Will Hillary's misspeaks be address in the next debate?

[ProSense]

Clinton undecided on April 19 debate

By ANN SANNER, Associated Press Writer
47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, once so eager to debate she ran two ads questioning why her rival wouldn't, has yet to say whether she'll debate Sen. Barack Obama in North Carolina next month.

Both presidential candidates plan to participate in an ABC News debate on April 16 in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania holds it primary days later, on April 22. Obama also has agreed to a debate April 19 hosted by CBS in North Carolina. North Carolina holds its primary May 6.

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said Monday that the campaign has not made a decision about the CBS debate and is still working through the details.

"I am quite confident that there will be additional debates and that we will work with networks and the Obama campaign to figure out the appropriate location and venue and media outlet," Wolfson told reporters on a conference call.

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Some of Hillary's blatant misspeaks lies:

Sniper fire

NAFTA

Family and Medical Leave Act

S-CHIP

Northern Ireland Peace Process


During the last debate, Hillary promised to release her tax return. That was almost a month ago, and she is still stalling for time:

Hillary Will Release Tax Returns At Least Three Days Before Pennsylvania Primary

By Greg Sargent - March 24, 2008, 1:36PM
It turns out reporters will have enough time to take a hard look at Hillary's tax returns in the run-up to the Pennsylvania primary.

The Obama campaign has been hitting Hillary regularly for "secrecy" over the fact that she has yet to release the returns. And asked on a conference call with reporters whether the campaign would pledge to release the returns at least three days before the primary, Hillary spokesperson Howard Wolfson said:

"Yes. That is a categorical yes."

It's still possible that this won't leave enough time for any revelations therein to sink in with the Pennsylvania electorate, of course.

edit for proper characterization.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. She might suddenly go sick before the PA debate

I have lost my voice so I cannot speak

[monmouth]

5. She may abruptly stop this absurdity to spend more time with

her family..uh...oops..

[jgraz]

18. She'll just say she got pinned down by sniper fire.

[tekisui]

2. Will the Tax Returns be heavily redacted?

[Perky]

3. Beginning to break in wider circulation... CNN and Fox Running with it.

http://news.google.com/news?q=clinton+tuzla&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SUNA&um=1&hl=en&resnum=1&ct=title&as_drrb=q&as_qdr=d&as_mind=23&as_minm=3&as_maxd=24&as_maxm=3

Beginning to break in wider circulation... CNN and Fox Running with it.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

12. those snipers are getting much further away - over the hills!

LOL!

[ProSense]

16. Good. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. Will she claim military service in Vietnam?

including medals?

[BigDDem]

6. "Will Hillary's misspeaks be address ...."

huh?

:rofl:

[thoughtcrime1984]

8. Yeah, that's funny

He meant lies, not misspeaks.

:rofl:

[thoughtcrime1984]

7. I would, but he needs to say it with a smile.

And emphasize how we cannot have yet another President that we cannot trust. Words do matter.

[jenmito]

9. I wish they'd call 'em what they are-LIES. "Misspeaks" are when you use a wrong word or

when you word something wrong. She made up a detailed lie.

[ProSense]

11. Sarcasm intended, but lost. You're right! n/t

[anigbrowl]

15. Right. This was a prepared speech, not an off-the-cuff remark.

I have defended her several times over this, offering charitable interpretations of her answer. For example, I did not think her mention of this during the debate was a big deal - she had a question to answer, there's a lot of pressure, and it's easy to mix up details on events that happened 12 years ago and exaggerate slightly or mix two separate things together. I understand that.

but when you use a story as the openiner for a prepared speech, and you know that the tale has already been the subject of some jokes and raised eyebrows (eg the Sinbad remarks a couple of weeks back), then cranking up the drama factor by saying you had to run from the plane with your head down is foolish. Did nobody on her campaign do a quick fact check before she delivered the speech? Did she not think about it? When you're giving a prepared speech, you have time to think carefully about what you're going to say in advance.

