Undeserved McCain-like praise on competence and debt crisis perplexing coming from conservatives, especially given Hillarycare, Benghazi and most of the rest of her history as First Lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State.

Hillary Rodham is no Bill Clinton and one house of Congress is less than two. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) can count and Fox News commentator Brit Hume covered the Clinton White House, yet:

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) said Sunday that if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were president, the nation’s fiscal crisis would have been averted.

“Look, if we had a [Hillary] Clinton presidency, if we had Erskine Bowles as chief of staff of the White House or president of the United States, I think we would have fixed this fiscal mess by now,” Ryan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “[But] that’s not the kind of presidency we’re dealing with right now.” Bowles was chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton, and currently co-chairs the Campaign to Fix The Debt, a bipartisan deficit reduction effort.

and:

WALLACE: Yeah, I want to pick up on that, Brit, because during the hearing, what struck me was the Republicans were tough on Hillary, on Benghazi and the Democrats weren’t. But, both sides kept on saying what a great secretary of state she had been and to praise her service. And here’s some of the points that have been brought up, some of her accomplishments. She helped assemble the bombing campaign in Libya to topple Muammar Qaddafi. She helped assembly the coalition that imposed the toughest sanctions ever on Iran. And, she established diplomatic ties with Burma.

Question, Brit, how do you rate Hillary Clinton’s performance, record as our top diplomat?

HUME: I think those examples you cited would add up to a case for her competence. They do not add up to a case for greatness, after all, the groundwork on Burma had been done by the previous administration. And the administration properly followed through on it. You look across the world, now at the major issues. Are Arabs and Israelis closer to peace? How about Iran and North Korea and their nuclear programs? Have they been halted or seriously set back? Has the reset with Russia, which she so famously introduced with the photo-op in Moscow with the reset button, has they lead to a new and more cooperative relationship? Is there a Clinton doctrine that we can identify that she has articulated and formed as secretary of state? Are there major treaties that she has undertaken and negotiated through to a successful conclusion? I think the answer to all those questions is that she has not. And those are the kinds of things that might mark her as a great secretary of state.

She has certainly been industrious. She has visited 112 countries. Her conduct as secretary of state has been highly dignified. She does her homework. There have been no gaffes or blunders. So I think she has been a capable and hard working secretary of state, but I think the case for her being a great secretary of state is exceedingly weak.

Brit thinks the case for Hillary as having been a “great” Secretary is weak? Well, thanks for small favors. If only three instead of four had been killed in Benghazi and less than 10,000 in  Syria would the case that she has been have been strong? How many more would have had to die for Mrs. Bill Clinton to be deemed “incompetent”?

Industrious  and dignified visitor of 112 countries? How many did Phileas Fogg (pictured) visit in his 80-day trip around the world? And since when, Chris Wallace, is leading from behind to depose a former enemy of the United States then in a post-9/11 box in order to turn Libya in a safe haven for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a welcome “accomplishment”?

Surely Paul Ryan understands that:

• When President Bill Clinton had both houses of Congress he tried to pass Obamacare’s forerunner, Hillarycare (not named for Sir Edmund Hillary);
• Our fiscal mess can’t be fixed absent repeal of Obamacare;
• If Republicans controlled both the House and Senate with a Clinton as the 45th President of the United States, any bill repealing their socialist medicine dream would be vetoed with no chance of being overridden; and
• Erskine Bowles will never be president, and even if he was, there would still be no prospect of fixing the fiscal mess even if Ryan and the GOP were prepared to enact recovery-killing higher taxes, which would also probably prevent the federal government from collecting enough revenues to balance the budget in any event.

To paraphrase the supposed competent fiscal hawk, what difference, at this point, does it make? It depends upon what it is, but isn’t it past time for the Ryans and Humes of the world to quit trusting Lucys (Democrats) not named Barack, as well as those named Hussein? I think so. We had hoped that Hillary’s hysterical (undignified, Brit) hissy fit before Congress, claiming that “at this point” it doesn’t matter how the four died in Benghazi, would be one of the main attractions in ads promoting a Republican to replace Barack Obama in the White House in Campaign 2016. But if more follow Ryan and Hume’s lead, Hillary may be able to cast Republicans as her main endorsers.

Mike DeVine

“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson

Editor – Hillbilly Politics

Co-Founder and Editor – Political Daily

Atlanta Law & Politics columnist – Examiner.com