Hillary Risking Life, Limb, Chelsea, And Sheryl Crow

More Hillarity - Ms. Clinton tells the world about her harrowing experiences as First Lady, but neither Dean Barnett nor the Captain are buying.

(Clinton argued) she risked her life on White House missions in the 1990s, including a hair-raising flight into Bosnia that ended in a "corkscrew" landing and a sprint off the tarmac to dodge snipers.

"I don't remember anyone offering me tea," she quipped. (Aaah, the gallows humor of the remarkably brave!)

The dictum around the Oval Office in the '90s, she added, was: "If a place was too dangerous, too poor or too small, send the first lady."

It turns out that Clinton wasn't quite flying solo into harm's way that day.

She was, in fact, leading a goodwill entourage that included baggy-pants funnyman Sinbad, singer Sheryl Crow and Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, then 15, according to an account of the March 1995 trip in her autobiography "Living History."

Dean asks the tough questions:

What does it say about Hillary that, by her own (admittedly fanciful) telling, she knowingly put her daughter in harm's way, taking a special Mom-and-daughter (and Sinbad) trip to a place that was “too dangerous?”

Captain Ed digs up some NY Times coverage that somehow overlooked the various dangers to which Ms. Clinton exposed herself and Chelsea.  To that let me add this Reuters account (found in a Free Republic post speculating about then-Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown's possible assassination in April 1996) as well as some on-the-spot photos from a soldier who was there.

My guess - if Bill was willing to whack Ron Brown in Bosnia just a few weeks later, Hillary had to be feeling vulnerable; Chelsea and Sheryl Crow were there as protection.

Somewhat more seriously, there is this from Reuters:

Mrs. Clinton flew to Bosnia from Germany with the two entertainers on a huge C-17 Air Force cargo jet, becoming the first U.S. first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to visit an area of conflict independently of her commander-in-chief husband. Her visit was much more extensive than the one President Clinton made in January. Because of poor weather and security concerns he never got any further than 500 yards from the Tuzla airstrip.

So Bill Clinton flew in two months earlier and security was poor; Ms. Clinton may well have been briefed that this was a hazardous trip.  So why take Chelsea?  I am out of answers.

From the Times coverage it appears that her greatest threat was from disgruntled American soldiers.

MORE:  Sweetness and Light provides Hillary's account from her book, "Living Clown Show History".   

Also, the Times covered President Clinton's visit to Tuzla on Jan 14, 1996:

It took Mr. Clinton two tries today to make it into Tuzla, the headquarters of the American forces, who will eventually number 20,000 of the 60,000 NATO peacekeepers.

Early this morning, the C-17 military transport plane carrying Mr. Clinton, his aides and a bipartisan Congressional delegation was diverted because of fog to the next stop on his itinerary -- an American staging base in Taszar, Hungary. Despite this delay of several hours, the President's entourage was upbeat.

...

Mr. Clinton's trip was marked by heavy security. His precise itinerary was closely held, and Secret Service sharpshooters followed him in Tuzla, where he stayed inside the grounds of the airfield, seeing nothing of the war's effects on the town. A senior official in his entourage said the President's visit had "more logistical, security and weather variables" than he had ever encountered before.

Mr. Clinton took off from Tuzla about two and a half hours after his arrival as fog rolled in, advised by the Secret Service to leave before dark.

The Times also covered the situation as experienced by the troops:

Encircled By Peril, G.I.'s Stay Nonchalant

...To tell you the truth, I feel pretty safe right here," he said, his head poking from the turret of the Bradley fighting vehicle he commands. "As long as there is this much ammo all around me, I don't think they'd be dropping too many mortar rounds," he said, sounding certain that the Serbs would not risk destroying their ammunition to fire at the 22 American soldiers on this lookout point [which was south of Tuzla].

...

Capt. Hugo Jackson, the commander of Charlie Company, is waiting in quiet fury for the delivery of 400 rolls of concertina wire. Now, empty fence posts ring the camp, a breach in security he hopes the Serbs do not wish to take advantage of.