She could have avoided the whole thing by talking about the importance of supporting the troops and mentioning what she learned from her trip. I actually think it is a legitimate example of her experience. Instead she went for drama and said she'd literally been under gunfire...fail!

[wileedog]

10. LOL, from the Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/03/clinton_embelli.html

"But a CBS report on the 1996 visit -- distributed by Barack Obama's campaign -- shows Clinton greeting soldiers at the base near Tuzla without even wearing a helmet and with daughter Chelsea in tow, almost sans helmet. The CBS correspondent, however, says it is one of the more dangerous places in Bosnia -- too hazardous for the president to tour."

So it was one of the most dangerous places in Bosnia, yet Bill let his wife and kid go instead of him, with no helmet. And some Bosnian mother let her 8 year old daughter stand on the tarmac amid the gunfire to read a poem to her.

God they can't even lie right. Worst. Campaign. Ever.

[clevbot]

13. Obama will dominate the up coming debates IMHO

He's handled all the bad press correctly... and Hillary hasn't done much to win over voters... Kitchen Stink strategy=Epic fail in the long run

[ProSense]

14. Even that's a lie

Contrary to the claims of Hillary Clinton and former Army secretary Togo West, Bosnia was not "too dangerous" a place for President Clinton to visit in early 1996. In fact, the first Clinton to visit the Tuzla Air Base was not Hillary, but Bill, on Jan. 13, 1996.

Posted here

[DearAbby]

17. Misspoke, new word for lie

since 7yrs ago...please correct your dictionaries, misspoke/newsspeak/lies.

[TheDeathadder]

19. what's going to be even better

is at the debate when they start going over Obama's misspeaks. I can't wait to hear the old Obama debate mumble and stutter, flip-flop and back-pedal. Can't wait :)

[greyghost]

20. Hillary needs to do the right thing and withdraw.

[ProSense]

32. The debate is in mid April.

If she lasted that long!

[grantcart]

21. lol "Yes. That is a categorical yes". The only campaign that has to qualify a

yes answer as a categorical answer rather than just an honest answer.

After receiveing a 'categorical yes' answer what is the betting that we don't get it?

[ProSense]

22. Hillary Clinton's damage control machine spins into action

Hillary Clinton's damage control machine spins into action

[ProSense]

23. Clinton Dismisses False Tale of Sniper Fire As "Minor Blip"

Video: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/24/145341/201/815/483295">Clinton Dismisses False Tale of Sniper Fire As "Minor Blip"

[scheming daemons]

24. She's going to "file an extension" on releasing her tax returns.... until after PA.....

...watch.

[ProSense]

26. She has already filed her 2006 return, which is the document being requested. n/t

[rainbow4321]

27. Still leaves her with about 6 or 7+ years she can release

even if she holds out on 2007 information.

[SunsetDreams]

25. I just heard on Dan Abrams

that the Clinton campaign is now saying that there are scheduling conflicts for a debate.

Wha???

They are making fun of her, and going back to the ads she ran in Wisconsin, where she claimed he didn't want to debate her

[rainbow4321]

28. Yeah, it conflicts with the date she thought she could "Friday night take out the trash"

her tax return information.

Once again, her camp is not thinking ahead and has to backpeddle.

[ProSense]

29. I'M WRITING THIS DIARY UNDER VERY HEAVY SNIPER FIRE!!!

I'M WRITING THIS DIARY UNDER VERY HEAVY SNIPER FIRE!!!

[ProSense]

30. Lie or delusional, but not a simple one-time misspeak as Hillary's spokesman Wolfson claims

CAMPAIGN 2008

Embellished Memory

Had Hillary come to believe her increasingly dramatic tale of facing sniper fire in Bosnia?

<...>

Clinton did more than misspeak; she told a richly detailed anecdote as part of a major address on foreign policy. And it was not the first time she has mentioned the snipers. In fact, the seeds of the Bosnian peril myth may have been planted years ago.

