What's Worse? Clinton's Failure to Apologize for Iraq War Vote or Failure to Apologize to Obamas for Assassination Comment?

"Never say you're sorry" seems to be Hillary Clinton's motto.

She has still not apologized for voting to give George Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq. I'm not sure what's of more concern--If she voted for the Iraq War resolution honestly because she trusted George Bush to do the right thing, or she voted for the resolution dishonestly because she was afraid that doing otherwise would make her look weak and threaten a future presidential run. My guess is the latter. (As Bill Clinton has famously said, "it's better to be strong and wrong than weak and right". I suspect her vote was based on this political calculation. She never even bothered to read the National Intelligence Estimate that raised questions about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Why bother if you don't care if you're wrong as long as you appear strong?) Her vote contributed to the death of over 4,000 American soldiers, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's, 4 million more Iraqi's forced into internal or external exile, $2 trillion dollars added to America's national debt, and the decline of America's prestige in the world. Yet she still can't bring herself to apologize. That is a true travesty.

Now, whether out of political calculation or the darkness of her unconscious, Hillary justifies staying in the Presidential race, when she has virtually no chance of winning the nomination, by invoking the assassination of Robert Kennedy in June, 1968. And the best she can offer is a weak apology to anyone "who might have been offended" and a remark that with Ted Kennedy's brain tumor, the Kennedy family has been on her mind. Where is the apology to Barack Obama, to Michelle Obama, to 6-year old Sasha Obama, to 9-year old Malia Ann Obama, to the African American community still traumatized by the assassination of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and the fear that the same could happen to Barack Obama, to America still traumatized by those assassinations of Martin, Malcolm, John and Bobby?

Which is worse--voting to send America into an unnecessary war and her failure to apologize for her vote, or her invocation of political assassination as a reason to stay in the presidential race and her failure to really apologize for that?

UPDATE: Now the Clinton motto seems to have evolved from "never say you're sorry" to "if you screw up, act like a victim and blame your opponent." According to the Washington Post, "Clinton's campaign accused Sen. Barack Obama's campaign of fanning a controversy over her describing the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy late in the 1968 Democratic primary as one reason she is continuing to run for the Presidency. " According to the New York Times website, "The Clinton Campaign is in full push-back mode". Hillary herself wrote a letter to the NY Daily News defending her comment "to set the record straight". On CBS News, Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson accused the Obama campaign of being "inflammatory" and acccused the media of fanning the flames. Clinton Finance head Terry McAuliffe told Fox News that Clinton had not apologized to Obama, "nor should she", while Wolfson agreed it is "absolutely right" that Clinton didn't want to apologize to Obama for the remark.
Hillary and her operatives are now in full counter-attack mode. Amazing.
And speaking of Fox News, Fox anchor Liz Trotta reported on Clinton's assassination comments by mistakently calling Obama "Osama" and then quickly correcting herself by giggling that they should both be bumped off. Hillary says word's don't matter, bu they get filtered through the media echo chamber from an interview with a S. Dakota newpaper, to Fox News, to who know what crazies may be watching?
Will the remaining 212 uncommitted superdelegates finally have the courage to take a stand before more damage is done?

Comments

[LeftLeanWing]

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Hillary won't apologize to Obama because she has adopted Bush's 'It'll Send A Signal' stance:

If she apologizes she believes that it would make her appear weak, but she is wrong. I don't believe that she was issue a deathwish or fatwa against Obama. But she can never admit that it rankled a lot of people the wrong way.

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[RUKiddinme]

{I can't believe I'm actually typing this, but...} I think it's high time to drop the whole "She won't apologize for her war vote" meme. I think the fact that she admitted to not reading the NIE speaks more about her ability to lead anything more relevant than a Girl Scout troop [sorry to offend Girl Scouts], than her vote for H.J. Res 114. That vote shows me beyond a shadow of a doubt that she's nothing more than a politically calculating, pandering, triagulating, crass politician. Further, there are some equally prominent members of the Senate Intelligence Committe that voted 'Yea', as well, most notably Diane Feinstein and Jay Rockefeller, and I don't hear any howls for them to apologize. Face it, she did what almost everyone else who was trying to stay politically viable (ie, Harry Reid) did. They voted for a war resolution at a time of national upheaval so that no one could accuse them of being un-patriotic in their next re-election bid. Sad, but true!
Flag pins for all!

