by Mark Silva
First the Clinton campaign ran the now-famous “3 a.m. phone call’’ ad asking voters in Texas who they want to answer the phone in the White House in the middle of the night when a crisis is brewing.
Now Bill Clinton, former president, says his wife, candidate for president and senator from New York, should be excused for overstating the circumstances of her now-famous landing in Bosnia (hold the sniper fire) because she had spoken late at night and she’s – well – 60.
“You woulda thought, you know, that she’d robbed a bank the way they all carried on about this,’’ Bill Clinton said this week about the reaction to Hillary Clinton’s statement about landing under sniper fire in Bosnia in 1996 – with videotape of the landing displaying a clearly different, and cheery scenario, a smiling stride from the belly of a cargo plane, a wave and a reception line with a little girl.
“Some of them, when they’re 60, they’ll forget something when they’re tired at 11 o'clock at night, too,’’ Bill Clinton said this week of Hillary Clinton’s comment.
The only trouble is, the senator had given this same account of a sniper-fire landing a few times, and not always late at night. The further trouble is that, once again, the former president has succeeded in stirring up controversy for his wife at a critical time in her presidential campaign – within two weeks of a Pennsylvania primary critical to her chances.
Sen. Barack Obama, giving Clinton a run for more than her money – outspending her by nearly three-to-one in Pennsylvania TV advertising -- is probably none too unhappy to have the bizarre Bosnia landing episode revived at the ramparts of the Pennsylvania vote.
Obama said this today about Bill Clinton’s comments when asked as he was walking out of a press conference in Indianapolis:
“I will let the Clintons explain Bosnia.’’
Hillary Clinton already had apologized for her “misstatement,’’ and the Clinton campaign is suggesting that the mistake is all hers, as spokesman Phil Singer puts it: “Sen. Clinton appreciates her husband standing up for her, but this was her mistake and she takes responsibility for it.”
Both explaining Bosnia and standing up for his wife are precisely what Bill Clinton was trying to do Thursday in Boonville, Ind.
“A lot of the way this whole campaign has been covered has amused me,” Clinton said at a campaign stop Thursday. “There was a lot of fulminating because Hillary, one time late at night when she was exhausted, misstated — and immediately apologized for it — what happened to her in Bosnia in 1995.
“Did y’all see all that? Oh, they blew it up.”
OK, say so the Bosnia trip was in 1996, not 1995.
But Clinton’s reference to it was not limited to the telling of the dramatic tale as an example of her foreign affairs experience as she rolled out that “3 a.m.” ad on Feb. 29 in Waco, Tex. She said then that the arrival ceremony “had to be moved inside because of sniper fire.” She also relayed the tale on March 17 in Washington: “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.’’
Clinton later claimed that she had misspoken, and the episode “proves I’m human.’’
Human, and 60.
“Let me just tell you,’’ Bill Clinton said in Boonville. “The president of Bosnia and Gen. Wesley Clark – who was there making peace where we’d lost three peacekeepers, who had to ride on a dangerous mountain road because it was too dangerous to go the regular, safe way – both defended her because they pointed out that when her plane landed in Bosnia, she had to go up to the bulletproof part of the plane, in the front. Everybody else had to put their flak jackets underneath the seat in case they got shot at.
“And everywhere they went, they were covered by Apache helicopters.’’ He said. “So they just abbreviated the arrival ceremony.
“Now I say that because, what really has mattered is that even then she was interested in our troops,’’ he said, “And I think she was the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to go into a combat zone. And you woulda thought, you know, that she’d robbed a bank the way they carried on about this. And some of them, when they’re 60, they’ll forget something when they’re tired at 11 at night, too.’’
Okay, Pat Nixon also traveled to South Vietnam. But these are Bill Clinton’s mistakes.
At a time when Hillary Clinton needs all the help she can get.
The Tribune's John McCormick contributed to this article.
