Truth, Lies and the Bosnian NAFTAgate

Obama's supposed evasion around "NAFTAgate" played a key role in Hillary Clinton taking Ohio. If there's any justice, her Bosnia fabrications should now bring her down in the remaining states. Repeatedly this spring, Clinton described sniper fire, evasive maneuvers, a cancelled greeting ceremony, and having to run "with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." But the pilot who flew Clinton into Bosnia, Colonel William Changose, said there were no evasive maneuvers, just some steep hills surrounding the landing strip. There was no sniper fire, or "we wouldn't have landed." "There were no bullets flying around, there wasn't a bumblebee flying around." His words confirmed the video of an 8-year-old girl handing Hillary flowers while Chelsea looked on from behind. Hillary got caught, to put it bluntly, in a lie: not "misspeaking."

That's interesting, because Clinton's campaign of late has been based on attacking Obama's integrity and trying to paint him as the candidate of duplicity. The other day, in Harrisburg, PA, she even whipped up a crowd to boo him, saying "My opponent said one thing in Ohio and then his top economic adviser told the Canadian government--'Don't worry what he says, that's just politics.'"

These kinds of accusations have an impact. As the Ohio primary approached, the NAFTA trade agreement was a major issue, since this centerpiece of Bill Clinton's term had helped destroy massive numbers of industrial jobs throughout America's industrial heartland, with Ohio alone losing over 200,000. Even many Republicans I talked with considered it a disaster. Hillary chose not to defend her husband's actions, instead claiming she had "long been a critic" of the agreement. With the release of Clinton's schedules just after the Ohio primary, it has now come out that she argued strongly for its passage in a key private meeting with women business leaders. But even before this last story broke, she'd embraced it enough for Obama to highlight their contrasting history, and he was steadily closing a once 25-point gap.

Then, on February 27, Canadian network CTV reported that even as Obama was publicly criticizing NAFTA, he'd had a top staffer arrange a meeting to reassure the Canadians that this was all just campaign pandering. The likely source was Ian Brodie, Chief of Staff to right-wing Prime Minister Stephen Harper. American media jumped all over the story, which appeared to be proof of Obama's hypocrisy. After the Canadian embassy denied it, Obama also said it was false. CTV then reported a Feb 8 conversation in Chicago with senior Obama economic advisor Austin Goolsbee. A follow-up leak released a memo supposedly summarizing the meeting, quoting Goolsbee as saying Obama's statements were more "political positioning than the clear articulation of policy plans." The story dominated media headlines, and Clinton began making it the focus of her attacks.

"NAFTAgate" flipped voter perceptions on an issue where Obama should have had a key advantage. Clinton ended up getting a majority of voters who expressed a sense "that trade takes jobs away," a majority of those worried about their family's economic situation, and most union members, a group that Obama had carried in his recent victories. Clinton won overwhelmingly with late-breaking voters, the reverse of what had been happening. Most important, by casting doubt on Obama's integrity, the cornerstone of his campaign, Clinton made him seem like just another hack politician who'd say anything to win--a message she continues to repeat.

But as the Canadian reports have made clear, the core of the story was false. The Canadian government contacted Goolsbee to clarify Obama's position on trade, not the reverse. Although Goolsbee did talk on February 8 with Canada's Chicago consul general (not, as was originally reported, the Canadian ambassador), there's no evidence that he ever described Obama's position as mere political posturing. They met before NAFTA began to dominate the campaign, and discussed the trade agreement for two to three minutes out of almost an hour. Goolsbee responded to Canadian questions by clarifying that Obama wasn't pushing to scrap NAFTA entirely, but that the agreement needed labor and environmental safeguards--exactly what Obama had been saying in public. The memo was simply inaccurate, as even the Harper government now acknowledges after a firestorm of criticism by opposition parliament members who've accused Harper's staffers of trying to help their Republican political allies. In response, Harper said, "there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA."