[army193]

Hey anybody knows what the rules will be this week?

[lvdragonlady]

Attention women of America....
Do you truely want HRC to be a role model for your daughters?
Does she truely represent you, as you want her too?
Do you want her to continue to vote to send your son's and daughter's to their deaths, fighting a war that can not be won?

[FLA1]

I would like to believe that Senator Clinton did not mean anything by what she said, but at the very least, she poorly chose her words. If you were trying to make the point that primary's have gone into June before, why not just say that Ted Keneddy in 1980 and Robert Kennedy likewise went into June. It is odd that one would mention the assassination. It makes you wonder whether she was using this as a two pronged attack-- that it is not odd for primaries to go into June, and that anything could happen in a primary. I am uncomfortable with the fact that her talking points have been 1) I'm fighting the good fight, 2) I might not win, but anything could happen, and 3) Fl and MI need to be counted (even though she doesn't want them to be counted, she wants uncertainty, because see 2). Now, you bring up assassination. At the very least, it is a poor choice of words because there are a lot of crazy people out there. I don't think she should apologize or that it should be discussed anymore, because it could have the effect of adding fuel to the fire.

[StephenDedalus82]

Yeah yeah keep squawking about how evil Hillary Clinton is. At this point, who does it help? Only John McCain. Her supporters are never going to be convinced that Obama and his following of cultish teenagers know more about Clinton than they do. They're never going to be convinced she's the devil, so what is the point of continuing to trash her? She can't win the nomination.

The fact that she DID apologize for the RFK gaffe so quickly proves that it was not some cynical, calculated statement. What possible strategy could be behind such an unsavory remark? It was a poor choice of words and the media has spent too much of its increasingly useless hot air on the subject. Hey Obama supporters: taking down Hillary will not solve a single problem in this world! Get over your obsession with everything she does and start doing something useful for a change.

[savagetiger]

To all those women supporting Hillary?

Still proud of your candidate?

[alleykat]

I have been saying forever that the woman is a sociopath so why would she ever say that she is sorry. In fact she is very calculated and knows exactly what she will say and do. Sociopaths always blame someone else when they are caught and it is the countries fault that the clintons continue to get away with their behavior. The media lets them get away with everything and so do the people. This should be something that the Dems throw a fit about. The country should be throwing a fit and no one should accept her explanation! The woman wants a legacy as the first woman president and will do and say anything to get it. That includes inviting every nut job in the country to do a job for her with her "calculated comment about assassination"! As a sociopath she will always be the victim! Her and bill have become pathetic and so have their followers. They are drowning in the Kool-Aid!

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Well said.

The uncommitted superdelegates must end this fiasco as soon as possible by having the guts to come forward and endorse by the time the primaries are finished. If they don't, Hillary Clinton will appeal the decision on May 31st, regarding FL and MI and use that as an excuse to continue on to a brokered convention, to try and ruin Obama's chances in the general election.

The superdelegates must act NOW.

[Ajita]

It will be a snow day in June before an American politician apologizes to the real victims of the last 6 years. The Iraqi People.

[Mij13]

Howard Fineman had it right: she is constitutionally incapable of admitting she was wrong. It's a trait I've seen in a few other people in my life. It's a way of trying to make yourself look strong. It always gets them into trouble eventually. Bush has the same problem. It's the last thing I would want to see in a leader of our country.

