Hillary is Layin' Low in the EU

So it looks like Hillary has been behind the scenes all day today. According to this article from the NYT Mrs. Clinton will be at Mr. Obama’s side for the next few days, as he travels to a NATO summit meeting in France and Germany, and a European Union gathering in Prague.

Aides say it is entirely possible she will not utter a word in public during any of Mr. Obama’s appearances, and so far I haven't seen any signs of her! Booooo!

Supposedly, aides are reporting Hil has sent her own plane home, kept only a handful of staff members with her and is now being viewed as the No. 1 member of the president’s staff.

And white House officials said Mrs. Clinton’s collegial, pragmatic approach has enhanced her influence with Mr. Obama. On her trip to China, for example, she played down human rights concerns, saying she did not want them to interfere with priorities like climate change and the economy.

Though causing some riffs with human-rights groups such as Amnesty International, it apparently helped her with the White House. She laid the groundwork for Mr. Obama’s meeting with Mr. Hu on Wednesday, these officials said.

In D.C. Hillary has no shortage of access to the President. They have weekly meetings on Thursday afternoons, aides say, and she sees him several times during a regular week at the White House.

NYT also reported that Hillary is no ordinary secretary of state. For example, on her flight to London from The Hague, a large bouquet of Dutch tulips occupied a seat in the press section, which was empty because most members of the traveling press corps had opted to fly home.

The flowers were gift of the Dutch foreign minister. They weren't any old flowers either, they were Hillary Clinton tulips! A variety that was especially cultivated and named for her in 1994, when she was first lady. Awww!

Hillary asked that the flowers be brought to cheer up her hotel room in central London. So sweet!