Hillary Fest

Two posts today because two things struck me (pissed me off). One was, of course, the duplicity of our governing class as illuminated by Glenn Greenwald. Scroll down for that post. The other was the media helping to elect Hillary Clinton by providing her with a platform on every single one of the talking head shows Sunday. I know that "equal time" doesn't apply to news, but...

The facility with which she avoids answering questions and the consistency with which the media allows her to do that astounds me. Consider the following exchange between her and Tim Russert.

Russert: As you well know you voted to authorize this war, voted to fund this war at lest ten times. Are you now saying that you will not vote one more penny for the war in Iraq.

Clinton: Tim I am saying that. You know I've been guided by what I believe is the principle that should govern any decisions that any member of the senate and any one in public life makes and that is I try to do what is best for my country and for the troops who serve it. And I have seen no evidence that this administration is willing to change course in any significant way. We're now nearly at 3800 dead, we have more than 30,000 injured, the Iraqi government has failed to fulfill its part of the bargain to deal with the political issues that all of us know have to be addressed. I don't think the Bush administration has pursued the diplomatic agenda the way that it needed to be pursued and there is no military solution.

And these extraordinary brave young men and women should begin to come home out of refereeing this sectarian civil war. I voted against funding last spring - I understand we are going to have vote shortly about funding and I will vote against it. Because I think it's the only way that we can demonstrate clearly that we have to change direction. The president has not been willing to do that and he still has enough support among the Republicans in the senate that he doesn't have to.

Russert's question addresses the inconsistency of her record. Her response is to talk at length and avoid that completely, and Russert does not follow up at all. (Her vote against funding last spring was cast in the dark of night and only after the fate of the bill had already been decided.) Not only that, but bloggers and pundits use this exchange and ones like it to illustrate how "disciplined" Clinton is and how smooth and responsive she is.

What it illustrates for me is precisely how dishonest she is. Her Senate vote is and always will be whatever is politically expedient at the moment.