Did anyone else find Hillary's sniper joke disturbing?

[NJmaverick]

I heard on the Tonight Show, where she joked about being late because of sniper fire. Was it me, or is joking about telling a lie (and getting caught) a bit disturbing?

[GarbagemanLB]

1. Like Bush's WMD joke, it was uncomfortable and showed amazing ineptitude.

[blm]

57. I made the exact same point in another thread.

.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. she'll have to answer honestly in the next primary debate

[LisaM]

3. Obama people do not have a sense of humor

She obviously conflated events and misspoke, as might anyone with an 11,000 page schedule over eight years. Get over it. Have a laugh if you can. Don't be so "disturbed".

[NJmaverick]

6. Mispoke is when McCain called Iraqi extremist Al Qaeda

What Hillary did was make up a story. That is not the same as a simple mistake or verbal misque.

[Zueda]

11. It was the chuckle she gave when telling the lie

that really takes the cake.

[Lucky 13]

10. Obama people don't have a sense of humor? That woman couldn't tell a joke to save her life?!?

Paulette Revere?
Her joke about Ghandi working at a 7-11?
"Hope you can Xerox"?
Celestial choirs will be singing?


Her jokes always fall flat or come off as so bitingly sarcastic people become uncomfortable! Everytime I've heard her tell a joke, you can FEEL the audience cringe. She was BOOOED in the debates! She comes off sounding like a nerdy old lady! My 80 year old grandmother tells a funnier joke than her!

[LisaM]

15. I guess it depends on if you have a sense of humor

I was at an event last night, and frankly *I* found the Obama people devoid of humor. For example, I thought the bowling press conference was very funny. They did not. It's just a difference in people. Perhaps you prefer slapstick humor. I tend to like mine dry.

[Lucky 13]

33. I tend to like my humor actually funny.

Or sarcastic or snarky. But mostly funny.

Or maybe it's a generational thing. Maybe most people over 50 find Hillary really funny. Everyone I know under the age of 50 thinks Hillary's jokes are MEGA LAME.

Her jokes remind me of my dad's dorky jokes. I just sigh and roll my eyes.

[LisaM]

61. Well I can introduce you to some people under 50 who don't agree

Though I'm not sure I think humor has an age date on it.

[Lucky 13]

66. Humor MOST CERTAINLY varies by generation!

For example, my grandpa thought the three stooges were a riot. His kids never did.

My dad thinks the Andy Griffith show and Happy Days is funny. I do not.

When I was a kid, I thought Mork and Mindy and Laverne and Shirley were pretty funny. Watching old episodes, I discovered my younger cousins do not.

My 10 year old cousin watches that god-awful Hannah Montana and think it's AWESOME. I do not.


Of course jokes and humor are generational!

[LisaM]

67. My favorite movies are from the 1930s

Good humor is timeless.

I laugh at Shakespeare's comedies, too, though I wasn't alive in 1601.

[Mme. Defarge]

70. I spent my formative years in the 1950's

in a bleak little town in Eastern Colorado, where the only thing that kept my mind alive was reading Mad Magazine for free at the corner drugstore. Then, there was "That Was the Week that Was" in the 1960's, followed by SNL in the '70's. Now there's The Onion.

Based on my standards for humor, lying for personal gain, getting caught, and then trying to capitalize on one's disgrace, doesn't cut it.

[DefenseLawyer]

54. It's gold, Jerry! Gold!

[Lucky 13]

55. Ovaltine...

... the jar is round. The glass is round... They should call it Roundtine!

GOLD JERRY GOLD!!!

That joke has Hillary written all over it!!

[babylonsister]

12. Misspoke? She created a fantasy and kept repeating it. Big difference. nt

[ORDem]

13. "Mis-remembered" sniper fire? Gimme a break. Obama answers controversy

with a Presidential-grade speech. Hillary, caught in an obvious lie? With a joke in bad taste.

:dem:

[LisaM]

I'm sorry, but that speech was pompous and overdone.

Disagree if you will (I'm sure you do) but if anyone ever had an over-inflated sense of self importance coupled with an over the top pomposity, it's BO.

[Mooney]

37. You're right, he should have just lied about sleep deprivation instead.

That's what REAL go-getters do when the chips are down!

[Mooney]

18. I wasn't disturbed by her joke

but how can you honestly believe that she "misspoke"? Misspeaking is when you meet your friend Pete and call him "Pat" by accident. Wholly manufacturing a memory in which you are getting shot at, when nothing of the sort happened, is not misspeaking. It's flat-out lying at best, or it's a sign that she has some form of hallucinatory dementia. For her sake, I hope she's lying.

If I started manufacturing stories of getting shot at, when nothing even close to that had ever happened in my life, I would hope that my handlers would cancel my schedule for the indefinite future, put me on antipsychotic medication and send me to the hospital for 72 hours for close observation.

