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Okay, so the White House says it was "protocol."

The Office of the Chief of Protocol is the organization charged with the responsibility to "plan and execute Presidential Delegations abroad," and to "propose and purchase gifts to give foreign leaders."

Ambassador Capricia Penavic Marshall, nominated May 13 and sworn in as the Chief of Protocol on August 3, 2009 (having overcome some tax cheat problems like so many other Obama administration appointees) is the head of that Office.

On the web site of the Hillary Clinton Army blog, run by avid Hillary Clinton fangirl Gretchen Baer, there is a September 10 post entitled "Congratulations, Capricia Penavic Marshall!"

The post relates the following details:

Capricia was a tremendous help to me [Baer] on the Campaign Trail. She assisted me many times by doing the work necessary to allow the Hillcar to be included within Hillary's rallies.
She is always kind, friendly and very helpful, and I can see why both Hillary and Bill have trusted in Capricia for many years.
It's great to know that Hillary continues to surround herself with devoted, trustworthy, and extremely competent people.

A Fox News video indicates that Ambassador Marshall was the Clinton White House Social Secretary for eight years, and a WhoRunsGov profile indicates that she worked on the 1992 Clinton campaign. In other words, Ambassador Marshall was an executive of both the Bill and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns, and has been a trusted assistant to the Clintons for nearly 20 years.

She is quoted from her confirmation hearing:

“Understanding and appreciating different cultures was a core part of my upbringing... It will continue to be a central part of the Protocol Office as it shares the fabric of American life with a diplomatic community.”

So she's absolutely, positively NOT an amateur at international protocol.

Does anyone else begin to wonder if the 25 Region 1 DVDs for Tony Blair, or the bow to the Saudi king, or the bow to the emperor of Japan, or many other international gaffes, is not just yet another list of examples of Obama ignorance or arrogance, but part of an overarching plan by the evil genius Clintons and their minions to put Hillary in the White House in 2012?

Or even sooner than 2012, if Biden, Pelosi, and Byrd don't watch their backs? Secretary of State is the highest unelected position in the line of Presidential succession.

And what's Obama going to do about it if this is, in fact, what happened?

Go whining to the media, half of whom were in the tank for Hillary? Call one of Hillary Clinton's most trusted friends and cohorts, or Hillary herself, onto the carpet and chew her out, and/or fire her in disgrace, and thereby outrage and infuriate fully 46% of the Democrat Party delegates, including a full third of the superdelgates, who voted for her in the primary?

I'm beginning to suspect Obama's getting some first hand experience with old-school Clinton-style Arkansas hardball politics, and is finding that they put Chicago-style hardball politics to shame.