Near dusk on Thursday, a shot rang out from over a hill, and the soldiers fixing a generator looked up but did not duck: They assumed it was simply another shot fired in the air, as common here as men strolling the streets with loaded AK-47's.

"Don't worry, I caught it!" yelled Sgt. Robert Chandler, the First Sergeant.   

Sergeant Chandler, at 37 what the military calls an "old soldier," worries the men have adjusted perhaps too well, given the visible dangers all around. Many soldiers in this rural pocket of grazing sheep and crowing roosters, which was spared the ravages of war, find it difficult to imagine any threat to their lives.

"I'm trying to get them scareder," Sergeant Chandler said.

He succeeded with Hillary.
 

 

Comments

[JM Hanes]

"Hillarity" I like it! I predict it will end up on next year's banned words list.

[Elliott]

Many in the Secret Service received their walking papers, doubtless.

[Ann]

More Hillarity

[JM Hanes]

Ann's ealier link to "Ms. Hillar[ity] does Pakistan" is just begging to be posted here.

I'm picturing Hill, Chelsea, assorted hi-profile guests and a secret security detail all zigging and zagging across the tarmacat speed . "Dodging snipers' probably consisted of telling her not to do her photo ops till she got inside. Having flown into West Virginia, I'm afraid corkscrew landings don't impress much either.

[JM Hanes]

Ann,
Looks like you were sprinting while I was zigging & zagging!

[clarice]

charleston in fog...Yes, indeed, jmhanes. And a wonderful New Year to you. (One set of guests have left and am staying up for the drop-in-for-a-nightcap crowd. ) I do think Hillary's gaffe on Pakistan is considerable though no paper seems smart enough to catch it. She should stick to listening tours--
It is better to remain quiet and thought a fool than to open mouth and remove all doubt. - Mark Twain

[Soylent Red]

"I'm picturing Hill, Chelsea, assorted hi-profile guests and a secret security detail all zigging and zagging across the tarmac at speed"

Heh. All grunting, "Hut, hut, hut" every step of the way, with bullets ricocheting off barrels and whatnot along the way.

Hillarity (as played by Susan Sarandon) upon entering the airport lounge, knocks back a double bourbon in one gulp and growls to Chelsea, "The odds were 10,000 to one. But danger is my business."

Oh wait...

That was from my screenplay of "Lethal Tea Party IV", not from reality. I get those two mixed up sometimes.

[clarice]

Soylent, Have I told you lately that I heart you?

[Soylent Red]

Thanks Clarice. You would be one of a very, very few.

But the feeling is mutual.

Happy New Year.

[clarice]

And to you, Soylent. I'd add "serpentine, serpentine" to the "hut, hut, hut" of your proposed dialogue. (Remember that wacky Arkin, Mattheau movie?)

[JM Hanes]

Saludos & a Happy New Year, Clarice! Having done a double lifetime's worth of entertaining while I was married, I've settled into running out the clock at home, calling the kids and trying to decide whether to go for the ball drop in Times Sq. or the Drag Queen who slides down the giant shoe -- which I suppose is a kind of ball drop in its own right.

Hill's Pakistan gaffe is pretty stunning. The appointment of Bhutto's 17 year old son, under the aegis of a demonstrably corrupt father, ought to give everyone pause when it comes to accepting the kind of simplistic dictator vs. democrat constructions she's been offering up as well. Whether anyone in the campaign press corps knows enough to ask a decent question on the subject is doubtful, alas. I'll give points to any candidate who goes after her on it.

[Soylent Red]

"serpentine, serpentine"

Nyuck, nyuck. That was "The In-Laws". An inspired piece of cinema.

Probably we'd better check and see what Martin Balsam was doing around that period of time. After all he was at both "The Raid on Entebbe" and "The Taking of Pellham 1-2-3". Surely something as important as Hillarity high steppin' it off of a Bosnian apron would warrant his presence. Even if it was at the confluence of Hollywood and Washington that exists only in Hillarity's mind.

Also, as far as corkscrew landings go -- Tucson International. One of the few landing I have been through that elicited a hearty "Jesus CHRIST!" out of me.

