Hillary’s Close Call

In case you haven’t heard, it has been revealed that the former first lady had a close call during a trip to Bosnia in the nineties. A recent anecdote shared at least three times on the campaign trail by former first lady and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, as she attempts to ‘out McCain, McCain’, has been a harrowing account of her coming under sniper fire on a Bosnian tarmac. More alarming is the revelation that not only was her life potentially in danger, but she had her daughter Chelsea with her as well.

How brave and courageous for her to have put her life on the line in an active war zone to help bring peace to an oppressed people. Fortunately for her and for us, a CBS report includes the footage of this traumatic, harrowing and heroic action.

“I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia and … 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 greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”

When it comes to defending the wall of freedom, thank goodness Hillary stands on that wall. We want her on that wall. We need her on that wall. She’s tanned, rested and ready to answer that red phone at 3 a.m.

What CBS has been so kind to share with the rest of us is that this dangerous special ops mission by the co-president of the Clinton years was one where she was accompanied by Chelsea, as well as by Sheryl Crow, and Sinbad. It was certainly courageous of President Clinton to send his wife and only daughter, not to mention the cream of American entertainment, into the mouth of danger for the sake of peace. Bill Clinton was apparently very worried about their safety. It was during this trip that he shared a cigar with, and found comfort and reassurance in the arms of, “that woman, Ms. Lewinsky”.

We now know that the first lady was greeted on that far off Bosnian tarmac by a large crowd and a small, lovely child who, undoubtedly risking life and limb, took the time to read a poem and present a gift to a smiling Mrs. Clinton. The visual and audio evidence that this was a hot landing zone complete with whizzing bullets is somewhat scanty. Now some might call this selective memory, delusions of grandeur, flights of fancy, historical revisionism, and wishful thinking but Hillary prefers to tell us that she ‘misspoke’ while ‘sleep-deprived’. Of course, ‘misspeaking’ is usually more along the lines of saying a name wrong, not making up entire scenarios that never happened.

While pathetic pandering in the pursuit of votes and making up stories to be accepted are not actual crimes, they are not attractive qualities of someone seeking the post of Commander in Chief and are certainly as questionable as her primary opponent sitting under the tutelage of a radical, anti-American bigot for twenty years.

The days of a Clinton being able to say and do anything and not having to worry about their friends in the media ‘outing’ them are long gone. The Teflon mantle of ‘can do no wrong’ has been transferred to the New Messiah of the new century. Her account was even ridiculed by ABC News as “like a scene from Saving Private Ryan”.

Mrs. Clinton has now accused her critics of ’swift boating’ her in regards to her claim of coming under fire by Serbian snipers. I can only assume that the term ’swift boating’ is actually defined as ‘pointing out the truth in response to a Democratic candidate’s dubious claim’.

How damaging this will be to the political aspirations of Hillary Clinton is not yet clear. It’s not like the word Clinton and truth are by any means synonymous and Hillary is laboring under the burden of high expectations. In many ways this is just a Clinton being a Clinton and just another footnote in a long career of evasiveness, creative storytelling and outright falsehoods.

This campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination will go all the way to the convention. Hillary may be a lot of things, but one thing she is not is a quitter. Her supporters can at least take satisfaction in that quality while grinning and bearing her latest gaffe with stalwart dignity and grace.

This is perhaps how Hillary Clinton remembers her Bosnian tarmac trauma.

I leave you with a short quote by blogger Hugh Hewitt.

“What a strange campaign. Hillary remembering events that didn’t happen, and Obama forgetting sermons he wish he hadn’t heard.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 1:25 pm and is filed under Analysis, Current Events, Politics, Vox Populi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. | 2 views | Trackback | Print this page |

David Huntwork is a conservative activist and freelance columnist in Northern Colorado where he lives with his wife and three young daughters. He believes in the importance of Faith, Family, and Freedom as the formula of success for a good life and a healthy nation. You can reach him at DaveHuntwork@uno.com. | More from David Huntwork