March 24, 2008
Target Practice
Sniping about sniper fire. These Dems need to be reminded that the bull's-eye should be on John McCain. ...
Barack Obama's campaign forwarded this 1996 CBS piece to reporters today to counter Hillary Clinton's recent campaign trail claim that as First Lady she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire.
But during today's call with reporters, Howard Wolfson defended Clinton's rendering of events, reading a series of news reports of the visit that he said proved the conditions on the ground were "hazardous" and a "potential combat zone."
"She was taking an opportunity to visit troops in a potentially dangerous area," Wolfson added. "There’s no dispute about that. People at the time wrote that."
The Washington Post fact checked Clinton's claim this weekend, concluding that it "is simply not credible." The paper also ran a picture of Clinton embracing an 8-year-old girl on the tarmac at the Tuzla Air Base. Right after she landed.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
Posted at 12:45 PM
Comments
Anyone else think this Skalka person is on the Obama payroll? From the headlines to the content the blog postings are overwhelmingly biased against Hillary Clinton.
undecided | 03.24.08 01:39 PM
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Hotline on Call another fine Obama 527? Possibly. I know there's little original reporting going on here.
Relying on the Washington Post's "Fact Checker" is not conclusive since the Fact Checker's analysis is often suspect. We know at the very least he didn't bother to ask anyone who might have first-hand knowledge.
About those so-called "not credible" claims, Larry Johnson (ex-CIA, friend to Valerie Plame) at No Quarter says
Cork screw take off and landings were instituted after a buddy of mine–-a now retired U.S. Army Colonel–-was shot while sitting on a plane flying out of Sarajevo back in 1993. Someone on the ground sprayed the plane with an AK-47 and Mac (my friend’s name) came close to bleeding out. He spent almost a year in rehab. Doctors saved his leg but he was essentially crippled because of that gunshot.So Hillary is not exaggerating about the danger back then and the plane ride in. It was not as dangerous as Iraq perhaps, but it was still risky.
But here at Hotline, the important point that makes Hillary's story not credible is that she hugged a young girl on the tarmac. Gotcha!
Johnson adds, "I do not have access to her full itinerary back then. It is possible she is recalling a different landing that was not filmed. And it also is possible she is confusing one incident with another. But if the big difference is whether she shook hands after getting off the plane or dashed to the car ducking gunfire, well, at least she was visiting Europe in an official capacity. She was doing more 16 years ago then Obama has accomplished since joining the Senate. Hell, the dude’s passport is still stamp free of European ports of entry."
corinne | 03.24.08 02:04 PM
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I wonder if anyone is ever going to Barack Obama the dates when he was in Bosnia to help bring about peace, representing the United States of America?
Jan | 03.24.08 03:10 PM
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Yes undecided, anytime one catches Hillary in a lie, it must be the reporter's bias. It couldn't actually be that Hillary is overstating her part in the Clinton administration. That has become obvious to anyone not drinking the kool-aid. You should come off it a bit, you're starting to sound like crazy right-wingers railing against the "lib'rul media".
Get a grip.
Shaun | 03.24.08 04:18 PM
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I remember Hill saying she once looked into joining the Marines, but they would not take her because of her vision. If she doesn't get the nomination, I would be willing to start a collection. I hear that lasik surgery works great these days.
flyover | 03.24.08 04:34 PM
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Clinton just last week gave a very detailed description of the landing at Tuzla, and said specifically that the situation was so hazardous that they canceled the greeting ceremony and had to run from the plane to their waiting cars. The video shows this is clearly not true. And no, it isn't a different trip to Tuzla. She only flew there once.
So, either she wildly exaggerated how dangerous it was, or she has a very poor memory. Either way it speaks poorly of her abilities to lead.
Edgar | 03.24.08 05:49 PM
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Hillary is both an enabler and a serial liar.
Neither are a virtue a leader, much less a candidate for the highest position in the land should have.
Just say NO to Hillary.
Wayne | 03.24.08 06:19 PM
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She "misstated" according to her minions??? LOL
Not only did she script the lie in her speech, Hillary embellished it even further when given the chance to recover in a Q & A session afterward, repeating the entire lie and then stating clearly, "NOW THAT IS WHAT HAPPPENED."
And it is all on videotape. The original visit, the ceremony she claims never happened, and her MULTIPLE lies about the event.
Earl | 03.24.08 09:26 PM
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This is even more ridiculous as her claim that she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary (she wasn't), and it reveals her anabashed compulsion to paint herself in a positive light no matter what. I suppose being married to a charming, if pathological "truth-bender" has something to do with her tainted charater, but ol' "Hills" should remember one key difference: Hubby pres Bill gets away with it because he is warm and charismatic. She, on the other hand, has about as much charm and warmth as a pit viper. For someone so smart, she is making some incredibly stupid mistakes lately.
Flayle Payne | 03.25.08 11:35 AM
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Hey Shaun - thanks for making my point. Skalka's post since I made my observation have been diminished in number and some non-obnoxious posts about hillary have been done.
looks like the editors agreed with me.
as for you, your response was that of a "typical Obama supporter" where you attack and attack and then decry the attacks in this campaign. Cheers man.
undecided | 03.25.08 11:41 AM
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.. and the posts from yesterday who actually attempted to defend/downplay Hillary's blatant fabrication and misrepresentation ("ducked and ran under fire", "didn't have time to stop," etc.)give me a break. John McCain actually SERVED and was a PRISONER OF WAR in North Vietnam. If anyone has a right to tell war stories, it's Sen. McCain. However, real heroes don't brag, much less tell blatant lies about combat situations that never happened.
Makes for a great John Lovitz sketch, though: "Yeah, that's right...we were running under sniper fire...me, Chelsea, Sinbad and Sheryl Crow..didn't have time to stop, nossir...I actually dove on a grenade in my flak jacket to save Sinbad's life and took out two pillboxes with Sheryl's guitar...yeah, that's the ticket!"
Flayle Payne | 03.25.08 11:50 AM
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