[JM Hanes]

Yes Soylent! You've caught the moment exactly, natch, including the emblematic mix up between script and reality. Your deus ex machina arrival augurs well for the New Year. It's always so good to hear from you - here's wishing you all the best!

[MayBee]

That was from my screenplay of "Lethal Tea Party IV"

Oh, I do love you too, Soylent.
Happy New Year, Soylent, JMH and Soylent, Ann and TM.
It is early here, but my husband and I are naught but chauffeurs for our teenagers this evening.

[JM Hanes]

Happy New Year MayBee! Am I right in thinking that you're back in the States now?

[Sue]

31 years ago, I was about to go into labor. My oldest daughter was born at 9:57 AM on January 1, 1977.

[JM Hanes]

Soylent:

I'll see your Tucson flight and raise you a flight out of the mountains into Denver with a dead drop of 500 feet that elicited a hearty "Jesus CHRIST" -- from the stewardess.

[JM Hanes]

Sue:
Does that qualify as starting out the year with a bang or a whimper? :)

[clarice]

jmhanes, how right you are about Pakistan.
Hillary's gaffe--something that should hurt a person running as the "most experienced in foreign affairs" If,,I say IF...any of her opponents or the press covering the campaign knew any more than she did.
Ptuhi...

And if we're into airport stories how about my flight on an old WWII bomber refitted for passengers from Moscow to Lvov...actually to retell it I'd have to relive it, and I rather just concede to JMH's Denver drop in.

[clarice]

Yadayada , Sue--less than 10 hours of labor..Now, mine was 22 hours//not that I'd hold it over my son's head or anything.......

[Soylent Red]

JMH:

You win. Oddly, He was flying neither aircraft.

I have just purchased a DVD copy of the 1979 version of "The In-Laws" after IMDBing it and laughing at the quotes until my face hurt.

Which now makes me even with all of the rest of the world who my face also hurts.

[Paul Zrimsek]

In other news, Hillary is reportedly incensed at the Secret Service's refusal to replace her security detail with ninjas.

Latest Hillary Fictional Avatar sighting here.

[Sue]

Both! ::grin::

[Topsecretk9]

Hey --->HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEARS JOMer's!<---- I echo OtherT om on the Guitar Hero thread ----> You all are very, very good friends to me and in my thoughts and prayers!

(lately I've been doing "---->" alot. It's silly and nonsensical and still I can't help it!)

It's not the New Year here yet. When I dropped off my son an hour ago at a friends he said "see you next year Mom" ba dump bump!

Ann - The Cioppino recipe has finally been uncovered. I can't believe it myself. I'll see if I can photobucket a pdf otherwise I'll find a lonely thread an paste it.

[clarice]

ts--smooches to you for all your work (ditto to Sunny Day). Night all and best wishes for a wonderful New Year. (You'll stay healthy, hear me!!!)

[Topsecretk9]

--9:57 AM--

Do you call her to wish her birthday at 9:57 AM every year?

[Topsecretk9]

Last was meant for SUE.

[Topsecretk9]

Clarice

Sweet Dreams Goddess!

[JM Hanes]

Well shoot, Soylent -- I was holding even worse stuff in reserve for when you saw my Denver flight with something in, say, the Caribbean.

Sue: Weren't those the days? My husband went home in the middle of my first labor to get some rest! And here we are, a generation later. When did that happen?

TSK9: I'd wish you sweet dreams too, but you don't actually sleep do you? :)

[Topsecretk9]

JMH-

HECK NO...I've got rubber clogs on, in the garden wondering if a few of the pretties can weather the sudden cold. I'm in pretty temperate climate but it feels chilly to me.

Although, I did learn that those people I sniggered at when they said "this cold ain't nothin!" were right! Jan. 6th in DC on the mall? Knives. I've been humbled. California Valley on a bad day is not, I guess, that bad.

JMH, I hope you have a blast of a new year as the last. You are amazing and I conjured up appropriate wonderment about you left by glimpses of you. Hip boots an all.