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Comments
She lied she lied she lied and so why is former president bringing this up as if -- she didn't lie? 60 or no 60 there is no excuse for this outright lie and so now she and Bill are trying all they can to deny it, trying to make it go away, like all of his and their lies, in their own way, like Bill Clinton should do, go away.
Posted by: RuthieM | April 11, 2008 12:43 PM
way to put that one to bed, bill. why didn't someone say she was 60 and tired? that's a totally reasonable excuse for making up a story that never happened in an effort to convince people that you're somehow battle-tested and combat-ready.
in fact, when i want to convince people that they should give me money, i make up stories about how i just got in a car accident and i just need a few bucks to get on the train so i can make it to my daughter's grammar school play. it works almost every time! and when i'm tired, the stories just get more far-fetched, and i wind up fetching more money!
people need to learn the true art of being a clinton - facts are of no consequence when you're trying to get something you want. i admire hillary for lying through her fake teeth to convince people to vote for her. lying is the best way to convince people!
just wait until that phone rings at 3 am - i'm very confident hillary will be able to come up with some magnificent whoppers to get the person on the other end of the line to stop bothering her while she's trying to catch up on some shuteye!
hillary '08!
Posted by: chad_broski | April 11, 2008 1:16 PM
Clintons lying. They caught him doing it too. The same story too. Must be something in the Clinton Koolaide that makes them lie.
Posted by: Keith Lifetime Southsider | April 11, 2008 1:25 PM
The Clintons are pathological liars but I suspect Bill prefers his role as global financial scammer to being stuck in the White House with an aging drama queen.
Posted by: Gwen | April 11, 2008 1:55 PM
I hope we're finally hearing the death throes from the bankrupt Clinton campaign.
Clinton, NAFTA lies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFuA0z4kKD4
Clinton lies about NAFTA while her campaign manager, Mark Penn, is working on a trade deal with Colombia"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6ZbTM3QvV4
Clinton, campaign fundraising lies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPIt7Sv_blE
Clinton, healthcare lies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A33DEl3y5Tg
Clinton lies about her role in the Ireland peace talks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBCmKkLdCuA
...and of course, Clinton lies about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It6JN7ALF7Y
Posted by: m | April 11, 2008 1:58 PM
Who will answer the phone at 3.00 am in the White House? The 60 year old who has to be excused for 'misremembering' if she has been out until 11.00 pm on a school night?
It seems that Bill doesn't really want Hillary to win and for once I can agree with him.
Lies, mis-statements, mis-remembering... the usual Clinton family fare...
Posted by: Anders | April 11, 2008 1:59 PM
Bill Clinton never fails to amaze me with his Gaffs! he not only raised the Bosnia Lie again yesterday of Hillary's but made the following statement at the end of a Rant about Barack Obama:
"Next, We’ll See Him Run an Ad Saying:Vote For Me, I Don’t Steal Cars.”
This one is a disgrace!
Posted by: John B Sheffield | April 11, 2008 2:02 PM
He should have let it go.
Posted by: Grandblvd03 | April 11, 2008 2:05 PM
With all the millions barack obama is spending on ads, you'd think he'd have the nomination all locked up.
Posted by: brigitte sanz | April 11, 2008 2:13 PM
Hillary wouldn't make a good president. She doesn't even know where Bill is at 3:00 am. She can't keep the big dog on the proch. I have no respect for her because she only hung around so she could run for president. I hope this backfires on her.
Posted by: joe | April 11, 2008 2:31 PM
I voted for Hillary and contributed to her campaign, as I believe she is the most qualified candidate for president.
I will continue to support her all the way to the White House.
HILLARY, OUR NEXT PRESIDENT !!!
Posted by: tsr | April 11, 2008 2:47 PM
"do they the clintons think we are stupid ?"
