A lot of folks didn't notice that Hillary gave an interview last week about Iraq that read like George Bush at his worst. Not only did she lecture Democratic voters about how Iraq is tied to September 11 - which it most certainly is not - but she then one upped herself by chastising the other Democratic candidates, and we presume their supporters, over the fact that SHE was alive on September 11, and apparently we weren't:
Attention focused on Iraq and her vote to authorize the use of force ahead of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Presidential rivals such as former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards now say the vote in support was a mistake.
"There are no do-overs in life," Clinton said. She says Congress received bad information going into the vote and that she would have voted differently given what she knows now.
"As a senator from New York, I lived through 9/11 and I am still dealing with the aftereffects," Clinton said. "I may have a slightly different take on this from some of the other people who will be coming through here."
Clinton said her view is that the nation is engaged in a deadly fight against terrorism, a battle that she contends Bush has botched.
"I do think we are engaged in a war against heartless, ruthless enemies," she said. "If they could come after us again tomorrow they would do so."
With all due respect, that's a load of crap. As a resident of Washington, DC I too lived through September 11 and have been dealing with the aftereffects. I watched the Pentagon burn outside my window the entire day, so spare me the "you lived through September 11 and I didn't" crap. Secondly, I suspect every American alive on that day was scared to death and worried about their lives and their loved ones and their country. It is beyond hubris to suggest that somehow Mrs. Clinton suffered more than the rest of us, and even worse, she implies that we didn't suffer at all.
We don't have a problem with Hillary, here at AMERICAblog. Other than John Kerry, who has now left the presidential race, we don't have firm views about any of the candidates (though Biden gives us the willies). Sure, we have concerns about all of candidates, to varying degrees, and we have things we like about each of them - but we have written off no one, and we most certainly are not Hillary-haters.
But.
Invoking September 11 when asked about Iraq is unconscionable. It is pure Dick Cheney, and an outright lie. It is not what a Democrat says, and hell, it isn't even what a sane moderate Republican says. I have no idea what Senator Clinton was trying to telegraph in her speech - who exactly doesn't think that we're engaged in a war against heartless enemies? - but speaking as a blog that has a pretty damn good record of treating her fairly, she really crossed the line on this one.
Don't question our patriotism, and don't talk like George Bush, or this is going to be a very problematic race.
