Must Read from Helen Thomas: Will the Real Hillary Clinton Stand Up?

[flpoljunkie]

Helen Thomas: Will the real Hillary Clinton stand up?
By Helen Thomas

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has great political skills, but her war-and-peace compass leaves something to be desired.

Clinton has blown hot and cold on Middle East issues, including Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. She is at best pragmatic. Principles? Well, that's another story.

Before and during her early years in the White House, she supported Palestinian statehood, but she apparently forgot this after successfully running for senator from New York as a Democrat.

The rest is history. She obviously had to cater to a new constituency, make the ritual trip to Israel and forget any sympathy she once had for the Palestinians. But is her 180-degree flip-flop on that festering issue a portent of her leadership if she attains the White House?

As for Iraq, she voted in October 2002 to authorize President Bush to do what was necessary to unseat Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Unlike former Democratic Sen. John Edwards, she has refused to say she made a mistake when she voted for the war.

She cannot claim she was misled. During the lead up to the war when she was briefed on the latest U.S. intelligence about Iraq, Bush was shouting from the housetops that he was going to attack Iraq.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld often strutted before reporters at the Pentagon two years before the invasion and bragged about the attack the U.S. would wage against Iraq.

more on Clinton and Iraq...

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_6243731

[BeyondGeography]

1. On Iraq, she stands where she thinks she needs to at any given moment

So she winds up standing everywhere.

And, thanks, Helen, for having the good taste to smackdown HRC for her inexcusable Iraqi bashing:

<She has piously stated that the U.S. had given the Iraqis a "chance for free and fair elections" by ousting Saddam Hussein and has provided the Iraqi government the opportunity to demonstrate that it would "make hard political decisions necessary to give the people of Iraq a better future."
And get this: "So," she added, "the American military has succeeded. It is the Iraqi government which has failed to make the tough decisions that are important for their own people."
What gall! The U.S. invades and occupies a country, destroys its infrastructure, tries to privatize its national oil industry, kills and wounds thousands of Iraqis and now tells the ungrateful Iraqis, "It's your problem.">

[Dogmudgeon]

3. What a phony accusation

Who Hillary is blaming: "It is the Iraqi government which has failed ... "

I seem to recall plenty of criticism of the Iraqi government here, on dKos, by Jon Stewart and Keith Olbermann, etc.

At least come up with some real dirt on the woman. The GOP will be manufacturing more than enough of the bogus stuff.

--p!

[BeyondGeography]

5. It's a GOP line, so she'll be fine

Taste and decency in a would-be leader is all I ask for, and she doesn't have it on this issue. I don't give a flying fuck what an ex-sportscaster, a comic and a blogger have to say about the matter.

[Dogmudgeon]

16. My mistake ...

... I've been hearing so much anti-Hillary stuff from the left that now I'm easily confused.

In the words of internationally-known intelligence expert Maxwell Smart, "Sorry about that, Chief."

:blush:

--p!

[truedelphi]

21. Stewart and Olbermann acknowledge that one of the problem's with the

Iraqi governemnt is our installing the key players in that government.

They are not removing the "Iraqi government" from the context of it needing to reflect the various segments of that society.

Hillary seems to remove discussion of the Iraqi government from that context.

[LaurenG]

2. It would be more helpful if we could get a commitment one way or another

about the war from her. I think our number one priority should be getting out of Iraq and I think those wanting to be the next President had better be very firm, in their plans to get us out of there if they hope to even make it to the primaries.

:shrug:

[NotGivingUp]

4. Hillary will never get my vote. nt

[elocs]

6. I would vote for Senator Clinton in the general election, but not my primary.

The war thing is a big problem for me. I don't like the I was for it, but now I'm against it. The big problem with her voting for the IWR is that she did not bother to read the intel about it first. What was the problem? Was it not important enough? There just seems to be a too much of a finger in the wind attitude by her. I wonder if most of the country was not against the war what her stand on it might be?

[madrchsod]

7. another hit piece on hillary

i thought helen was better than that.....

[flpoljunkie]

8. The great Helen Thomas is standing in for Molly Ivins now. " Good on her," as Molly might say.

And, I do think the late, great Molly Ivins would approve.

[madrchsod]

9. yup---i forgot

[Divernan]

10. Perhaps Ms. Thomas hopes to shame Sen. Clinton into doing "the right thing".

Such as admitting she was wrong to vote for the war, and apologizing for trashing the Iraqi people, and reversing her abandonment of the Palestinians, and just generally to take some ethical stands based on democratic values instead of tailoring her positions to her latest polling results.

Are you at the point that any criticism of Sen. Clinton is to be dismissed as a "hit piece"?

[babylonsister]

11. She's not writing anything but the truth; it's unfortunate if you can't accept that. nt

[madrchsod]

12. i was trying for

some people will think that helen is actually writing a hit piece

[babylonsister]

15. So solly; I didn't recognize it. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

:hi:

[Forkboy]

18. Well shit...you got me.

:blush:

Some people here WOULD say that.

Congrats! Good on you for not using the sarcasm tag! :toast:

:)

[Tesha]

14. (Deleted in light of admission of sarcasm)

[Forkboy]

17. Nevermind....

I've been had! :)

[jefferson_dem]

13. Thanks for posting this.

Now...how long before the Hillaryphiles will start looking to throw Helen under the bus?

[thereismore]

19. "What gall!" I like that. nt

[Greyskye]

20. Helen gets it.

Sometimes I feel that Helen Thomas is the smartest person in DC.

[DemBones DemBones]

22. I feel sure that Helen Thomas is one of the ten

smartest persons in D.C. She may be #1, as you suggest. She always gets it.