So Clinton has now been caught lying about Bosnia, lying about her own role in NAFTA, and lying about Obama's stance on the agreement. She's been caught vastly exaggerating her role in Northern Ireland--Nobel Peace Prize winner Lord David Trimble called Clinton's claims that she helped create the Northern Ireland settlement "a wee bit silly." She has stood by and said nothing while a key ally, Machinists Union head Tom Buffenbarger, introduced her using recycled lies from the right-wing Club For Growth to dismiss Obama supporters as "latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies." And she has lied about Obama's experience in a way that hands a prime talking point to John McCain, reducing it to "a speech he made in 2002." The question is when these lies will catch up with her.

Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While and Soul of a Citizen. See www.paulloeb.org

Comments

[drzoon]

let her run. all the way to the very very end of this whole thing. please... just let her GO. give her and all those mother-in-laws all the rope they need to... once and for all.... finally get rid of the Clinton's. nobody can burn their brand to the ground like they can. its sort of like having to drive a stake through the heart of a vampire. thats what we have to do here. and then and only then will we be able to get on with the work of turning this country into something we can be proud of again.

[knosiswar]

Paul, the mistake your making, is that it's OK for Hillary to LIE, STRETCH, or EMBELLISH, or say what ever she wants to say. It's a NECESSARY EVIL because she's a SHE. In order for her to maintain a level playing field, she is allowed to 'OVERSTATE' her history. And to question that 'logic' is a sign of your 'SEXIST ATTITUDE', because if Barack, or Bill, or Bush or any other MAN made a 'SLIP' and SIMPLY 'MISREMEMBERED' BEING SHOT AT OR NOT SHOT AT, you wouldn't give him any grief about it, would YOU? Yea, I didn't think SO. Now you feel BAD. It all MAKES SENSE NOW. Apology ACCEPTED.

[AshleyMarie]

That is the most rediculous stretch of an accusation I have ever heard. She lied. There is nothing sexist about people being upset about that. No apology necessary. This article was DEAD ON!!!!

[GaryinToronto]

Some things to keep in mind about Bosnia:

i) She only backed down when confronted with video - prior comments by people with her on the trip were smacked down;
ii) She lied about lying - saying she "mis-spoke";
iii) She lied in her explanation for the lie - saying she was "exhausted". I probably haven't seen video footage of every recitation of this story but in each one I did see she didn't appear fatigued at all;
iv) There was no remorse whatsoever. Her "correction" combined was terseness combined with a play for pity. "I'm only human - which will come as a revelation to some of you" (subtext - "who clearly hate me or you wouldn't be bringing this up")

The right wing 527's will have a lot to work with should she somehow swipe the nomination.

[ozamerican]

It doesn't matter whether she appeared exhausted... this was a lie she repeated seven times, mostly from prepared speech notes which had presumably been reviewed by her staff.

[SouthFloridaDem]

Birkenstocks: My son wears them.
Prius: I'm buying one next month.
Latte: What?
Trust Fund: Not in the entire history of my family.

Hey, I thought liberals and progressives were in favor of hybrid vehicles -- since when is a Prius a bad thing? Oh, right, when you pretend you're a progressive or a liberal and are really a neocon wearing blue. Clinton and her mouthpieces can go to grass, I'm sick of their blather.

[SamiNJ]

fantastic.... :) couldn't have said it better myself.

[PaulLoeb]

I actually hate Birkenstocks myself, finally convinced my wife not to wear them.
But we are saving up for a Prius.

No trust fund in my family either, alas, and I'm probably the only person in Seattle who doesn't drink coffee, got burned out it at political meeitngs years ago.

[ObserverinVancouver]

Your last two columns are closed for comments but I wanted to say how much I enjoyed them. The link to the Daily Kos story about listening with strangers to Obama's speech was amazing. I had tears pouring down my face while I read the column and the comments. I now know a lot about the demographics of the greater Atlanta area.

[PaulLoeb]

The Atlanta response to Obama's race speech moved me to tears as well--which is why I posted it. It really is an amazing and amazingly hopeful story.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-loeb/watching-obama-with-stran_b_92252.html

[Justtellthetruth]

Regarding the "Bosnian Sniper Fire" incident (which really ought to become the new national euphamism for B.S. , B.S.F. I suppose, as in "man, that's just a load of B.S.F., or "your just shootin Bosnian Sniper Fire there") it is important to note that she did not just "mispeak" at several rallies. She PUBLISHED THE ACCOUNT IN HER BOOK AS WELL. It would be more accurate to say that she both Mispoke and Mispublished, or perhaps "Mis-told" the truth, or as it is often described, LIED.