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the answer is YES - the clintons think the voting public IS stupid - they believe we have no long-term memories and those few who do will be swayed purely by pandering promises that cannot possibly be kept (such as HIL-LIAR-Y's health care plan) or that you will believe their other great lies (that the ends justifies the means OR that you should vote for hil-LIAR-y just because she is a woman)
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if hil-LIAR-y supporters get their way, it will be hillary vs. mccain and we know how hillary will campaign (as shown vs. obama) - that will mean 100% certainty that no matter who wins the presidency, 1/2 of the United States will hate the winner AND that we will continue to visit the partisanship of the 1990's over and over and over (do you honestly think bill the sexually harrassing braggart will behave himself? - and hillary has deliberately NOT defined her potential roles for bill if she were to win)
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furthermore if hillary manages to win, the unsettled issue of the 90's will haunt us even more while we have a leader who knows NOTHING about healthcare and NOTHING about military operations
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anyone with any sense would know that hillary cannot keep any of her promises about healthcare - SHE IS COUNTING ON PENNSYLVANIANS BEING TOO STUPID TO KNOW BETTER
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anyone with any sense AT ALL knows that hillary's bosnia/sniper fire remarks reveal not only a complete lack of character but also an amazing lack of competence about all things military
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yet the Clintons are counting on those who are stupid enough to forget all of the above and vote for hil-LIAR-y based on ideas such as gender-based voting (like elton john, rosanne, rosie, geraldine ferrarro etc.)
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if you love your country, there is NO good reason to vote for Hil-LIAR-y - NONE
the clintons are counting on us being too stupid to remember important things, too stupid to know that the clintons always take credit for that which they did not do and deny blame that which they clearly deserve to be blamed
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their plan is to hope for a 51% or more percentage of voters being STUPID on April 22nd in Pennsylvania and hope for the same in a dozen other states next November
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the clintons will do whatever it takes to win so the whitehouse can once again be their own personal playground and place it up for sell again
and they are counting on the stupid american voter to give them back their playground
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as far as bill's new comments:
what a bunch of b.s. -...hil-LIAR-y said "we ducked our heads" and that the greeting with the little girl did not happen because of the snipers… and that they "ran" to their cars…..she said it more than once and on 3-17 she finished her remarks with "and that's what happened"
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she said it to impress people over her "experience" which in fact is less than all other candidates unless you count being first lady which she wants us to though it makes no sense
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and maybe posh spice should play world cup soccer because she's married to david beckham **********************************************************
the worst part is hil-LIAR-y revealed her TOTAL lack of knowledge regarding military tactics and operations - she would NOT have tried to exaggerate so severely had she known that all military in attendance knew instantly the story could not have possibly been true
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another terrible factor is she would still be telling the lie -- but for the video
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just like bill would still be lying to all of us -- but for the blue dress
Posted by: the clinton plan | April 11, 2008 3:47 PM
Misogyny, ageism, finger-pointing and hypocrisy.
That's the Obama campaign strategy.
Being 60 means you have a lot of memories. She's been under fire for 35 years and has done more for Americans middle class and poor than he Obamas together have done in the last 10 years.
Question: When we gonna see Michelle Robinson's tax returns for the past 30 years? Barry Obama's for the past 30 years?
Sure would like to see what charities they've been donating to.
You know McCain will bring this up, folks.
Give it up! Not that we elect a president via polls (heard of the electoral college?) but it's a dead heat on all issues.
Time for the Obama camp to fold into Team Hilary.
Posted by: golden oldie | April 11, 2008 3:50 PM
Mark--you on the Obama payroll pal? Oh,I remember, you're working for the corporate media and it's okay to bash the dems right now as Obama's feeding you guys more of that good corporate bundled campaign cash.
Mark--know any people 60 years old? Here's what we've been doing, if we're productive for the past 20 years (I started this in my 30s):
We go to bed around 10:45. We get up again at 3 and do some more work. We stagger our sleep.
Especially those of us who EARNED our way into the positions we're holding.
Posted by: golden oldie | April 11, 2008 3:53 PM
joe | April 11, 2008 2:31 PM
That was a great post! And you are right....politics might be the reason she stuck around. She loses this election you might see her file... 109million is a lotta cheddah!
Posted by: Keith Lifetime Southsider | April 11, 2008 4:07 PM
With all the millions barack obama is spending on ads, you'd think he'd have the nomination all locked up.