<...>

The snipers appear in Clinton's 2003 biography "Living History," but they hardly seem to present much danger: "Due to reports of snipers in the hills around the airstrip, we were forced to cut short an event on the tarmac with the local children, though we did have time to meet them and their teachers … One eight-year-old girl gave me a copy of a poem she had written entitled 'Peace.' Chelsea and I presented the school supplies we had brought, along with letters from seventh-grade children … whose parents and teachers had initiated a pen pal program." The biography also emphasizes that her plane made a "near perpendicular" landing to avoid possible enemy fire.

On the campaign trail the Bosnian tarmac anecdote has grown more dramatic. In Dubuque, Iowa, in December, Clinton reportedly asserted that the area was considered too dangerous for her husband to visit. "I was the first high-profile American to go," Clinton told Iowan voters, according to a Wall Street Journal account. Clinton added even more oomph during a late-February foreign policy address in Waco, Texas. Attempting to draw a contrast with Senator Obama's inexperience with foreign policy matters, the New York senator boasted of having traveled to more than 80 countries and recounted the trip to Bosnia, recalling that a welcoming ceremony "had to be moved inside because of sniper fire."

This account started to raise eyebrows. On March 11, Sinbad (who was along for the trip) questioned Clinton's memory. The comedian was quoted in the Washington Post cracking that "the only red phone moment was, 'Do we eat here or the next place?'"

Six days later, on March 17, Clinton made what the campaign billed as a major foreign policy address at George Washington University. She opened her speech by saying, "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." Afterward she dismissed Sinbad's comments in a press conference with reporters, saying he "is a comedian" and recalled "flying over the countryside with bulletproof everything on, like we do in Iraq." She elaborated, according to news accounts of the press conference, by saying, "Part of the reason we were in the C-17 is because part of it is armored … I was moved up into the cockpit. Everyone else was told to sit on their bulletproof vests. There was no greeting ceremony, and we were basically told to run to our cars. Now, that is what happened."

That clearly is not what happened, but it raises the question of whether Clinton actually remembers it that way. Clinton's conjured combat memories recall the imaginings of actor-turned-president Ronald Reagan, who spent World War II making war movies on Hollywood lots but decades later spoke as if the roles he had played were real. On separate occasions, according to biographers, Reagan gave others the impression that he had been at Normandy and at the liberation of the Nazi death camps. Reagan reportedly later told an associate, "Maybe I had seen too many war movies, the heroics of which I sometimes confused with real life."

Why not just admit to it instead of challenging other people's credibility to save Hillary's?

[ProSense]

31. "First time in 12 years she misspoke?" Obama campaign's response

Obama Camp Memo on Clinton Saying She “Misspoke”

First time in 12 years she misspoke?

TODAY on KDKA Pittsburgh radio: “You know I have written about this and described it in many different settings and I did misspeak the other day. This has been a very long campaign. Occasionally, I am a human being like everybody else. The military took great care of us. They were worried about taking a First Lady to a war zone and took some extra precautions and worried about all sorts of things. I have written about it in my book and talked about it on many other occasions and last week, you know, for the first time in 12 or so years I misspoke.” http://www.kdkaradio.com/pages/22441.php?contentType=34&contentId=592

Really? Below are four instances where Hillary Clinton misremembers sniper fire upon her arrival in Bosnia. (With some video of her reading her remarks.)

