Posted on 03/25/2008 1:50:16 PM PDT by Buffalo Bob
In light of Tuzla-gate (catchy, no?), reporters are going over past statements by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, (and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois) to see if others don't stand more rigorous examination.
One that may get renewed scrutiny is a story she told “Women in Military Service” in 1994 -- that shortly after the end of the Vietnam war, she looked into joining the Marines.
In June 1994, Clinton told an organization trying to build a memorial for women who had served in the armed forces, that while living in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1975, “I decided that I was very interested in having some experience in serving in some capacity in the military. So I walked into our local recruiting office...”
Clinton recalled that she didn’t know if she wanted to be active duty, reserves, or National Guard. She was already a lawyer; surely there was a role she could perform. The Marine recruiter looked at her, she recalled, and asked how old she was. Twenty-seven, she said.
“He looked at me, and in those days that was before I learned how to wear contact lenses," Clinton said. "I had these really thick glasses on. He said, ‘How bad's your eyesight?' I said, ‘It's pretty bad.' …Finally said to me, he said, 'You're too old. You can't see. And you're a woman.…But maybe the dogs would take you.'”
("Dogs” would be a pejorative reference to the Army.)
Clinton continued, “I said, ‘This is not a very encouraging conversation, so maybe I'll look for another way to serve my country.’”
That seems an odd pronouncement for the recruiter to have made, considering that at the time, according to A History of the Women Marines, female Marines who became pregnant were permitted to remain on active service, as this photograph attests. And I believe the military had a few recruiting problems back in the 1970s -- hence their abject rejection of a brainy lawyer wouldn't make much sense. (Then again, ask a soldier how often Pentagon rules "make sense.")
At the time Clinton told the story, the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd seemed to wonder about it, pointing out that Hillary and Bill Clinton were married on Oct. 11, 1975 in Fayetteville.
“So, if she was talking to a Marine recruiter in 1975 before the marriage, was she briefly considering joining the few, the proud and the brave of the corps as an alternative to life with Mr. Clinton, who was already being widely touted as a sure thing for Arkansas Attorney General?
“Neal Lattimore, Mrs. Clinton's spokesman, said her visit to the recruiter had to be seen in the context of her dedication to public service. ‘I'm never surprised when Mrs. Clinton is doing something service oriented,’ he said. ‘She was just taking in all her options, saying “This is where I am in my life, this is what fits into my life right now.”’”
The Washington Post looked into the story at the time as well. No one could find any records or anything other than vague memories. "All I can remember is that she looked into it," Clinton’s late friend Diane Blair told the newspaper.
Another Arkansas friend, Ann Henry said she "vaguely" recalled the episode “in the context of frequent discussions they used to have about women's access to supposedly open career paths. Frequently, the equal opportunity that was promised was not a reality - and sometimes female faculty members went out to conduct ‘tests,’ Henry said. 'If Hillary Rodham had asked about the Marines as a way of testing whether the corps actually welcomed women, ‘it would have been consistent with what was going on with us at the time,’ Henry said. ’Is it possible she was testing?’ Blair asked. ‘I don't remember if she was seriously exploring a career, or was moved by curiosity, or patriotism or feminism. I wish I had kept notes.’”
It’s a story that I don't believe Clinton has repeated since 1994. Why not?
Didn’t “Fantasy Land” Clinton also say she once spoke with Joe DiMaggio at an airport? That was during the week of his death.
And the chickens have come home to roost!
“’If Hillary Rodham had asked about the Marines as a way of testing whether the corps actually welcomed women, ‘it would have been consistent with what was going on with us at the time,’ Henry said. ’Is it possible she was testing?’ Blair asked.”
Oh, Paleeeze!
The Marines, along with the Army and Navy were at my University in 1966 recruiting. I almost joined the Marines with no problems at all.
The only problems were mom and dad who blew their corks.
And yes, I listened to them. They were paying the bills.
If it's any consolation to Mrs. Clinton, she did make it into the Army as part of a cadence call about 10 years ago.
And the chickens have come home to roost!
To quote one Reverend Wright!......
Leonard Zelig: "I worked with Freud in Vienna. We broke over the concept of penis envy. Freud felt that it should be limited to women."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086637/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelig
Clearly, the mere sight of her in uniform would be illegal under the Geneva Convention... a war crime!
Maybe the real problem is that "The Smartest Woman in the World" isn't quite so brilliant after all ...
OK, I get it now: this is that alternate universe where Richard Simmons is a SEAL.
> “He looked at me, and in those days that was before I learned how to wear contact lenses," Clinton said. "I had these really thick glasses on.
Just reading that you know she's either an idiot or a liar.
“Next, she’ll say she was almost chosen to be the first female astronaut.”
Since when was her broom rocket powered?
of course..it’s seared, SEARED into her memory..
This is what Hillary Gump had to say about that:
So I wrote to NASA and said, ‘How do I sign up to be an astronaut?’ And they wrote back very politely and said, ‘We don’t take girls.’”
Well, she is a decendant of Sir Edmund Hillary.
Actually, she misspoke, on purpose. But I’ve got the word. She WAS secretly signed by the Marines for their secret forces. She learn to use the M-11.5 mini-nuclear sniper rocket launcher. Behind her back. Standing on her head. In training, she was able to hit a dime at 10 miles with her eyes closed. Then she joined the new chutelesstroopers who survive by having hugh, muscular legs that allow them to survive hitting the ground at over 100 mi/h. Their internal organs were protected by eating large amount of bran flakes for several days. She flew the new hypersonic mosquito scramjet around the world twice in one day. I can’t go on. I have revealed too much already.
Pull down those night vision goggles, please!
Wow. This is kind of fun to watch. I guess next up will be a story by NBC on the mysterious deaths of Vince Foster and Jerry Parks.
“Hillary is the female Forrest Gump.”
Stupid is as stupid does.
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