[Ralph L]

not that I'd hold it over my son's head
After I was born, they told my mother not to have any more children (they'd planned to have 4). Thankfully, I didn't hear about that 'til a few years ago, but I have fewer baby photos than my 2 older siblings. My father, of course, was at sea when I was born, also when a big tree fell on the house, and when my mother sprained her ankle showing my brother how to do the can-can.

JMH, I believe Sue started April 1976 with a bang (I hope no whimpers). I hope her husband did, too.

[GFC]

Forced to go to major square. Mayors building, fireworks. Something was happy about the nuke rumors, but someone else thinks America Blog planned for it.

Anyway, kid people: It is wrong to breed. Humans are insane and its wrong to make more of them. Psychiatrist. It's okay to tell them their in hell so they don't breed, but they tend to have problems, so tell them their not.............

[Topsecretk9]

GFC

Happy New Year cryptic person!

[PeterUK]

"The dictum around the Oval Office in the '90s, she added, was: "If a place was too dangerous, too poor or too small, send the first lady."

The Arkansas Divorce seems to be rather heavy duty.

"That's what I said General,it's a clandestine attack on Tuzla Airport,they are using a plane disguised as a C17"...."Use what means you deem necessary".
"OK Monica,hand me another cigar"

[clarice]

Well, PUK, you started off the year making me laugh out lud (again).

[clarice]

**lOud** (DAMN TYPEPAD or whatever this is.)

[maryrose]

Happy New year to all! I had a wonderful evening at my brother's house while my daughter and her cousins had their own party nearby in her cousin's apartment. Talked to my sister who lives in southern Ohio and again rejoiced in my good fprtune to be part of such a great family.
Best news this morning: Obama ahead of Hil in Iowa
32% to 26%. Hillarity is going down...

[maryrose]

TM:
Almost forgot-my nephew got Guitar Hero for Christmas and it was a blast watching him play with 84% accuracy...

[SunnyDay]

Happy New Year, everyone!!

[PeterUK]

Anybody with a smaller ego would have taken the hint,couldn't have been more obvious if he'd sent her to open a cathedral in Tehran.

[Jane]

After weeks and weeks of not being able to fall asleep before 1:00 AM without Ambien, I snoozed thru the ball drop until a young budding rock star friend of mine sent me a text message at 12:07.

And then for the first time in a 100 years I slept until 9:00 AM.

So far I'm liking 2008. I've been to the gym and back and now we are having a blizzard. Seems just about perfect so far.

Happy New Year everyone. It is really gonna be one hell of a ride. My hope is that we are all here a year from now, same time, same place and that it doesn't show on any of us!

[MayBee]

JMH- yes, I'm now in Caleeforn-ia. I was at the tail end of the New Year this time, rather than the leading edge.

[clarice]

HEH HEH HEH

[clarice]

Thanks Jane and Sunny--Good wishes back to you.

[PeterUK]

"Mr. Clinton took off from Tuzla about two and a half hours after his arrival as fog rolled in, advised by the Secret Service to leave before dark."

Before the woman's husband got back from work?

[MayBee]

Ah, I missed a few names in my Happy New Year from last night. I was trying to get everyone that seemed to be around. Man, I was completely sober and still messed up. That can't be a good omen for the coming year.

Happy New Year everyone! May your year be filled with Sinbad and Sheryl Crow.

[glasater]

Going back to Hillary and experience--how can it be that she saw classified material when she was first lady when she didn't have security clearance at the time.
She told George Stephanopolis in the Sunday interview she read/saw classified docs but the NYT said she did not have a clearance.

[Sara]

glasater: I heard Dick Morris say that too, about Hillary not having the right clearances to see some of the classified material she says she's seen. He also said that more than half the time, she and Bill weren't speaking to each other and she wasn't at any meetings during those times.

[clarice]

Maybe Sandy Berger got them for her.

[sbw]

Berger! Ouch!

[maryrose]

"Maybe Sandy Berger got them for her." best comment of the first day of the New Year.
Hil is just lying through her teeth again. Even when she doesn't have to lie she does. This is not a quality you want in a future president of the U.S. I am putting my trust in the people of Iowa, New hampshire and South Carolina to set her straight. Michigan is just a beauty pageant for her and Fla. if Obama wins a few is no sure thing either.

