Sniper Fire

I'm just wondering...how do you mistakenly remember landing in Bosnia under sniper fire and running for cover when it didn't happen at all?

A couple of days ago: “I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”

Yesterday: “Now let me tell you what I can remember, OK — because what I was told was that we had to land a certain way and move quickly because of the threat of sniper fire. So I misspoke — I didn’t say that in my book or other times but if I said something that made it seem as though there was actual fire — that’s not I was told. I was told we had to land a certain way, we had to have our bulletproof stuff on because of the threat of sniper fire. I was also told that the greeting ceremony had been moved away from the tarmac but that there was this 8-year-old girl and, I can’t, I can’t rush by her, I’ve got to at least greet her — so I made a — I took her stuff and then I left, Now that’s my memory of it.”

She says she "misspoke." Fair enough. But isn't that an odd thing to do? Like, "You guys, when I got my stem cell transplant I was bleeding everywhere and it was totally life-threatening for few minutes there...Oh no, wait. I misspoke. What I meant was that they told me it might be life-threatening and that I might bleed everywhere but it actually went rather smoothly with no problems at all--as you can see from the video."

Like, have they not noticed that we now have amazing inventions called "video" and "the internet"? How do you go on telling a story that can easily be contradicted by a video, not to mention the memories of your trip partner, Sinbad, who said in the Washington Post, "the "scariest" part of the trip was wondering where he'd eat next. "I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'" Threat of bullets? Sinbad doesn't remember that, either. "I never felt that I was in a dangerous position. I never felt being in a sense of peril, or 'Oh, God, I hope I'm going to be OK when I get out of this helicopter or when I get out of his tank.'" In her Iowa stump speech, Clinton also said, "We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady." Say what? As Sinbad put it: "What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'"

That's almost as ridiculous as a Republican nominee for President (with apparently rafts of foreign policy experience) continually saying (from ThinkProgress)that Iranian operatives are, “taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back” — despite the fact that Iran is a Shiite nation and al Qaeda are Sunni fighters. Responding to reports of McCain’s factually inaccurate claim, the McCain campaign released a statement attempting to paint the senator’s fundamental error as an isolated slip of the tongue:

In a press conference today, John McCain misspoke and immediately corrected himself by stating that Iran is in fact supporting radical Islamic extremists in Iraq, not Al Qaeda — as the transcript shows. Democrats have launched political attacks today because they know the American people have deep concerns about their candidates’ judgment and readiness to lead as commander in chief.

The fact that McCain made identical remarks on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show as well makes it clear McCain did not simply “misspeak.” What’s more, McCain corrected himself only after Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate’s ear.”

Brit Hume didn't help his friend by saying on Faux News that it was "a senior moment." Because if there is anything I'm looking for in a President, it's a 71 year-old guy who gets a wee bit befuddled now and again when discussing the situation in the Middle East. Now THAT's being "Ready On Day One," baby!