What Do Hillary Clinton And Van Halen Have In Common?

This is a YouTube video of an ABC new report on the travel arrangements required by Hillary Clinton when she is making a speech:

The video is posted at an article at Hot Air about Mrs. Clinton’s requirements. This is the basic list:

According to a May 31, 2013 email, Clinton’s standard contract usually includes:

■ Round-trip transportation on a chartered private jet “e.g., a Gulfstream 450 or larger jet,” plus round-trip business class travel for two advance staffers who will arrive up to three days in advance.

■ Hotel accommodations selected by Clinton’s staff and including “a presidential suite for Secretary Clinton and up to three (3) adjoining or contiguous single rooms for her travel aides and up to two (2) additional single rooms for the advance staff.”

■ A $500 travel stipend to cover out-of-pocket costs for Clinton’s lead travel aide.

■ Meals and incidentals for Clinton, her travel aides and advance staff, as well as all phone charges.

■ Final approval of all moderators or introducers.

So what do Hillary Clinton and Van Halen have in common? At the end of the video, you will hear a comment about brown M & M’s. Despite a well-deserved reputation for sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Van Halen was a group of professionals. They cared about the technicalities of their shows, and those technicalities were important–both for the band’s safety and for the quality of the performance the audience enjoyed. Their contracts included a lot of technical details they needed to be taken care of in order for their performance to be what it needed to be. In order to see if the venue had paid attention to the technicalities, they included a provision that they wanted M & M’s in the dressing room, but they did not want brown M & M’s. If they walked into the dressing room and saw brown M & M’s, they knew they needed to check the technical aspects of the show carefully before the performance.

Hillary also has very specific conditions for her appearances. Unfortunately, hers have little to do with the enjoyment of her audience.