ED KLEIN ON HILLARY: No. 3 - Military Uniforms in the White House

THE TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY | 2005 | Ed Klein

[doug from upland]

1 - Clinton Administration's Bradford DeLong Says No to Hillary
2- Gulping for air, I started crying and yelling at him; plus, Jesse blows it

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"Well, Brian," Hillary said after the show returned to the air, "I have been always trying to fiugre out where that [story about banning military uniforms in the White House] got started. And, again, I can't speak for the hundreds and hundreds of people who worked in the White House, and perhaps someone, in a moment of what I would consider a terrible lapse of judgment, said something or did something that then became a wild fire of rumor and innuendo . . . but I certainly had nothing to do with it, and I know my husband didn't."

"At the risk of being accused of lobbing you a soft ball," Lehrer said, " . . . how do you deal with that constant, constant harassment?"

"Well, Brian," Hillary said, sequeing into her vast right-wing conspiracy mode, "you know, I have obviously thought a lot about it, because literally I have been accused of everything from murder on down. And it is hurtful and personally distressing when it first happens. But when it continues to, you know, come from the radio talk-show people and, you know . . . untrue books about us, on and on, you know, I've concluded that there is some other purpose at work here."

Despite Hillary's reputation for shading the truth, Brian Lehrer believed her explanation. And no wonder. After all, it seemed incredible that a First Lady would attempt to ban the wearing of military uniforms in the White House.

And yet, that is exactly what Hillary had tried to do in the spring of 1996. At that time, all military personnel serving in the White House wore business suits, except for the one day a week on which they were required to don their uniforms. There were only two exceptions to this rule: junior officers who served at White House social events wore dress uniforms; and military aides who carried the nuclear "football" containing the top-secret codes the President needed in case of nuclear war wore their service uniforms.

"Hillary tried to change the tradition where military aides wore their uniforms when accompanying the President with the nuclear football," said air force lieutenant colonel Robert "Buzz" Patterson, who served as President Clinton's senior military aide. "There were five military aides--from air force, army, navy, marines, and coast guard--and she wanted us to wear business suits when we were carrying the football.

"The directive came down from Hillary through the President's chief of staff, Leon Panetta," Patterson continued. "Secret Service agents opposed her plan, because they wanted us to be easily identifiable by our uniforms in the event that something critical went down. We military aides were not just responsible for the nuclear codes, but also for evacuating the President and accompanying him to safe houses."

"Eventually, Hillary relented. My opinion is she was trying to downplay the military in and around her husband. It's ridiculous for her to claim that the story was the result of some young staffer who, in a lapse of judgment, said something critical to someone in uniform. It was all Hillary's doing from beginning to end."

[doug from upland]

Thanks. I know the story. I was just trying to make a joke, which apparently was not my best effort.

[carton253]

I got it... I was just clarifying for other readers of the thread...

[doug from upland]

Okay. It is an amazing story and so downright Clinton.

[Norman Conquest]

No, no -- "you know" is Hillary's "tell". Whenever she's about to drop a whopper, make an outrageous bluff, lay out an unsubstantiatable assertion, she always precedes it with a "you know" or "everybody knows". I like to think that what's left of a conscience in there knows that she's about to lie and throws up that tiny smokescreen in an attempt to hypnotize the listener.

[John Robertson]

Agree re your analysis re her "tell"--as long as you're talking about smart people (that would be, you and me). But when she leads with, "Everybody knows....", I fear the average schmuck would think, I'd better pay attention, because I wanna be like everybody.