Ready to lead — day one?
Thomas Houlahan, the director of the Military Assessment Program at the Center for Security and Science, expands on a theme we discussed the other day:
Sen. Hillary Clinton was telling Wolf Blitzer that she didn’t think “the Pakistani government at this time under President Musharraf has any credibility at all.” She then said something that betrayed a serious lack of knowledge about Pakistan and called her own credibility on the subject into serious question. “If President Musharraf wishes to stand for election,” she told Blitzer, “then he should abide by the same rules that every other candidate will have to follow.” My immediate reaction was: “Did I hear that correctly?” As a Pakistan analyst, I know for a fact that Pervez Musharraf doesn’t wish to stand for election any time soon…
Sen. Clinton really didn’t know that the upcoming elections were for individual seats in Pakistan’s parliament. She actually believed that Bhutto, Nawaz and Musharraf would be facing off as individual candidates for leadership of the country in the upcoming elections. Sen. Clinton didn’t know that Nawaz Sharif isn’t allowed to run for office in Pakistan because of a felony conviction. She didn’t know that President Musharraf won’t be on the ballot because he’s already been elected. Sen. Clinton, a candidate for the leadership of the free world, apparently doesn’t know the first thing about the country referred to by some as “the most dangerous place on earth.”
“Ready to lead — day one.” But where? (HT: Powerline)
Next on the golden oldie hit parade: “There is no Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe.”
January 1st, 2008 at 5:43 pm
This underscores Peggy Noonan’s assessment of Hillary quoted in my previous comment.
The inattention to facts is disquieting in view of the obvious pains (IMO) that were taken to make Clinton look Presidential during her Bhutto commentary. A lot of effort went into establishing the narrative; much less went into getting the facts straight. Did Hillary not get herself briefed before going on camera, or did no one on her staff know the details? Or, worst of all, did someone–Blitzer, Stephanopoulos, or Clinton staffer–know but did not dare to correct Her Imperiousness?
This incident is a worrisome indicator about how a Clinton administration would perform in office, but unfortunately it may be irrelevant to electoral outcomes.
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
You are expecting substance, when all that is important is form. Did she look presidential when she made the statement? It doesn’t matter whether she’s right or not. How many people understand Pakistani politics any better than Hillary? Pfft. Silly you.
January 26th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I’m new to antihillary sites. Can someone explain to me what it will take to get the Clintons indicted for the criminals and traitors they are? Are we U.S. Citizens that blind and that weak that we cannot put away the two people who pose the greatest threat to our country?
Pam