[centralcal]

Happy 2008, Maryrose. "I am putting my trust in the people of Iowa, New hampshire and South Carolina..."

That's all fine and dandy for Hillary, and the Dem side collectively. But what about our side? Huckabee not crashing to the ground, but still on an upward tick, McCain rising, Paul catching up to and maybe passing Thompson -- just some of the punditry, analyses, polling points of the last few days.

Please tell me it is like a pot of chicken stock that as it comes to a boil, a lot of scum develops on the surface.

I think our side is also suffering horribly because of talk radio being mostly on holiday vacation. The MSM lemmings have no one to correct their course before they fall pell mell down the cliff. I just don't want to be a non-lemming left behind with their sorry choices!

What, pray tell, is happening to our party? I can't force myself to believe that either Huckabee or Paul represent most of us. McCain is, of course, another story. One of us when it suits him, one of them when it suits him, or no one's at all -- when he is being "the Maverick," the darling of the media.

[centralcal]

a post getting rid of url linky poo from yesterday.

[sbw]

Republicans can be the party of principle when they choose to be.

Democrats can't. It's not that they are unprincipled in the sense that they know and choose not to follow them. They are unprincipled in that they have no principles they value.

In place of principles, they substitute unfounded clichés.Those cliichés offer an appearance of superiority that is really a hard shell of defensiveness that causes them to attack anything that might offer useful understanding. A more self-defeating approach does not exist.

But they'll never see that.

[narciso]

Happy new year: Tuzla was in the American sector; not predominantly Muslim, so it was'nt a really dangerous area.Pakistan is
another fish of kettle altogether, as it was
where the Langley shooter Mir Amil Kansi (Kasi)a Baloch, Baluchi (tomatoe, tomato

[Rick Ballard]

SBW,

They are currently at the point of omninomian tolerance with a final destination of anomy. The politically interesting thing about them having left reason to fully embrace emotion is that they are making errors which may defeat them more soundly (on a strictly emotional basis) than anything that the Reps could throw at them from the "rational" side of the divide.

Immigration and the SCHIP expansion are the two most obvious examples of political lack of reason on exhibition, although I regard the AQ/Dem alliance of interest to be the point at which the most damage will eventually occur.

[narciso]

Happy new year: Tuzla was in the American sector; not predominantly Muslim, so it was'nt a really dangerous area.Pakistan is
another fish of kettle altogether, as it was
where the Langley shooter Mir Amil Kansi (Kasi)a Baloch, Baluchi (tomatoe, tomato)
was from. Interestingly in the States, Kasi
worked for a courier owned by the son of the first of the CIA's whistleblowers; Victor Marchetti. Not long after Kasi was
'rendered' two CIA officials were shot in Karachi. The former occurred before the Feb 26, WTC attack which was carried by Egyptian
'86 amnestied cab driver Abouhalima, Jordanian Salameh,(the one who came back to the Ryder rental agency for a deposit, who wrote the note claiming credit to the Liberation Army, 5th Battalion)Kuwaiti national Mahmoud Ajaj, the Sudanese national with the Nicaraguan passport, et al. The mastermind was Abdul Basit,aka Ramzi Yousef, who escaped thanks to Salameh's stunt, and the Iraqi who fled to Baghdad. Interesting Yousef and KSM along with UAE financier Ammar al Baluchi were all related and we know no, were al AQ. The
intellectual author was Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind Ahzari educated Egyptian cleric
who had inspired along with Quradwi,attacks against Sadat by members of the Estambouli clan.

In other news, having read A Jacksonian's long post on the Bhutto hit, makes me think
that she martyred herself, as per our previous speculation; however, Pakistani
military inteligence, directed the Al Queda
hit; possibly Laskhar al Jhanvi; much like
the Syrian Mukharabat's hit on Hariri, using
the unlikely Jund al Shams militants.

