meetings
with the Myanmar government.

The souring of sentiment is in contrast to Hillary Clinton's celebrated
visit to Myanmar almost three years ago. It was the first visit of a U.S.
secretary of state to visit in almost six decades.

"Today there's more skepticism about the reforms," said Murray Hiebert, a
senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington. Some U.S. lawmakers, he adds, "argue that Washington has gone
too far too fast in relaxing sanctions, and exploring some
military-to-military relations."

In 2012, Washington reversed its harsh policy of sanctions against Myanmar,
slowly lifting economic sanctions and beginning a steady process of
engaging with those it once blacklisted, starting with the former generals
who make up the new nominally-civilian government.

But this recent increased pressure on Mr. Kerry proves a conundrum for Mr.
Obama's administration, which has consistently credited Myanmar's reform
success here to its own efforts. In Mrs. Clinton's recently launched book
called "Hard Choices," a chapter on Myanmar—describing in detail her 2011
visit and the U.S. efforts in engaging with the reformist government of
President Thein Sein —ends with the line: "It was America at its best." Any
backsliding, analysts say, could stain this legacy and harm Mrs. Clinton's
bid for the Democratic nomination in 2016.

Those close to Myanmar's reform process, though, continue to see U.S.
support — and the support of their businesses — as a crucial tenet of
country's success, where investment is just starting to create new jobs and
bolster the gross domestic product of a still-impoverished nation.

Pushing for the "resumption of the former U.S. policy of ostracism" must be
avoided for reforms and economic development to continue, said Romain
Caillaud, managing director of political consultancy Vriens & Partners in
Yangon. Mr. Caillaud has been based in the city for more than six years.

"Western businesses have a key role to play in this process of change that
started a few years ago only, and discouraging their investment in Myanmar
would not serve the objectives of policy makers in Washington, or of the
population of Myanmar," he added.

*CNN: “Russia gives Snowden 3-year residency”
<http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/07/world/europe/russia-snowden-residency/>*

By Joe Sterling

August 7, 2014, 8:10 a.m. EDT

Edward Snowden, who leaked secret information about U.S. spying programs,
has been granted an extension to stay in Russia for three more years, his
attorney said in a televised press conference in Moscow Thursday.

Snowden recently formally requested that Russia's government extend his
temporary asylum, and Snowden attorney Anatoly Kucherena said the request
had been accepted.

"As of August 1, 2014, Snowden has received residency for three years,"
Kucherena told reporters Thursday.

Snowden's temporary asylum in Russia ended on July 31. He'd been holed up
at a Moscow airport for five weeks before the Russian government granted
asylum for one year on August 1, 2013.

Snowden has kept busy working for a Russian website and speaking out on the
disclosures about the U.S. government's spying programs and processes that
he helped make public.

Snowden's disclosures in 2013 made him an icon among those who praised him
for risking his future to expose these secrets and a villain among those
who accused him of being a lawbreaker who betrayed the United States.

The former government information technology contractor collected
information on spy programs -- in which the NSA mined phone and Internet
metadata from thousands of people inside and outside of the United States
-- and exposed the programs to the media.

U.S. authorities have charged him with espionage and theft of government
property.

*No change in U.S. stance*

The White House says the extension of Snowden's asylum in Russia doesn't
change the U.S. government's desire for his return.

"There's been no change in our position: Mr. Snowden faces felony charges
here in the United States," said Ned Price, a spokesman for the National
Security Council.

"He should return to the U.S. as soon as possible, where he will be
accorded full due process and protections."

U.S. intelligence agencies fear Snowden has achieved celebrity as a leaker
and could be inspiring others to disclose classified national security
information.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently commented on Snowden's
case in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel.

"I think he is a poor messenger for the message that he's trying to take
credit for," she told the magazine.

"I think he could have provoked the debate in our country without stealing
and distributing material that was government property and was of some
consequence," Clinton said.

*Town Hall opinion: Conn Carroll: “Hillary Clinton's Corporate Welfare Bank
Problem”
<http://townhall.com/tipsheet/conncarroll/2014/08/07/hillary-clintons-corporate-welfare-bank-problem-n1875936>*

By Conn Carroll

August 7, 2014

Hillary Clinton may have already wrapped up the Democratic Party's 2016
presidential nomination, but she is still having trouble connecting with
non-Democratic partisans. According to the latest The Economist/YouGov
poll, just 38 percent of Americans believe Hillary "understands the
problems facing ordinary middle class people" while 44 percent of Americans
say she does not.

Former-Clinton White House political director Doug Sosnik may have recently
inadvertently explained why. In a 2013 memo he wrote:

“Americans' long-brewing discontent shows clear signs of reaching a boiling
point. And when it happens, the country will judge its politicians through
a new filter—one that asks, ‘Which side of the barricade are you on? Is it
the side of the out-of-touch political class that clings to the status quo
by protecting those at the top and their own political agendas, or is it
the side that is fighting for the kind of change that will make the
government work for the people—all the people?’”

And which side of that barricade is Hillary on?

One need look no further than the cozy relationship between Boeing, the
Clintons, and the Export Import Bank.

In 2010, just months after then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton helped
Boeing land a $3.7 billion deal with a Russian firm, Boeing returned the
favor by contributing $900,000 to the William J. Clinton Foundation.

All of these wheels were greased, of course, with taxpayer dollars through
the Export Import Bank, which helped finance Boeing's 2010 deal with
Putin's state-owned holding company.

Former-President Bill Clinton has since gone to bat for the Export Import
Bank, an entity that candidate-Barack Obama once called, "little more than
a fund for corporate welfare."

At an Africa Business Forum this week, the former-president said,
"Economics is not theology. If you're running a country, you've got to try
to create an opportunity for all of your businesses to be competitive. ...
That's all the Ex-Im bank does, and I've heard more ridiculous things said
about the Ex-Im bank in the last six months than I have in my adult life."

What Clinton forgot to mention, other then the lucrative way that Export
Import bank subsidies get funneled through Boeing and into his foundation,
is that the Export Import Bank often subsidizes deals that end up hurting
American businesses and killing American jobs. Just ask Delta Airlines
which recently told Congress that subsidized Ex-Im financing of Boeing
products hurts their bottom line.

The reality is that the Export-Import Bank does not create any net jobs.
Whatever jobs it does create for the corporations it subsidizes are lost by
non-subsidized businesses.

The only reason the Clintons support the Export-Import Bank is because it
gives them an opportunity to graft off of the corporate welfare banks
transactions.

These are exactly the type of crony capitalist deals that Americans,
especially "ordinary middle class people" are sick and tired of.