BAMWATCH + HILLWATCH

Posted at  7:12 a.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal has carefully considered the new romance between President-elect Barack Obama and President-of-the-world Select Hillary Rodham Clinton, and has decided that there may be problems there.  We're inclined to agree, although we're deeply offended that anyone could attribute personal motives to either individual:

Barack Obama's choice of Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State is either a political master stroke, or a classic illustration of the signature self-confidence that will come back to haunt him. We're inclined toward the latter view, but then Mr. Obama is the one who has to live with her -- and her husband.

What happened to that old-time respect for our leaders?  Ah, those were the days.

The President-elect's political calculation seems clear enough: Better to have the Clinton machine as allies than as critics on the outside of his Administration.

You don't really believe our new president thinks that way, do you?

These political calculations must be predominant, because Mrs. Clinton brings no special policy expertise to the job. Her best attribute may be her undeniable work ethic. She has focused on foreign policy in her Senate committee assignments, but without much notable influence on policy or events.

But she already knows the dinner customs in so many countries.

It's also strange if Mr. Obama is trying to invoke the Clinton Presidency as a foreign-policy golden age. We recall it mostly as an era of illusory peace as problems festered with too little U.S. attention. Al Qaeda was left unchecked, Saddam Hussein banished U.N. inspectors and exploited Oil for Food, North Korea embarked on a secret nuclear program, Russia's post-Cold War spring faded, and Pakistan's A.Q. Khan spread nuclear-bomb technology around the world.

More quibbling.  These right-wing journalists.

Mr. Obama's biggest gamble is associating his Presidency with the Clinton political circus. At least as Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton will have a specific role, as opposed to the ill-defined mandate of a Vice President...

...But that still leaves Bill Clinton and his gift both of irrepressible gab and for inevitable controversy.

Hmm.  Yeah, maybe there's a point there.  Where is Monica, by the way?

Given the Clinton history with the Riadys of Indonesia, Johnny Chung, the Lippo Group and Arkansas compadre Thomas "Mack" McLarty's business travels through the Americas, we hope the President-elect knows what he's getting into. The Senate has an obligation to inspect and make public the Clinton global fund-raising machine check by check, with names, dates and precise amounts.

So many embarrassments, so little time.

In choosing Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama is also hiring someone he can't easily fire. This is usually a mistake, as President Bush learned with Colin Powell.

And that hire was a major mistake.  Finally...

...the transition spin that Mr. Obama's Cabinet choices are inspired by Abraham Lincoln's "Team of Rivals" also suggest more than a little hubris. Honest Abe had to deal with jealous advisers and treacherous generals to win the Civil War. We're not sure even that would be adequate preparation for the raucous, uncontrollable political entitlement that has always driven the Clintons.

I wouldn't call that a vote of confidence, would you?  Well, at least Obama could send her on a round-the-world trip lasting four years.  The amen press would define that as a foreign-policy masterstroke.

December 2, 2008.