Posted by: brigitte sanz | April 11, 2008 2:13 PM
He does have the nomination locked up Brigitte, its called simple math. Hillary would have to win 63% of the delegates in the remaining states to win. She has not captured 63% of the vote in ANY state yet, not even her home state of New York.
As Bill Clinton said in late Feb "She has to win both Texas and Ohio to have a chance", she took LESS delegates out of Texas than Obama did (that is called a loss). In reality he locked up the nomination on March 5th. What we are going through now is just a formality, but the writing is clearly on the wall even in Pennsylvania: HRC just cant build the national consensus that BHO can, and that is just a plain fact.
Posted by: Jon from the Flatlands | April 11, 2008 4:22 PM
In a report on another media outlet Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer said, "Sen. Clinton appreciates her husband standing up for her, but this was her mistake and she takes responsibility for it."
In the same report, Bill Clinton was quoted as saying, "Hillary called me and said, 'I misstated it, you said I misstated it, but you got to let me handle it because you don't remember it either' ... I said 'Yes ma'am.' "
So now the Hillary Clinton campaign is distancing itself from the public comments made by . . . Bill Clinton?
Posted by: Skip | April 11, 2008 4:36 PM
Especially those of us who EARNED our way into the positions we're holding.
Posted by: golden oldie | April 11, 2008 3:53 PM
Earned in the most part in Hillary's case by saying "I do."
Earned in the most part in Obama's case by his own work.
Posted by: JT | April 11, 2008 4:54 PM
Thanks Bill for bringing this back up. I did not even THINK about it before I heard these STUPID lies that you are telling to try and justify the lie. It is clearly a lie, unless she can name ONE instance where she was in a foriegn country under sniper fire. See, stupid Clintons, it is only a forgetful moment when one mixes up two real stories, but when one completely fabricates a near death experience, it is CLEARLY a lie. But please, keep talking about it. I'm sure good things are bound to come of it. Obama 08
Posted by: Xcellentform | April 11, 2008 5:15 PM
With all the millions barack obama is spending on ads, you'd think he'd have the nomination all locked up.
Posted by: brigitte sanz | April 11, 2008 2:13 PM
He does have the nomination locked up Brigitte, its called simple math. Hillary would have to win 63% of the delegates in the remaining states to win. She has not captured 63% of the vote in ANY state yet, not even her home state of New York.
As Bill Clinton said in late Feb "She has to win both Texas and Ohio to have a chance", she took LESS delegates out of Texas than Obama did (that is called a loss). In reality he locked up the nomination on March 5th. What we are going through now is just a formality, but the writing is clearly on the wall even in Pennsylvania: HRC just cant build the national consensus that BHO can, and that is just a plain fact.
Posted by: Jon from the Flatlands | April 11, 2008 5:30 PM
well put Xcellentform - this was never anything but a bold-faced lie
and bill is right about one thing - he equates how she's been treated being roughly equivalent of how someone should be treated for robbing a bank - what hillary is trying is much worse than robbing a bank - she is trying to steal an election - and she is willing to lie in order to pull off that swindle
Posted by: the clinton plan | April 11, 2008 5:30 PM
Look at the pro-Obama posts here. Look at all the uses of the word 'liar' that pops out of their mouths so easily.
They are not loyal Democratic Party workers. WORKERS.
They're lazy, don't read newspapers (this is their first election cycle, a lot of them) and they've stuffed ballot boxes in Minnesota (Call Il Rep John Sullivan and ask him about it, will you?) so we don't even have a 'real' two way race.
it's a fairytale.
Just like Obama's anti war stance.
HE'S VOTED JUST LIKE HILARY.
Only he didn't have the stones to box Petreus into the corner like she did the other day.
Hilary hasn't lied about anything.
But Obama's been very much less than sufficiently self-revelatory about his Emil Jones, Rezko and Rev. Wright connections (problematic because they will cost us the election in the fall)>
Posted by: golden oldie | April 11, 2008 5:43 PM
Look at the pro-Obama posts here. Look at all the uses of the word 'liar' that pops out of their mouths so easily.