[midwestvoter]

It's as if Hillary supporters have battered women's syndrome. How can they think Hillary's lies, coupled with her refusal to disclose what fat cats have purchased favor for their Clinton Library and Foundation contributions will not be used by the GOP attack machine? I can see it now, McBombIran will be the straight talker and Hillary a pathological liar.

Hillary supporters, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9IldaegAB0 Something truly amazing is happening!

[distant mirror]

Thanks for posting that you tube link. Sort of took the cynicism out of everything.

[serena1313]

*** Midwest Voter

You are so correct! Something phenomenal is happening in the nation. Thank you so much for sharing that link.

The 2nd [out of 3-tier] Texas caucus was held today. The delegates and alternate delegates chosen at the 1st caucus attend the 2nd ...

Without going into how the Texas caucuses work ... What I saw today and participated in was really special (my first time). My senate district consists of 65 precincts which 996 delegates and alternate delegates attended. The diverse ethnic, race, colour et al was impressive.

Obama got 52 delegates and Hillary got 35 -- that is just from my senate district. Lots more yet to be reported.

Apparently 49% of the districts reporting show:

Obama: 42%

Clinton: 34%

Go Obama 2008

[PaulLoeb]

FYI The above youtube reference isn't about Hillary, but about a conversation with students in the Bronx about Obama's speech...very powerful..

[cybersense]

Dearest Paul,

It seems as though you have gone to school of Rush L. Hillary did not lie about her NAFTA position, or Obama's. Hillary did not lie about her role in North Ireland. Did she "misspeak" about her Bosnia trip, yep - she did, but at least she was there and not all things said were untrue. Guess I should bring up all the times that Obama "misspoke" or had "boneheaded" moments on his dealings or false and/or embellished claims.

Here is the problem with what you say. Obama does not have much experience in politics, so he has to run on his "Judgement". That in itself, is looking pretty weak right now.

So, go back to Rush school my friend.

[IsobelDeBrujah]

Her own records make it clear that she ardently supported NAFTA while her husband was in the White House. On the campaign trail she has claimed that she has always been against it. That is a lie. She did lie about NAFTA.

Senator Clinton repeatedly told the story about the corkscrew landing and running to her car under sniper fire. The film shows that they landed normally and were greeted on the tarmac by a full delegation, including a small child who read a poem. She did lie about Bosnia.

Senator Clinton has claimed that she was instrumental in brokering peace in Northern Ireland. The people who actually brokered peace in Northern Ireland have said she had lunches and tea parties with various women's group and one characterized her claims as "a bit silly." She did lie about Northern Ireland.

Senator Clinton has spent most of this campaign lying about her experience, the very issue on which she based her run for the Presidency.

[simplecitizen]

I take everything the Clinton campaign says with a grain of salt. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Desperate campaigns call for excessive falsehoods and misstatements. 8 years of bending the truth or distorting it altogether are enough for this nation. A new direction and a candidate like Obama will be a breath of fresh air.

[Sloane7]

Not a lot of truth comes out of the Clinton camp. Remember how Hillary said she was named after Mt. Everest climber Sir Edmund Hillary? Problem was, she was born in 1947 and he reached Mt. Everest in 1953. When she was born, he was just a beekeeper no one knew.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/clinton-hillary-obama-2007270-bill-edmund

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

Maybe politicians get away with their exagerations because when their detractors call them on them, they tend to exagerate themselves.

For example, with the N. Ireland Peace Talks, Clinton's detactors want to give her no credit at all based on the statement of the one Nobel Prize winner you cited.

But another Nobel Peace Prize winner, John Hume, agrees with Clinton. Fmr Sen George Mitchell, who led the peace talks, gives Clinton credit. Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein leader, a party to the talks, gives Clinton credit.

So, when detractors claim she had no role in N. Ireland, without acknowledging all those who say she did, it makes the detractors seem "a wee bit silly" as Lord Trimble liks to say.