[clarice]

Hmm, narciso--AQ? What were the Baluchis known for before 9/11? Working with Saddam's Intel service.

[narciso]

Now I know why Angleton called it "the wilderness of mirrors" Saudi financiers
and martyrs like former hotelier Riyadh
Quahtani, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
(Quds Force)like Michael Hirsh confidante
Mohzen Rezai, and former Pakistan ISI and
head of Military Intelligence Ejah Shah are all tied together in a network that makes John Nash's network seem sane. Angleton it is said was burned by his previous embrace
of Philby and relating all intelligence channels as illegitimate; with the possible
exception of Anatoly Golitsin. much like the Trust of the NEP period. He wasn't far wrong the entire Cuban network recruited in the 60s were in fact double agents. Among the agents recruited in the late 80s was
an actual KGB mole hunter; Yurchenko was a dangle to diffuse suspicions over the damage Ames was causing, and Ames, the FBI
analogue to Angleton had been an KGB/SVR
agent for an even longer period. Then there's the example of Aras Karim; an Iraqi
Kurd on Chalabi's staff who apparently was
an agent for Sepah Pasdaran (Iranian intelligence)

[maryrose]

Rick:
I totally agree with your analysis.Dems are consistently on the wrong side, of every issue, especially the war and funding the troops. Americans both remember and resent their 46 efforts to screw around with funding. All three indexes on the Stock Exchange are on the upswing for this year. Housing crisis over-rated as Countrywide in Ohio after being shamed into it is refinancing the most egregious loans.They basically have nothing to run on and are horrible on the war on terror. Republicans in 08 in a walk.

[maryrose]

centracal:
My gut feeling is Romney or Guiliani. McCain will hold on to 3rd in Iowa and 2nd in New Hampshire but South Carolina will be his downfall once again. Safire sees South Carolina as pivotal in the repub race and I agree. If somehow Rudy edges past McCain In South Carolina all bets are off as Guiliani heads for Fla., New York, Pennsylvania and especially New Jersey.Huckabee isn't going to win Iowa after that goofy attack-non-attack ad of his. Too cute by half and it made him look foolish.He then goes on to tank in NH and the rest is history. Thompson may trump him in SC and then Rudy will secure Fla., and then you have a horserace.

[SteveMG]

McCain's moving up and I've got about $1200 right now sunk into him.

I'm looking at least an ambassadorship in an McCain Administration. I'll take an underesecretary position if I have to.

Y'all can still call me Steve. Or SMG.

For the time being. But watch it.

SMG

[SteveMG]

an McCain Administration

An McCain?

So I'll have to hire a speech writer too.

SMG

[clarice]

Steve--I've been here a long time--Best job in Washington is Asst Sec of Commerce for Tourism.

[centralcal]

Maryrose: Only the press seem to think Huck's shennanigans were "too cute by half." By quoting scripture to his advantage (What does it profit a man ...) he is getting applause from supporters attending his events. They have fallen for his ploy hook, line and sinker.

I agree with you that Huck will sink soon after Iowa, but my fear is that he takes Thompson down with him. Which strangely, I think will work to McCain's advantage. I really, really don't want to see McCain as our candidate.

[sbw]

Me? I want a position in the kitchen cabinet. No responsibilities and the opportunity to meddle. ;-)

[SteveMG]

--Best job in Washington is Asst Sec of Commerce for Tourism.

Hmm, with lots of fact-finding junkets, er, missions, to other tourist hotspots around the world. All in service to the public, of course.

My guess is that I'll need to up that $1200 just a bit, no?

Hell, I'll be lucky to get a pack of White House M&Ms.

SMG

[Ann]

For Fred supporters, this is worth a read:

An Account of Thompson's 'Desire' Question, From The Man Who Asked

Our media stinks! I fear they have already determined who the Republican candidate will be...McCain or Huckaboo. Let's not let them. Now is the time to send some money to Fred.

[Ann]

Nothing personal, SMG.

Just tired of the media's manipulation of the facts, their laziness, and bad intentions. And that is a nice way of saying it.

[sbw]

Rick: They are currently at the point of omninomian tolerance with a final destination of anomy.

