MEET THE PRESS
01/13/08(Videotape, October 10, Clinton's 2002 Iraq speech):
SEN. CLINTON: So it is with conviction that I support this resolution as being in the best interest of our nation. And it is a vote that says clearly to Saddam Hussein, this is your last chance. Disarm or be disarmed.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: Casting your vote for conviction for the authorization for use of military force against Iraq resolution.
That same week Senator Obama gave a speech, and this is what he said:
"I know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors. ... I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that"
"invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale" "without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than the best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars."
Who had the better judgment at that time? :shrug:
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MR. RUSSERT: I want to stay with your vote because that same day,
Senator Levin offered an amendment, the Levin amendment, and this is how the New York Times reported it. "The amendment called ... for the U.N. to pass a new resolution explicitly approving the use of force against Iraq. It also required the president to return to Congress if his U.N. efforts failed." ... Senator Levin said, "Allow Congress to vote only after exhausting all options with the United States." You did not participate in that vote.
You voted against Carl Levin, who was saying give diplomacy a chance and yet you said no. You voted to authorize war. The resolution you voted for, Robert Byrd said was a blank check for George Bush.
Ted Kennedy says it was a vote for war. James Carville and Paul Begala said anyone who says that vote wasn't a vote for war is bunk.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, Tim, if I had a lot of paper in front of me, I could quote people who say something very differently, so I know you're very good at this and I respect it, but let's look at the context here. Number one,
the Levin amendment, in my view, gave the Security Council of the United Nations a veto over American presidential power. I don't believe that is an appropriate policy for the United States, no matter who is our president. :eyes:
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MR. RUSSERT: But you voted for all the funding for the war.
SEN. CLINTON: I did. I never--I'm not premising my campaign on something different. :wtf:
MR. RUSSERT: And then until '06 was against the timetable.
SEN. CLINTON: But I did what I--my principle concern has always been doing what I thought was best for our country and what I thought was best for our troops. I'm not here saying anything different than that. I'm not giving you a story line that does not hold up...
MR. RUSSERT: But did he have better...
SEN. CLINTON: ...under the facts and the times we were in.
MR. RUSSERT: Did he have better judgment in October of 2002?SEN. CLINTON: You know, look, judgment is not a single snapshot. Judgment is what you do across the course of your life and your career.
MR. RUSSERT: A vote for war is a very important vote.SEN. CLINTON: Well, you know, Tim, we can have this
Jesuitical argument :wtf: about what exactly was meant.
You know, when Chuck Hagel, who helped to draft the resolution, :wtf: said it was not a vote for war, when I was told directly by the White House in response to my question, "if you are given this authority, will you put the inspectors in and permit them to finish their job," I was told that's exactly what we intended to do.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22634967/page/3/---------------------------------------------
Sen. Hagel's Proposal indeed! Ha! So much bullshit, so little time from Ms. Hillary "I did this, and I did that" Clinton, triangulating her distortions....all the while her "experience" is pretty much made up of making mistakes, and doesn't add up to 35 years....except for in her mind. Woman had no security clearance nor attended NS meeting while living at the White House.
Note, anything above the ---------line is straight from the transcript, and there is nothing that I added beyond smilie commentaries, to highlight the bullshit as it was spewed.