[rateyes]

24. I've been waiting for someone to make this argument. So, Lisa

I want to ask an honest question. With which event did Hillary conflate the Tuzla event? Exactly WHERE did she have to duck sniper fire?

[LisaM]

58. I don't actually know that she did, though I have no doubt she made a corkscrew landing at some poin

Read a book called "Remembering Ahanagran", to see what tricks the memory plays on us. She could have conflated her own memory with video, with others' accounts, etc. It happens. It's happened to me and I have to step back.

I used to work at a daycare, and we had a dog bite incident once. The lawyer advised me to write down the events immediately, which I did. When the daycare owner went to court for the settlement (no one was badly hurt, btw) she remembered it completely differently from my account. For example, she remembered that she had both taken the dog into the other room, AND attended to the little girl. This was untrue, because I had taken the dog away and she had tended to the wound, but only four months later, she remembered that she had done everything. It was good that I'd written it down.

OTOH, when Obama said events in Selma inspired his parents to "get together", when the event occurred after his birth, that was something he could easily look up, too. So you could call that a lie, also, and disrespectful of the events in Selma. Where's the outrage?

[rateyes]

65. I'm not outraged. I just don't buy the "conflation" explanation.

I would think that one would have a very vivid recollection of sniper fire being aimed at you, and having to duck and run to avoid being hit. It would be difficult to "remember" something like that if it didn't happen, unless one was not telling the truth.

But, I'll still give her the benefit of the doubt. I have more important reasons for not supporting her candidacy.

[LisaM]

68. As I do Obama's

Since I don't want a nickel of my tax money going to charter schools.

[Erin Elizabeth]

27. Misspeaking is saying that you were in Bosnia for

12 days instead of 11.

Making stuff up out of thin air is called lying.

[Jed Dilligan]

51. Tell a G.I. who has been under sniper fire in Iraq

(partly because of her vote) to get over her theft of valor. In person, not over the internet. Then, get back to me.

[ampad]

53. Oh hahaha it was really funny

Lets see if you think the 527 ad of her laughing about sniper fire while this country is at war is funny to you. Not only was it in bad taste but it was stupid. I really don't expect anything more from her though.

[woolldog]

76. conflated events?

With what? You mean she confused what happened in Bosnia with all those other times she was under sniper fire? :shrug:

[dansolo]

Conflated with what?

Are you saying that she got mixed up with another time that she was dodging sniper fire?

[ShortnFiery]

4. Yes, she THINKS that such a disgusting lie can be "laughed off" during one episode of Leno's show.

Think again. :(

[The Doctor.]

5. Nah, not really.

She's tired, it was an attempt to lighten her screw-up, and most importantly...

No one DIED because she embellished.

[Raven]

8. Yikes! That's the standard we're going to hold our democratic

candidates to???? Nobody died??? Well, maybe truth died.

[Mooney]

22. That's why Nixon shouldn't have resigned.

No one died in the Watergate break-in, so it's all good.

[The Doctor.]

77. Sorry, but lying doesn't rise to that level.

[Lucky 13]

45. I totally forgot: "When Clinton Lied No One Died."

I thought this was just a bumpersticker meant to address Bill's blowjob lie, but now I see this catch phrase was constructed to cover any Clinton lying about any subject.

May I make a suggestion? Let's change it to:
"When Clintons lie, no one dies."

That way it's universal.

[The Doctor.]

78. LOL!

[islandmkl]

7. that was just hillary showing that she is just human....

and can make a joke about herself....

lying, denying, mis-stating, fabricating, and generally being disingenuous...

you don't see the humor in that?

[TriplePlay]

9. Complete lack of morals...

She will do anything to get elected.
She fabricates a story to get elected and tries to laugh it off.
Normally I'd be against calling someone a "whore", but in this case the name fits.

[aquarius dawning]

14. she misspoke. like when Obama said he wasn't aware of Rev. Wrong's hateful rhetoric.

get over it.

[NJmaverick]

25. I was more troubled by the joke

Than I was with her original made up story. It's not unusual to catch politician in the sort of story Hillary told. What I found disturbing was her laughing about it and make a joke about it.

[redqueen]

39. It isn't?

I thought it was unusual... what other pols have told similar tales?

[aquarius dawning]

69. What would you have her do, cry about it? We both know how well that would go over.

I don't give a damn about any of this. I think it's largely contrived outrage to draw fire off of Obama over the whole Rev. Wrong thing which is a far more disturbing scandal IMO.

[Cheap_Trick]

28. she lied. get over it.

YOU have no proof that Obama WAS aware. There is proof that shillary LIED about the whole sniper fire incident. But go ahead and cling to your "misspeak" fairy tale if that's what helps you sleep at night.

