EVEN IN A CRISIS, IT'S STILL ABOUT HILLARY--by Michelle Malkin--nationally syndicated columnist based in
North Bethesda, Md., .
"What's eating Hillary Clinton? Her behavior during President Bush's
address to Congress last week was abominable. At a time when even the most
partisan of her Democratic colleagues stood united with the president, New
York Sen. Clinton shunned patriotism for petulance. She grimaced. She
sighed. She roller her eyes. She fidgeted like a 5-year-old at an opera.
And when Sen. Clinton mustered enough energy to clap, she acted as if there
were razor blades strapped to her palms.
Although network talking heads refrained from comment, outraged Americans
across the country spoke out. Teacher Kathie Larkin of Atlanta wrote to The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 'This is behavior I would not accept from my
sixth-graders listening to a speaker, and I expect better of an adult from a
state ripped apart by terrorist violence. Hillary needs to grow up.'
James Gale of Silver Spring, Md., wrote to The Washington Post: 'She at
times seemed bored and uninterested, clapping perfunctorily, and at other
times, she was talking during the speech. I though her actions were
unbecoming a senator at this difficult time.'
The Boston Herald, one of the few bold newspapers to take note of Clinton's
insolence, editorialized that she 'looked like she was sucking on a lemon.'
And Karen Gauvreau of Clearwater, Fla., wrote to the St. Petersburg Times:
'She would have been better off had she stayed home.'
Sen. Clinton's staff claims she was weary from traveling. What nerve. All
she had to do last week was park her taxpayer-funded backside on a plane
seat. Meanwhile, her constituents and volunteers from across the country
pulled 13-hour shifts, sifting through rubble, sorting body parts, and
collapsing on curbsides from exhaustion and grief.
A few nights' rest didn't seem to cure Sen. Clinton's unsightly condition.
During last weekend's prayer memorial at Yankee Stadium, she remained dour
and tight-lipped as the tearful crowd of thousands sang the national anthem.
Hiding behind sunglasses - - guess she can't control the rolling eyeballs
any more than Al Gore can control his heaving sighs -- Sen. Clinton posed
for photos with a strange sneer frozen on her stony face.
Let there be no doubt about whose interests came first for Sen. Clinton in
times of crisis. While New Yorkers mourned, their junior senator sulked.
Then she tried to rip off both President Bush's and Mayor Giuliani's
coattails by claiming credit for securing federal disaster aid. The
damage-control patrol at The New York Times ate up her narcissistic spin. a
Sunday puff piece, which was silent on her churlish performances, extolled
her 'full transition from a former first lady who happened to hold a Senate
seat to true federal legislator.'
The paper reported that 'Mrs. Clinton has carefully guided the Giuliani
administration on how agreements are forged between Congress and the White
House' and has 'taken on chores like holding the hands of counselors for
families, usually out of the way of a camera.' Gag. As if Giuliani needed
'guiding.' As if grief counselors needed help from a woman who just two
years ago planted her lips on the cheeks of blood-thirsty Yasser Arafat's
wife after she spewed anti-Israel, terrorist propanganda.
Adversity magnifies deep character flaws that no pair of sunglasses can
conceal. Hillary Clinton's resentful visage and insociant behavior this
past week reveal that -- like her husband -- she suffers from a fatal
inability to put love of country above love of self.
In the weeks before the attack, Sen. Clinton was gearing up to drive the
anti-GOP bandwagon on her path toward greater power and higher office. She
had raised big bucks for fellow Democrats and helped block President Bush's
choice to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Beltway buzzed
with fresh rumors of a possible presidential bid. 'Sen Clinton is on the
rise, moving back into public life, enjoying a bit of the spotlight and
savoring the fact that whatever attention she does get is all about her,'
gushed Time magazine last month.
That all changed when the Twin Towers came crashing down on Sept. 11. 'I
think we were all victimized by this,' Sen Clinton said last week. An
expression of sympathy for others -- or a self-pitying lament? the cold,
corrosive look in Hillary Clinton's eyes speaks for itself." |
