No fibbing by politicians
March 25th, 2008, 2:22 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Terry Ross
BY TERRY ROSS, News and Information Center Director
It’s hard to understand how a politician in this era of 24-hour news can believe they can lie about 
a public event, but that is what Hillary Clinton did the other day - although her campaign handlers simply say she “misspoke.”
During a recent speech she commented on a 1996 visit to Bosnia as the First Lady. “I remember landing under sniper fire,” she said. “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.”
It was a very dramatic description that re-enforced her campaign contention that she has the experience necessary to be the nation’s leader and commander in chief. Unfortunately, it did not happen.
In reality, as demonstrated by TV network file footage of the event seen in this YouTube link , she was greeted peacefully by a delegation that included young children. No one was dodging bullets or running for cover. It was a normal arrival event for the First Lady who strolled over to a waiting vehicle.
What stuns me is that she knew news crews had covered the event. Did she think they would not verify what she said or remember the event - especially in the midst of a political campaign?
It is getting harder and harder for politicians to shade the truth - and that’s a good thing.
