Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Senator Clinton Does Damage Control

Finally with the truth staring at her in the face, the Senator relented on her story that she fought off 3,000 armed men single-handedly and then went on and rescued the Prince and the Princess in Tuzla. Okay okay, I'm exaggerating a bit, but then again, so is Hillary Clinton. For weeks she tried to peddle this crap about her heroic efforts to broker peace in Bosnia, when the truth was far from her own recollection of events. So why couldn't she just tell the truth from the get go?

From Yahoo News:

That's a question worth considering as the former first lady tries to contain damage to her credibility after getting caught exaggerating the danger of her 1996 trip to Bosnia. Two others: Is there a pattern of embellishment? And is she held to a higher standard than her rival, Barack Obama?

The answers: Yes, she's held to a higher standard and, yes, she does exaggerate her credentials. Perhaps she's driven by insecurity; Clinton must think her resume needs padding to reflect "35 years of experience" and the promise to be "ready on Day One."

Otherwise, the truth would have sufficed.

The fact is that Clinton and her entourage were warned in advance that Bosnia was hostile territory and that there had been sniper fire reported in the hills surrounding the tarmac at some point before the trip. As a journalist on the trip, the story I wrote began, "Venturing to the front lines of the Bosnia peacekeeping mission, Hillary Rodham Clinton greeted U.S. troops today and heard horror stories about the region's devastating civil war."


So we have to worry about an insecure candidate who would rather embellish her biography in order to garner a few extra votes, to look a little stronger and a little tougher. Is that the kind of leader we need in the White House?