[Erin Elizabeth]

34. Again, misspeaking is minor.

An example would be if she said she was in Bosnia for 12 days instead of 11. That's misspeaking.

Making up an entire untrue story is called LYING.

People are not so stupid that they don't know the difference between misspeaking and lying, ok?

[Lucky 13]

47. You don't "misspeak" 4 times in 4 months from pre-prepared speeches.

ESPECIALLY after your staff reminds you that your version of the facts are incorrect.

How can you justify blatant lies like this? You are either delusional or complicit in her lies. Which one of these are you?

[otohara]

16. No, She Was Doing Comedy FREE SPEECH

and as we have learned over the past few days, anything goes when you're doing comedy.

[BlueIdaho]

30. True

But every comic that walks on stage will tell you some shit just isn't funny. HRC's shit just isn't funny.

[geiger]

17. displaced anger; inappropriate joking

but it doesn't take away from the fact that she sometimes makes things up to fit her own view of herself and her importance to the world. I hate to say it, but Dick Morris is right about some things after all (I read this about her in his Hillary book, and it makes sense, alas).

[ruggerson]

19. Nope

[Blue Diadem]

20. Joking about sniper fire isn't appropriate

for someone who wants to be President during a time when we have soldiers losing their lives due to sniper fire. IMO, it's insensitive and comparable to idiot son's antics/joking about looking for wmd's.

[flowomo]

21. not me... I thought it was funny and self-effacing....

The best way to deal with trouble is to get it out there before the interviewer does. It was a good move. Leno stepped on the line, however. His bad. Oh, and I'm an Obama supporter.

[NJmaverick]

31. My sense was she made a calculated move to try and pull

off the reaction you had. However, I can't help but feel that it didn't succeed. It went over about as well as GW joking about not finding WMDs.

[SoonerPride]

35. That's how it struck me too.

Maybe it comes from being horribly disappointed in her.

[flowomo]

44. well, the OP asked if I found it "disturbing"... and I didn't

I don't think Hillary could buy a loaf of bread without most DUer's claiming she was in the pocket of the bakery industry. Whether she "succeeded," I can't say. I just found it funny and a good rhetorical move.

[NJmaverick]

64. That's a fair respone. I did ask how others felt

and it seems that most did feel it was disturbing. I woould be curious how the general public felt about it.

[SoonerPride]

23. It didn't make me laugh. It reminded me that she is a liar.

I found it odd and inappropriate.

[Erin Elizabeth]

26. Almost as much as the original lie, yes.

The advice she's getting is bad, too. Someone obviously felt it would be best to try to turn it into a big joke. But by doing that, she not only brought it up again, but looked even worse. It backfired.

[SeaLyons]

29. Get over it....

She misspoke, and she's poking fun at herself.

[SoonerPride]

32. Saying she misspoke is, well, misspeaking.

Misspoke is an error.

A lie is a lie.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. She misspoke four times and printed it in a press release?

She's not poking fun at herself, she's poking fun at the intelligence of her remaining supporters.

[Erin Elizabeth]

40. I'll say it a third time:

misspeaking is minor. An example would be if she said she was in Bosnia for 12 days instead of 11. Making something up entirely out of thin air is called lying.

How many times do I have to explain this to people? I would think a kid would know the difference. And I think you guys do, too. But "misspeak" sounds innocuous and "lie" sounds worse. But sorry, she lied. She did not misspeak. And she lied repeatedly about it.

That's bad.

We'd all be tearing Bush a new asshole for doing the same thing.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

41. she fabricated the sniper story which is unacceptable

[Lucky 13]

52. Again, you don't "mis-speak" 4 times in 4 months from pre-prepared speeches.

especially after being reminded that your version of events is incorrect.

It's a lie. Nothing more. Nothing less.

[Mooney]

56. Sorry, she lied. She didn't "misspeak." She lied.

"Misspeaking" is an error. Lying is intentional.

I think that deep down, too, you know this to be correct. I think that you yourself don't even really believe that she "misspoke," but you have an emotional investment in her candidacy, so you're willing to pretend you believe her horseshit. Otherwise the whole house of cards will collapse.

It's like a failed romantic relationship. Everyone else knows the relationship is on the rocks. The sex and the romance are long gone, but there's a shared apartment to think about and maybe some pets, and during happier times there's been talk about getting married someday, and that makes it hard to accept the cold, hard reality. So the relationship soldiers on, but it takes a lot of lying, rationalizations, and looking the other way to keep it going.

When the break-up finally does come, it's very liberating not to have to try and believe those lies any more.

[cliffordu]

60. This is what she lied about

to give herself some fake foreign policy experience


She stood on the corpses of every child killed by sniper fire during the Bosnian conflict. There were thousands.


