Perhaps My Faith Will Be Restored

I posted yesterday on the distressing lack of media cajones when it came to actually calling the bald-faced lie that Hillary Clinton told repeatedly about her 1996 Bosnia trip a LIE, and not simply reporting that she "mis-spoke" or "mis-stated" something.

Well, I have subsequently noticed a distinct drumbeat of negative coverage in my subsequent reviews of media items on this topic, with many media reports and news analyses portraying this incident in a very harsh light, as is appropriate. Of particular note is the following online commentary by Dan Kennedy on a blog hosted at the British newspaper website of the Guardian:

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dan_kennedy/2008/03/clinton_under_fire.html

Very cutting, but honest essay about Hillary Clinton and the issues of trustworthiness and credibility. Dan Kennedy is a journalism professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Attention All Media

If facts are to be the purported stock in trade of journalism, then the rest of the mainstream media ought to emulate Washingtonpost.com, and should not be shirking its duty to report the truth that Hillary Clinton is a liar, and has been caught red handed by the videotape and by multiple witnesses to the events in question during a trip to Bosnia in 1996.

I would commend readers to view this link in its entirety, <http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/03/more_incoming_for_clinton.html>. Be sure to watch the videos, especially the last one in the post. Clinton's pathetically prevaricating and dissembling statement trying to explain away her lie is particularly good reading, in the same way that a movie car chase scene is particularly good theater when it ends in a wreck.

As U.S. Air Force journalist Don Jackson states: "Mrs. Clinton arrived to a flight line full of well-wishers, both military and civilian, accompanied by her staff as well as comedian Sinbad and singer Sheryl Crow who were there to entertain troops. To set the record straight, there was no enemy fire, and no imminent danger. If there had been any danger, "well-wishers" would not have been allowed on the tarmac, much less allowing me to stand above everyone else on the back of a truck. And Sinbad and Sheryl Crow would've been running for their lives instead of taking the time to be interviewed by yours truly, on the tarmac. Mrs. Clinton's [claim] is a lie, plain and simple."

Hillary Clinton has now claimed that she "misspoke" about her supposedly daring arrival, under fire, at an airbase in Bosnia. Setting aside the complete implausibility of her contention, the fact remains that she made a detailed statement about her actions that was materially untrue, and not for the first time. Even if her statement was not deliberately intended to mislead or deceive (which it demonstrably was), she still lied, by dictionary definition. And the press ought not to be reporting her claim of simple "misspeaking" as fact.

Mrs. Clinton's actions during this episode make me sick, because they reveal the most conclusive, but certainly not only, evidence of her utter contempt for the intelligence of the American people, and of her zeal to destructively pursue the presidency for her own ends and not for the betterment of the people at large.

Update at 11:44 AM

I just came across a great blog post at RealClearPolitics.com by Tom Bevan, deliciously titled "Pantsuit on Fire." Great item on how Hillary flat-out lied (thought he still doesn't use that word), and how it feeds into a negative narrative about her character and personality.

<http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/03/pantsuit_on_fire.html>