UNDER SNIPER FIRE

In my blog, NO, NOT GOD BLESS AMERICA, GOD DAMN AMERICA! (3-18-08), I put it bluntly - "Barack Obama is a liar!" In order to be evenhanded, I will now be just as blunt about Obama's Democratic rival for the presidency - Hillary Clinton is a liar!! Here are just two examples of her lies.

Clinton's main campaign theme has been her claim that she has had years of foreign policy experience and that she is prepared to respond immediately should our nation be threatened or attacked by an enemy. In a speech last week, Clinton recalled her trip to Tuzla, Bosnia in 1996. She went there, accompanied by daughter Chelsa, to visit U.S. troops enforcing the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement. Here is what she had to say about the trip:

"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."

Unfortunately for Hillary, news video and the recollection of accompanying reporters tell a far different tale. Instead of sniper fire, Hillary and Chelsea were greeted on the airfield's tarmac by dignitaries and a group of children. The only time Hillary had to put her head down was to accept a kiss on the cheek from a little girl.

The media accused Clinton of "embellishing" her experience. Embellishing, my ass! Why can't the media call it what it is? - a lie! Only after the media had revealed the truth, Clinton admitted she "misspoke," blaming her description of the event on sleep deprivation. A lie on top of a lie!! On at least two prior occasions, she told campaign audiences the same story, that she had landed in Bosnia under sniper fire.

Hillary also claims to have played a crucial role in bringing about peace in Northern Ireland. Here is an example of what she has said during the campaign: "I remember a meeting that I pulled together in Belfast, in the town hall there, bringing together for the first time Catholics and Protestants from both traditions, having them sitting in a room where they had never been before with each other..."

Those in the know at the time found Hillary's assertion "laughable." This is how author and columnist Lindy McDowell, who attended that meeting, responded to Clinton's claim in a recent Belfast Telegraph column: "I remember the visit to the cafe (town hall) well. It was what's known in the business as a photo opportunity. Something to keep the presidential spouse occupied while the actual office bearer was getting down to business. It was a short, staged event 'pulled together' by local organisers. Amid all the secuirty men and press photographers it was hardly conducive to real business."

The participants at that meeting were all women. They often held such meetings, contratry to Clinton's statement that she had brought them together for the first time. And it was local organizers who pulled the meeting together, not Hillary. Just a couple more Clinton lies, that's all. And how crucial was this meeting? It was merely a photo-op for the first lady while her husband was busy elsewhere trying to broker a peace.

Here is another example of "Hillary the Liar." Clinton takes credit for her "successful effort to create" the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Actually, her name rarely appeared in news accounts about the SCHIP negotiations, which lasted for several months back in 1997. And she never testified before Congress or held a news conference on the bill.

When Senator Orrin Hatch, the lead GOP negotiator on the bill, heard that Hillary was claiming to be SCHIP's main advocate, he told reporters, "I had to blink a few times." Hatch could not recall a single conversation with Clinton about SCHIP, nor even the mention of her name. "If she was involved, I didn't know about it," he said. And Senator Jay Rockefeller, one of the Democrats pushing the bill, joked "You know how she (Clinton) says, 'I started SCHIP'? Well, so did I."

So, here you have a prominent Democratic senator joking about Hillary's obvious lie and a highly respected Republican senator, who often cosponsors legislation with Democrats, challenging her false claim. Once again, let me put it bluntly - Hillary Clinton, like Barack Obama, is a liar!! However, in fairness to both it must be concluded that Obama is a better liar, while Clinton is a much bigger liar.