Here is someone who's family might want to talk to you about Hillary's misspeaking - FOUR times.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/03/30/2008-03-30_hillary_clintons_lie_hits_real_sniper_vi.html

[bunnies]

38. Completely appalling.

Even the few Clinton supporters I know were not amused.

[Emillereid]

42. I think it was in incredible poor taste. She should be apologizing to us (especially

those who have been in harm's way) for her outrageous, self-serving LIE.

I think her joking about is like Bush's joking about WMDs -- SICK!!!

[SKKY]

43. She has such a poor internal filter, it's astounding to me...

...she's made it this far.

[Writer]

46. I suppose these three actors should be castigated for lampooning the activities during the Holocaust

DAMN THEM!

[NJmaverick]

49. If one of the actors was a former Nazi

your analogy would be better

[DefenseLawyer]

59. If you really think those two things are remotely the same

You obviously have a career as a senior strategist in the Clinton campaign waiting for you.

[Zachstar]

48. Yes

[Pisces]

50. Yes, bad decision, very unfunny

[Bigleaf]

62. Those jokes about sniper fire are really funny eh? Well how do the

families of these soldiers feel about joking about sniper fire? Wait, who voted for the Iraq war?

Army private killed by sniper fire weeks into deployment to Iraq
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX - A soldier from Mesa has been killed in Iraq less than three weeks into his deployment there, according to his family.
Pvt. Kelly Youngblood, 19, died Sunday after he was hit by sniper fire in Ramadi, his family said Tuesday.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/170252

89th Military Police Brigade service member killed by sniper
Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO
BAGHDAD – An 89th Military Police Brigade servicemember died of wounds sustained due to small arms fire Oct.30 at approximately 9:31 a.m. in east Baghdad.
The name of the service member is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&ta...


NET News Service
A Tennessee National Guard soldier from Elizabethton has been killed in Iraq less than three weeks before he was scheduled to return to the United States.
Stephen Maddies, 41, died in Iraq on Tuesday. He was shot while on duty in a guard tower in Baghdad.
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9002296

U.S. soldier-blogger in Iraq killed by sniper
By JOHN C. ENSSLIN AND DAVID MONTERO
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
Army Maj. Andrew Olmsted, who had been writing a blog for the Rocky Mountain News about his experiences in Iraq, was killed by a sniper as he was trying to talk three suspected insurgents into surrendering, relatives confirmed Sunday.
A sniper's bullet also cut down Capt. Thomas Casey as he rushed to Olmsted's aid during the small-arms firefight in Sadiyah, Iraq, on Thursday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/346445_iraqblogg...

HAMMOND | Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan Rojas, a 1997 Hammond High School graduate, was felled by a sniper's bullet this week while serving in Iraq, according to his family.
William Rojas, younger brother to the 27-year-old Rojas, said the military informed the family his brother died about 6 a.m. CDT Tuesday.
http://nwitimes.com/articles/2006/10/05/news/top_news/d...

DOVER, Del. — A Delaware native was shot and killed by a sniper in Iraq, family members said Wednesday.
Army Sgt. Joseph Garyantes, 34, was killed while his tank unit was on patrol near Baghdad, said his brother, Stephen Garyantes, 39, of Milton.
http://www.militarycity.com/valor/257304.html


THIS IS A TINY SAMPLING AND IT"S NOT FUCKING FUNNY!

[AZBlue]

63. It was callous, immature and tacky.

[JVS]

71. It would be like Nixon telling Arlo Guthrie's joke about Alice's restaurant being 18.5 mins. long

[Vinca]

72. I didn't see the clip until an hour or so ago and I was really taken aback.

It was astonishly tasteless, to say the least. Soldiers under sniper fire is generally not a comedic area and if you add to that the fact she thinks it's a hoot to crack wise over a lie she told . . . it boggles the mind. What's next? Outsourcing jokes? This woman needs a ticket back to Chappequa.

[TomBall Democrat]

73. If a child did that?

Would you punish them?

Lie, then laugh about it?

Seriously, would you approve of that?

I wouldn't.

It takes a village to raise a Senator.

[Poll_Blind]

74. I'm not saying she's Bush, but it was the same way that Bush reacted during...

..that press dinner a few years ago, doing a little video piece on him looking for weapons of mass destruction- under the desk, asking Barney where they were, etc.

  I never got people who made some crazy statement- and then felt that throwing more crazy statements/behavior at the problem, helped!

PB

[AlinPA]

75. It was slimy and arrogant. I can't believe that she did that. I sent $$

to her campaign when she started and now regret it.

[intaglio]

79. It disturbed me that it was just prior to MLK rememberance

sorry but you don't joke about snipers on that day any more than on the anniversary of JFK's death