Hilliam Clinton
Remember "Clintonesque"? So does Hillary.
In the 1990s, "Clintonesque" became a by-word for political double-speak. We even became, briefly, a nation of deconstructionists when President Bill Clinton mused on the meaning of "is."
Such existential questions seemed to be in the past. But with another Clinton running as if she's all but a sure thing for the White House, Clintonesque is once again becoming a politically relevant adjective. In Tuesday night's Democratic Presidential debate, the moderators and Hillary Clinton's fellow panelists took pains to pin her down on one question after another, without notable success. The junior Senator from New York seems increasingly to have adopted her husband's political methods, minus the savoir-faire. The result is that it's impossible to know what she believes about anything.
On Iran's nuclear ambitions, moderator Brian Williams asked a number of the candidates what their "red line" was. As he put it to Barack Obama, "What would make it crystal clear in your mind that" the U.S. "should attack Iran?" When he repeated the question to Senator Clinton, her answer was, in sum, "I think that what we're trying to do here is put pressure on the Bush Administration." She added, "we've got to rein him in." And, no, she didn't mean Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When pressed by Mr. Williams, she clarified, in a way. "We're not in my view, rushing to war. We should not be doing that. But we shouldn't be doing nothing."
Read more about Mrs. Mealymouth.
In the 1990s, "Clintonesque" became a by-word for political double-speak. We even became, briefly, a nation of deconstructionists when President Bill Clinton mused on the meaning of "is."
Such existential questions seemed to be in the past. But with another Clinton running as if she's all but a sure thing for the White House, Clintonesque is once again becoming a politically relevant adjective. In Tuesday night's Democratic Presidential debate, the moderators and Hillary Clinton's fellow panelists took pains to pin her down on one question after another, without notable success. The junior Senator from New York seems increasingly to have adopted her husband's political methods, minus the savoir-faire. The result is that it's impossible to know what she believes about anything.
On Iran's nuclear ambitions, moderator Brian Williams asked a number of the candidates what their "red line" was. As he put it to Barack Obama, "What would make it crystal clear in your mind that" the U.S. "should attack Iran?" When he repeated the question to Senator Clinton, her answer was, in sum, "I think that what we're trying to do here is put pressure on the Bush Administration." She added, "we've got to rein him in." And, no, she didn't mean Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When pressed by Mr. Williams, she clarified, in a way. "We're not in my view, rushing to war. We should not be doing that. But we shouldn't be doing nothing."
Read more about Mrs. Mealymouth.
posted by HeavyHanded at
9:24 PM
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