Okay, anomy I understand, but what the heck is "omninomian tolerance"?

[Soylent Red]

By quoting scripture to his advantage (What does it profit a man ...) he is getting applause from supporters attending his events.

centralcal:

Sort of what I've been thinking for about a month now. Seems to me, no pun intended, he is preaching to the choir.

To me, the only real question mark regarding Huckabee is what the choir would do in his absence.

My guess is that a good portion of them would simply suck it up and vote "Not Democrat", based on issues like abortion or stem cell research.

Despite what the media would have us believe, conservative Christians can be a very pragmatic bunch, and most that I know have a pretty good understanding of the compromises necessary in electoral politics.

Most also, in my experience, understand the real danger of winning the primary battle and losing the general election war.

[Soylent Red]

omninomian

I'll take a stab at it.

If antinomianism is rejection of legalistic structure to achieve salvation, omninomianism must be the forced acceptance of all legalism to achieve salvation.

IOW, Dems are rapidly going down the path of codified and enforced tolerance of everything in order to be in whatever they determine to be a state of grace, or correct.

Which is, IMO, true of Dems but strangely in complete opposition to their obvious streak of nihilism.

[hr]

Huckabee and Obama are bailing. Darfur and Africom. Ms. Powers is interesting.

McCain. I need to get a letter out. Tourism? Maybe there should be a new ambassador type or something.

Lemmings are fun!!!!!

[Ann]

Soylent Red,

Like Clarice, I heart you too, like most of the men here at JOM.
Can you tell us what you are up to in 2008? If not, I will still be wishing you the best and Godspeed.

[richard mcenroe]

Dear Senator Clinton...

I've face more peril landing at La Guardia...

[sylvia]

"My guess - if Bill was willing to whack Ron Brown in Bosnia just a few weeks later, Hillary had to be feeling vulnerable"

Yeah I'm glad you mentioned the Ron Brown incident. I hadn't been aware there were any conspiracy theories about it, but I always thought there should have been. I always kind of thought an awful lot of people seemed to meet an early end around the Clintons, and usually whenever there was about to be an investigation. This kind of reminds me of a study that came out not too long ago that found that people with the highest positions and/or feeling of importance tend to cheat the biggest when they had to, as they found it easiest to justify it to themselves.

[SunnyDay]

Soylent, you are brilliant!!

[Ann]

Ha, Ha, Ha, Told ya:

Frank Luntz on Fox just said that he has changed his opinion on Hillary. In the last ten days he says her negatives are so high that the Republican Party should hope the Democratic nominee is Hillary because she would be easier to beat.

[Daddy]

Seems to me that the probably really dangerous part of Hillary's Bosnia mission was surreptitiously trying to use more than a single sheet of toilet paper without having Sheryl Crow go nuclear on you.

[SunnyDay]

Ann, I'm with you re Fred and the media. He won't give them an inch, and they really don't like it.

I've never donated so much to *anything* before.

[clarice]

There's a story just on the wires out of Iowa that only a handful of people showed up for Bill's last appearance on her behalf.
Part of me KNOWS that this Iowa thing is so stupid, I do not want to credit the results, but part of me knows that if she loses big, I'll be happy...even if it's the idiotic Iowa caucus.

[SunnyDay]

I'm not even watching Fox, their campaign coverage is annoying me as much as the others do. blahblahblahblah Now I remember why I used to turn off the TV during the campaign season -when politics was the main topic. :D

[clarice]

OOps--read it too carelessly--a handful of reporters but a lot of her precinct captains.

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/01/01//news/local/doc477aef1c4cb38303857313.txt>Overexposed

[Rick Ballard]

"omninomianism must be the forced acceptance of all legalism to achieve salvation"

Yep. An omninomian has developed such a high degree of tolerance that he is of the firm belief that every path will lead to salvation. Unless it deviates from scientistic principles, of course. (Scientism is the misapplication of natural science to human behavior - Nanny Bloomberg squared).

The tolerance of every nomos has a very high probability of leading to anomy - I think the Dems have almost made it. And if that ain't nihilism it'll sure pass in poor light.