MARCH 17: Clinton: “There Was No Greeting Ceremony, And We Basically Were Told To Run To Our Cars. Now, That Is What Happened.” “Everyone else was told to sit on their bulletproof vests,” Clinton said. “And we came in, in an evasive maneuver….There was no greeting ceremony, and we basically were told to run to our cars. Now, that is what happened.” (CNN, 3/1708)

MARCH 17: Clinton, Speaking About Her Trip To Bosnia, Said “I Remember Landing Under Sniper Fire. There Was Supposed To Be Some Kind Of A Greeting Ceremony At The Airport, But Instead We Just Ran With Our Heads Down To Get Into Vehicles To Get To Our Base.” Clinton: “Good morning. I want to thank Secretary West for his years of service, not only as Secretary of the Army, but also to the Veteran’s Administration, to our men and women in uniform, to our country. I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia, and as Togo said, there was a saying around the White House that if a place was too small, too poor, or too dangerous, the president couldn’t go, so send the First Lady. That’s where we went. I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base. But it was a moment of great pride for me to visit our troops, not only in our main base as Tuzla, but also at two outposts where they were serving in so many capacities to deactivate and remove landmines, to hunt and seek out those who had not complied with the Dayton Accords and put down their arms, and to build relationships with the people that might lead to a peace for them and their children.” (Clinton speech (remarks as delivered), 3/17/08)

FEBRUARY 29: Clinton Said That The Welcoming Ceremony In Bosnia “Had To Be Moved Inside Because Of Sniper Fire.” “At the rally, she belittled the idea that Mr. Obama’s 2002 speech ‘at an antiwar rally’ prepared him to serve as commander in chief. She said he was ‘missing in action’ on the recent Senate vote on Iran and as chairman of a subcommittee responsible for NATO policy in Afghanistan. Contrasting that with her own experience, she evoked foreign battlefields, recalling a trip to Bosnia as first lady, when the welcoming ceremony ‘had to be moved inside because of sniper fire.’ She said she had traveled to more than 80 countries and was ‘on the front lines’ as the United States made peace in Bosnia and Northern Ireland and helped save refugees from ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.” (NYT, 3/1/08 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/us/politics/01campaign.html> ) VIDEO

DECEMBER 29: Clinton That When She Went To Bosnia, “We Landed In One Of Those Corkscrew Landings And Ran Out Because They Said There Might Be Sniper Fire.” Clinton, in Dubuque, Iowa on December 29, 2007, said “I was so honored to be able to travel around the world representing our country. You know, going to places that often times were, you know, not necessarily a place that a president could go. We used to say in the White House that if a place was too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the first lady. So, I had the time of my life. I was the first, you know, high- profile American to go into Bosnia after the peace accords were signed because we wanted to show that the United States was 100 percent behind the agreement. We wanted to make it clear to the Bosnians of all backgrounds. Plus we wanted to thank our American military and our allies for a great job. So, we landed in one of those corkscrew landings and ran out because they said there might be sniper fire. I don’t remember anybody offering me tea on the tarmac. We got there and went to the base where our soldiers were and I went out to a lot of the forward operating bases to thank our young men and women in uniform and to thank the Europeans, including the Russians who were part of that effort.” (CNN, 1/1/08)

[ProSense]

33. Clinton's Exaggerations: The Domestic Record

Clinton's Exaggerations: The Domestic Record

The campaign just sent out this memo...

Senator Clinton’s claims about her visit to Tuzla, Bosnia—and the footage disproving her account—have created quite a stir. And with good reason. As the Associated Press wrote yesterday: “What makes Clinton's situation unique—and the Bosnia embellishments so damaging—is the fact that the New York senator has built her candidacy on the illusion of experience. Any attack on her credentials is a potential Achilles heel.”

Unfortunately, Clinton’s fantastic invention of a sniper-raked landing is only one in a growing list of instances in which she has exaggerated her role as First Lady, particularly with respect to domestic policy.

Clinton has credited herself with “creating” the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and “helping to pass” the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Like the Tuzla story, both of these claims turn out to false—raising serious questions not just about the rationale for Senator Clinton’s campaign, but about her willingness to adhere to the truth.

“Creating” the State Children’s Health Insurance Program?

Ø Question: Did Hillary Clinton “create” SCHIP as First Lady? That’s what her web site says. But it’s not what the program’s congressional sponsors say.