It's the same wi th SCHIP. FactCheck.org says Clinton deserves credit for SCHIP. Obama supporter Ted Kennedy said at the time it wouldn't have passed without her work. But, now he sits silent on the issue which says more about his character than Clinton's.

[Whinger]

Concerning the Clintons contribution to peace in Northern Ireland, I can tell you that the White House contributed nothing to that process, the unsung heroes being a man called Brendan Duddy and an MI6 agent called Robert, codenamed Fred.
John Hume is noted for praising the high and mighty, despite the fact it is not merited, on the other hand David Trimble, whilst using diplomatic language, spoke honestly.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/18/northernireland.past1

[SLone08]

Ok, so if I admit that she did have something to do with Northern Ireland's peace process, will you admit that she flat out lied about Bosnia?

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

yep, she lied about how she ARRIVED at the Bosnia airport. How that has anything to do with what she accomplished while she was there is beyond me though.

Obama lied about senate bills he claimed credit for and he had nothing to do with them. Do you admit that?

[AnninCA]

Good grief......the woman was talking to a bunch of politicos on the campaign trail. They busted her. But it was private.

Now, Obama's whoppers?

To America......looked you right in the eye and lied.

[AnninCA]

And today Obama is busted for the same crud.......exaggerating a story.

Will we see equal outrage from his own supporters about his lying ways?

*Waiting*

[findingthetruth]

Let's face it-----the Clintons will CONCOCT/LIE another scenerio approximately April 19th (prior to Pennsylvania's Primary). The question is--Will the people fall for another exaggerated drama misleading Americans for the Clinton's gain? Probably will with Hillary's dedicated, DISHONEST supporters ASSISTING with distributing false information. The sad thing-----their supporters are PROUD of their efforts.

[AnninCA]

See today's story about Obama's concocted story about Kennedy. *haha Dang, doncha just hate that spiritual principle of "What goes round comes round?"

[GaryinToronto]

Yeah it will be interesting to see what the Clinton campaign comes out with to attack Obama just before the primary AND to draw attention from their tax returns which are supposed to come out shortly before the primary.

[Mesaywar]

Mr. Loeb, there appears to be very little willingness of the media's part to point out and debunk Senator Clinton's lies, falsehoods, misspeakings, or whaterver they're called this week.
My best guess is that her lies during this campaign will indeed catch up with her; sometime during her run for President in 2012.

[ljsfolly]

While Hillary has lied there has been someone/many someones, who stood aside and have let her do it. They had video. They had people who went with her on these tips and they had undeniable truth/proof of the lies and yet there wasn't anyone who stepped up and said "I was there and it did not happen that way" No one. Who was this silent partner of Hillary's? The same one she has today. MSM. The very idea that we have been under the same ugliness nasty almost evil for 8 years with the Bush crowd to have the MSM once again bow to the Clinton's makes me wonder who/what do they know? It's like the crime families of old that the MSM was very careful not to expose much or the reporter would be fish food comes to mind with both the Bush clan and the Clinton's. We are supposed to ave free press and the Bill Of Rights and the Constitution but they mean little to these folks and to the MSM we mean little unless we are useful when they are "done wrong".

[ObserverinVancouver]

Good point. I read a post a day or so ago about Andrea Mitchell, who was on that trip. She participated in numerous MSNBC panel discussions where the Bosnia trip was mentioned. She said nothing about being there (thereby concealing that she could shed light on what had actually happened) until the video(s) showed up, after which she grudgingly admitted that Sen. Clinton had indeed misspoken. Not sure if she's worth listening to anymore.

I haven't seen anyone mention Sen. Clinton's demeanour when she said she had made a mistake. She did not say she was sorry or regretted anything. She was downright surly. Very unbecoming.

[Gma11]

VERY good point! Mitchell is married to Greenspan, a man who is at least partialy responsible for our current economic crises. And Hillary wants to put him in charge of fixing them! (This was posted on HP this past week.)

[AnninCA]

Say what? She makes one slip, and it's major news.

Now, Obama just made one. Will it be covered in the same manner?

I doubt it.

[SCG]

The Clintons lie, and the sell out working people. Sadly it works.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070917_giving_and_taking/