Instead of having the abyss look back at you, it's the village idiot.

[Ann]

Clarice, you will love this story. Up on Drudge right now is another story about Hillary and the accordion player again.

Hillary and Accordian Players

She is a pandering idiot!

[Ann]

And where is the picture of the midnight New Year Eves kiss between Bill and Hill the most loving, caring couple in the world.

Did Bill make it to Iowa last night? Does anyone know?

[Ann]

SunnyDay,

Here is a New Year toast to YA. I haven't turned on the T.V. until tonight. I am tired of all their opinions, except for Mr. Luntz who made me happy. Tomorrow will bring more of the same and I refuse to watch. Can you imagine living in Iowa? Clarice is right of course, it is alot of crap.

[Ann]

Rick,

You have them all nailed: Village Idiots.
I heart you, too.

[centralcal]

Hi Soylent - I was away for a couple of hours. I agree with the Christian pragmatism you suggest. However, first there would have to be the "absence" you mention.

In all fairness, I think many of his devotees will sour on him, it is just that things have happened so fast - he was basically unknown - and it has taken a few weeks for him to reveal his considerable warts. Amazingly considerable amount of those. I don't think the aura surrounding him has quite dissipated for many of the Iowans and probably won't before they caucus on Thursday.

Sunny Day, this is the first time I have donated to anyone during the primary stage - and more than once! I completely agree with your annoyance at Fox News!

[Ann]

The Iowa Scam

[Primary]

Why would any reason be interest in salvation? Salvation is:

Africom is the issue at the caucus. Who forced it's existence? The world was divided up fine at MacDill. Obama, Huckabee and Edwards?

Two navy people from the first ever peace ship.

USAID employee just like Foley(not Plame's boss, but the guy who stopped term limits for Congressmen and, probably, ALL federal employees!) for Plame fans.

http://www.daylife.com/story/04iwdAN52J1IT/1?lead_article=101000000033730032

Causes of death? Hit by truck? Accidentally setting off a firearm? Left alone to bleed to death? Accidentally beaten to death?

[glasater]

Evan Sayet has a pretty interesting blog. One of the commentators blames President Bush for Ron Brown's death along with all the others usually attributed to the Clintons.

[Elliott]

I'm in the best 'twere quickly done camp when it comes to stopping HRC. She may be the easiest to beat in a general election, but why take a chance? Putting the DOJ, IRS, and our "intelligence" services under the Clintons' influence was bad enough the first time.

[SunnyDay]

Yikes! click my name and read.

We need to ask them about this

[Lk]

Ron got a scholarship. Hillary was dating that guy that Bill killed when he got in. I think Rice does McKay now and not George.

The federal employees are going to get five year limits on employment so that more Americans can serve and then we get Hillary school set up for free education. Presidential appointees get five years too and Congress doesn't have to have 6 second meetings to stop appointments. Congress is treated to the five years too.

[Elliott]

Thanks for linking that, SunnyDay.

The Chronicle reporter made a major error in suggesting that Fred Thompson was not in Congress when the vote on the so-called Hague Invasion Act was held. As if that weren't bad enough, Fred seems to have voted on the measure. I think this is the roll call and it shows Thompson voting affirmatively along with McCain, Clinton, and Edwards.

[PeterUK]

"And where is the picture of the midnight New Year Eves kiss between Bill and Hill the most loving, caring couple in the world."

The pre-nuptials state clearly,"No swapping spit"

[Jane]

Okay, it's Day 2 of the New Year, and we have yet to hear from Hit.

Hmmmmm

[kim]

You know, Primary, you are edging around one of my favorite fantasies. Did USAID get too curious about Joe's oil deals? Naw, probably just a senseless terrorist.
=============================

[sbw]

Rick and Soylent: "omninomianism"

OOooh! My left brain just cramped! Thanks for the illumination.

Of course me knowing what ails the afflicted won't help cure them. While being able to identify the symptoms may help me avoid catching it, finding a tasty cure amenable to those consumed by the disease is the assignment for 2008.