On her website, Senator Clinton goes so far as to laud what she calls “her successful effort to create the SCHIP Children’s Health Insurance program.”
“Create” SCHIP? Once again, Senator Clinton’s claim simply doesn’t hold up.

The Boston Globe recently conducted an investigation into Clinton’s purported role in the legislation, concluding that: “Hillary Clinton, who has frequently described herself on the campaign trail as playing a pivotal role in forging a children’s health insurance plan, had little to do with crafting the landmark legislation or ushering it through Congress, according to several lawmakers, staffers, and healthcare advocates involved in the issue.”

Not only is Senator Clinton’s claim of authorship false, but the White House actually opposed SCHIP during it’s creation: “But the Clinton White House, while supportive of the idea of expanding children’s health, fought the first SCHIP effort, spearheaded by Senators Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah…”

Representative Henry Waxman, a leader on the bill who remains unaffiliated in the race, said he has no memory of any involvement by Clinton: “It was a bipartisan bill. I don’t remember the role of the White House,” said Representative Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who has not endorsed a candidate in the presidential race and who was the chief Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which deals with health matters. “It did not originate at the White House.”

And Senator Kennedy, the Senate’s undisputed leader on universal health care and one of the actual creators of SCHIP, does not agree with Clinton’s assessment: “Asked whether Clinton was exaggerating her role in creating SCHIP, Kennedy, stopped in the hallway as he was entering the chamber to vote, half-shrugged. ‘Facts are stubborn things,’ he said, declining to criticize Clinton directly. ‘I think we ought to stay with the facts.’”

Leadership on the Family and Medical Leave Act?

Ø Question: Did Senator Clinton “help to pass” FMLA? Her White House schedules and the timeline of the bill’s passage call that claim into question.

Clinton claims on the trail and on her website that she played a significant role in “helping to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to enable new parents to take time off without losing their jobs…” But there is no evidence that this is the case.

For starters, the bill was signed into law only 16 days after Bill Clinton took office—not much time for the new First Lady to play much of a role. On top of that, the Associated Press reported that an existing version of the bill that had already been passed “by majorities in the last Congress” was altered only slightly and “recycled for enactment” (AP, 2/9/93).

In addition, Senator Clinton’s recently released White House schedules show that she didn’t have a single meeting on the bill she now touts. And in her own autobiography she discusses FMLA without making any mention of having a role in its passage.

Now that she’s running for President, however, the facts seem to have changed. Or at least her allegiance to them has.

Experience: Foundation of the Clinton Candidacy
The refrain that Senator Clinton “has the experience to lead on Day One” has been repeated endlessly since she entered the race. On closer inspection, the claims Senator Clinton makes turn out to be little more than stories.

With the next primary less than a month away, it’s time for Senator Clinton to finally face the “vetting” she’s so fond of discussing. Badly trailing in delegates, votes, and states won, she’s going to need more than a new script to win the nomination. But if she wants to regain the trust of the American people, it would be a good place to start.

[ProSense]

34. Clinton's Belfast role draws criticism

Clinton's Belfast role draws criticism

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer
Fri Mar 28, 4:04 AM ET

<...>

"It's crazy for Hillary to say she played a role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. ... She seems to be confusing her record with her husband's," said Robin Wilson, founder of a Northern Ireland think tank, Democratic Dialogue.

<...>

Clinton's longtime claims to have played a difference-making role in Northern Ireland attracted no criticism until the buildup to St. Patrick's Day this year. To some ears, her most recent comments have raised a false impression that she helped produce the landmark Good Friday peace accord of 1998.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern came to Clinton's defense, meeting with the senator in Washington — and making his first phone call to Obama.

"I think for anyone to try to question the Clintons' huge support (for Ireland) and start trying to nitpick and saying, 'But she wasn't sitting down at the negotiation table' — sure, we know she wasn't sitting down at the negotiation table," Ahern said.

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