[DennyCrane]

Her apology was worse than her original comment. Like you said, she never apologized to the Obamas. You'd think as a wife and mother, she'd feel compelled to reach out to Michelle Obama and apologize for suggesting her husband and her children's father might get killed in June. But in true Hillary fashion, her apology wasn't really an apology. One of the pundits on the news said it best. If you use the word 'if', then it's not an apology. Her arrogance and her refusal to show any sign of weakness is ultimately what did her campaign in. The American people expect their leaders to make mistakes. We don't like them to, but we know they do. But we admire a leader more if they can admit those mistakes. We don't want a leader who's too arrogant to ever admit their failings. We already have that kind of leader. For someone who wants to be the first female President, Hillary Clinton has a tendency to act like a man. Talking tough, never admitting her mistakes, acting like she has all the answers, and thinking that victory is achieved by bloodying up your enemies.

[Chillinout]

It was a cold, calculated statement designed to keep her supporters, "in case" and it totally blew up in her face. She had tested these very waters a few times before, and nothing happened, so she felt she was in "safe" waters this time. That's why there is no apology about that statement, she isn't sorry in the least. The only problem is that she miscalculated the furor that these comments raised, and that is what she is truly sorry about, her miscalculation.

No Clintons '08, '12

[veteran1964]

Then why in the hell are these people voting for her? Are that many people dumb? She has over 17,000,000 votes and these people believe this woman. Do they or don't they see the lies and deceit that this woman has used? I bet those 17 million old women cried their hearts out when JFK AND RFK were killed.....What the hell is wrong with these voters? I am sickened by the dumbness of these people that don't see through this woman. It is sickening and I will always wonder why.

[S1m0n]

If she was exhausted and desperate, what was she back in March, when she said the exact same thing?

Or when other members of her camp have been saying similar things over the past few months? Are they all exhausted and desperate, too?

The 'it was an accident' claim isn't plausible in the least; Hilly said exactly what she wanted to say, and the word-for-word similarity with her earlier statement means that she said it exactly how she wanted to say it, too.

Hillary isn't going to rest until she had despreyed her credibility with the party and the nation. That's impressive thoroughness, but its as strategically stupid as her war vote.

Wasn't she supposed to be competent? A skilled politician? Why did anyone buy that? She crashed and burned at the first hurdle. The nation and the party have dodged an extremely dangerous a bullet, in this primary.

[btuss1]

Over the past few days I have watched a number of discussions on MSNBC and NBC about Senator Clinton's RFK comment. I think it is quite interesting to note that the three African American commentators I have seen, Eugene Robinson, Michelle Bernard, and Gwen Ifill (sp?), to a person understood Clinton's comment as a possible threat to Obama and were unequivocal in speaking to that. Conversely, a variety of white commentators - Andrea Mitchell, Howard Fineman, Chuck Todd, the white journalists/commentators on this Sunday's Meet the Press , all explained it away with variations on the theme that Clinton is exhausted and desperate. She most likely is tired and running on empty, and all the white speakers were pretty aghast at what she said, but they did not seem to appreciate the deep impact of Clinton's comment for the African American community (and for many other Americans as well.) Chris Matthews seemed to "get it" and Keith Olbermann's special comment is a comprehensive statement that clearly and pointedly addresses the gravity of what Clinton implied in her words.
Just wanted to share this observation.
I am a 57-year old, hard working white feminist who supports Barack Obama

[robXdion]

Some whites in the media are afraid to address racial overtones like this because it makes them feel guilty, queasy, or whatever lame cowardly excuse they want to use. Some networks have been virtually rooting for the white candidate to win since Obama transferred from cute story to the likely nominee. They are creating ANY image they can to show Hillary is ahead in some way. The closer he gets the more frantic the pushback is in the media. This is a deep psychological issue. The image of the President has an understated impact on people's self-image. It's the ultimate authority figure. And many people have issues with that being a black male.

[MrHHusseinMA]

It's really unfortunate that Hillary is doing this and is not ready to really apologize for this. Reminds me of the questions surrounding Vince Foster. I truly hope that she will come out and really be clean on this for the sake of her own 'soul'.