Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Misremembering

Jim Geraghty, in his Morning Jolt newsletter available free at National Review, adds his thoughts as to why it matters that:
Hillary Clinton misremembers events so they fit into her own personal heroic narrative, not as they actually were. Lots of people do this, particularly politicians, but this is a dangerous habit for a leader to have. If they cannot assess and interpret past events clearly, how much faith can we have in their ability to assess and interpret what's in front of them now? Or in the future?

Geraghty reminds us of
her "Tuzla Dash," — when she claimed that during a visit to Bosnia as First Lady, "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." Of course, there is no record indicating any danger to her.

Unfortunately for Mrs. Clinton's version, Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News was there when she landed:

Geraghty again:
Remember when I chuckled about a New Yorker writer referring to her as "Lunch-pail Hillary," suggesting she will run a populist campaign that is "critical of the Wall Street types"? Apparently she really intends to do this.

A woman with a net worth of $200 million, who gives speeches to Goldman Sachs for $200,000 each, is perhaps the single least plausible populist of all time. She may attempt to pose as this reform-minded outsider who will shake up "The System," when she is perhaps the personification of "The System."

But she's going to try it, because she is apparently incapable of perceiving herself as she is. Because massive wealth is seen as suspicious or inherently corrupting in today's political culture, particularly in Democratic circles, she has to pretend she's middle class, that her personal-finance worries are just like those of Americans making mid five-figures or less.

The "he's unbelievably rich and out of touch" attack clearly did damage to Romney in 2012. Hillary Clinton has to hope lots of people don't react the way Jimmie Bise Jr. did: "I know of dozens of ridiculously-talented, hard-working people who'll never set foot in a mansion. But Hillary Clinton buys two and weeps."






No comments: