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Posted on 11/19/2001, 6:41:43 PM by Jean S

Hillary Disembles. On September 17, Sen. Clinton appeared on "Dateline NBC." When asked where Chelsea was six days earlier during the attacks, Clinton told Jane Pauley: "She’d gone on what she thought would be a great jog. She was going down to the Battery Park, she was going to go around the towers. She went to get a cup of coffee and—that’s when the plane hit." Pauley asked if "she was close enough to hear the rumble" and the senator said, "She did hear it. She did." "And to see the smoke?" "That’s right," said Clinton. But here’s what Chelsea Clinton herself has written in the December 2001 issue of Talk magazine: "On the morning it happened I was at my friend Nicole Davison’s apartment, near Union Square in Manhattan. That morning we had gotten up and grabbed coffee, and then she took the subway to work while I bought a paper and headed back to her apartment. I had just walked in when she called from work. A plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center, she said. I should stay put and she’d call me back when she knew more. I turned on the television and watched as the second plane hit."

Money Can’t Buy Safety. Sen. Clinton recently introduced legislation that proposes to give $3 billion in taxpayer dollars to the nation’s cities and towns to help strengthen their emergency response efforts. The federal funds will go toward public safety measures such as increased security at water treatment plants, upgraded communication technology and training for health personnel in dealing with biological and chemical attacks. Approximately 70% will go directly to cities with populations of 50,000 or more, while the rest will go to states to distribute among smaller cities and towns. The senator from New York announced the proposal in Buffalo, the state’s second largest city, which stands to receive an estimated $1 million under this legislation.

Turn Out the Lights. The bipartisan lovefest is over. Sen. Clinton used a recent appearance on CNN to lash out at Republicans for their supposed financial irresponsibility and mismanagement. Referring to the GOP-backed economic stimulus plan passed by the House, Hillary said "the plan was a fiscal disaster that would set our country back for years to come. I don’t understand how they passed it with a straight face." Of course, she couldn’t resist a chance to praise her husband’s administration: "We had eight years of prosperity because we paid down our debt and we got rid of our deficit." Then she actually blamed Republicans for international terrorism: "If we hadn’t passed the big tax cut last spring, that I believe undermined our fiscal responsibility and our ability to deal with this new threat of terrorism, we wouldn’t be in the fix we’re in today." Finally, Hillary took the opportunity to criticize the GOP for daring to even speak out against federalizing airport security.

Family Feud Over HRC. Roll Call reports that firefighter Mike Moran, who led the Madison Square Garden crowd in booing Hillary at the "Concert for New York" last month, is a cousin of Rep. Joseph Crowley (D.-N.Y.). Moran even went on Rush Limbaugh’s radio program to say he couldn’t stand the "claptrap that comes out of her mouth. . . [W]hen times are good and things are going well, people will sit there and listen to that kind of claptrap. When it’s serious times and serious men who actually suffered losses, and she wants to get up and spew her nonsense, she doesn’t believe a word she says. She says whatever she thinks will fit the moment." Rep. Crowley, for his part, says he recently approached Sen. Clinton to clear the air. "We had a quick conversation," he said. "We’re fine. She was happy with me. I’m happy with her."

First Class First Lady. First Lady Laura Bush spoke at the National Press Club recently, making reference to her predecessor. According to a story on the event, Mrs. Bush made the audience "roar with laughter at a sly reference" to Sen. Clinton. After being asked whether she would write a book about education or her life at the White House, Mrs. Bush said, "I guess it’ll be whether or not I can get that $8-million advance." On a more serious note, the First Lady also said that she was grateful for help from Hillary. "Mrs. Clinton was very generous with her time when we finally found out my husband had won," she said. "She was very generous with a tour of the White House. She talked a lot about things she might have done differently and gave me some advice, which I’m not going to tell you what it was." Mrs. Bush also remarked that "when you live in the White House, you’re so aware and interested in all the people who lived there before you" and that "there are remnants of every family around you all the time." As a result, Mrs. Bush feels more sympathetic to those families, including, apparently, the Clintons.

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