They are not loyal Democratic Party workers. WORKERS.
They're lazy, don't read newspapers (this is their first election cycle, a lot of them) and they've stuffed ballot boxes in Minnesota (Call Il Rep John Sullivan and ask him about it, will you?) so we don't even have a 'real' two way race.
it's a fairytale.
Just like Obama's anti war stance.
HE'S VOTED JUST LIKE HILARY.
Only he didn't have the stones to box Petreus into the corner like she did the other day.
Hilary hasn't lied about anything.
But Obama's been very much less than sufficiently self-revelatory about his Emil Jones, Rezko and Rev. Wright connections (problematic because they will cost us the election in the fall)>
Posted by: golden oldie | April 11, 2008 5:43 PM
Posted by: the clinton plan | April 11, 2008 3:47 PM
Sounds like tom the little paranoid independent plan.
Posted by: daily planner | April 11, 2008 7:25 PM
Golden Oldie: It was none other tha Bill Clinton who inferred that the reason Hillary lied about the Bosnia trip was that she loosing her memory because she's 60 years old and hadn't had enough sleep.
He may as well have said she has early Alzheimers and can not be trusted to answer that phone at 3 am. That might explain why she told him to shut up. Class Act those Clintons. Are you really ready for the second Clinton adminstration?
Posted by: Miss T | April 11, 2008 7:45 PM
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON WILL BE OUR NEXT PRESIDENT. GO HILLARY!!WE LOVE YA!!
Posted by: brigitte sanz | April 11, 2008 8:31 PM
At the risk of sounding redundant, I believe this story speaks volumes about both Clintons: In a recent Pennsylvania political ad, 3 year-old Hillary Rodham, arms extended, toddles toward the home-movie camera. Hillary's present day voice-over explains the Rodham family cottage, down by the lake, lacked indoor plumbing. It was hardship borne from the start. Yet, more telling events seem to fall by the wayside. Take Hillary's first real job. The upshot: Jerry Zeifman fired Hillary for unethical practices during the Watergate Investigation. Why was twenty-seven year old Hillary fired? “Because she was a liar,” Zeifman said in a recent interview. “She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.”
Not only does Mr. Zeifman’s story go to character, it goes to a lifelong pattern of lying and obfuscation. And, it took Zeifman twelve years to get it aired. After Watergate, Zeifman could not recommend Hillary for any subsequent position of public or private trust, nor furnish her with a letter of recommendation. After that, Hillary Clinton's employment record is one of strict nepotism, cronyism, and amnesia. Although few suspected the lengths to which Hillary would go, a leopard never changes her spots. Again, Hillary Clinton is a bold-faced liar, who will stop at nothing. Should anyone doubt Mr. Zeifman's veracity regarding the Clintons: http://theseedsof9-11.com
According to Mr. Zeifman, it’s not just Hillary’s dishonesty; that’s a fact not in dispute. As important: the actual time span she has behaved in a fraudulent manner. "The Clintons corrupted the soul of the Democratic Party." -Henry Ruth, lead Watergate courtroom prosecutor.
Posted by: Peggy McGilligan | April 11, 2008 10:07 PM
I will say, you libs are the slowest of learners in that you are now just figuring out that the Clintons are nothing but a pair of liars. I believe us conservatives had this figured out 16 years ago.
Posted by: Terry | April 11, 2008 10:17 PM
"Hilary hasn't lied about anything."
Yep, she really ran that gauntlet of Bosnian Sbiper fire, Right Goldie?
Posted by: JT | April 11, 2008 10:44 PM
bottom line
anyone with any sense AT ALL knows that hillary's bosnia/sniper fire remarks reveal not only a complete lack of character but also an amazing lack of competence about all things military
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this is obviously not an isolated clue for us to consider
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no one in their right minds can support such a candidate for commander in chief
Posted by: the clinton plan | April 12, 2008 7:59 AM