Hillary Ran From Me
Posted by Harkavy at 12:19 PM, March 25, 2008
How dare you say that Hillary Clinton never ran from snipers.
Forget Bosnia, about which she says she "misspoke," when in fact she downright lied.
The only time Hillary Clinton ran from a sniper was right here in New York City, during the 2000 Senate campaign.
Clinton was speaking at a luncheon of elderly Teamster retirees in May 2000 about how much she supported collective bargaining and workers' rights.
Immediately after her speech, while the rest of the gaggle of reporters remained motionless, I walked toward the podium and, when I was about 10 feet away, politely asked her about her stint on the board of directors of Wal-Mart, the world's largest union-busting company.
She stared at me in shock, her eyes grew big as saucers, and, despite the well-wishers and celebrity-seekers who were still waiting for a word or a blessing, she scurried off the stage without saying a word. Yes, she didn't walk, she scurried.
Meanwhile, her Secret Service agent, a guy named Bob with whom I'd struck up a friendly relationship at the back of the room during Clinton's speech, rushed toward the stage and dragged me back.
"Bob," I said, "are you acting as Hillary's Secret Service protector or as her campaign aide? You know who I am. I showed you my credentials and we've been talking in the back of the room during her speech."
Bob replied, "I'm working for her."
I don't usually argue with people who have guns, so I let it drop.
But I did write about her speech. Here's how I started by May 23, 2000, story, "Wal-Mart's First Lady":
Twice in three days last week, Hillary Rodham Clinton basked in the adulation of cheering union members. Her record of supporting collective bargaining, however, is considerably worse than wobbly.
Pity the thousands of unionists at last Tuesday's state Democratic convention who chanted her name, and the hundreds of retired Teamsters at Thursday's luncheon in midtown who had interrupted their Founder's Day meal to hear the corporate litigator turned union-loving Democrat deliver a campaign speech.
They would have dropped their forks if they had heard that Hillary served for six years on the board of the dreaded Wal-Mart, a union-busting behemoth. If they had learned the details of her friendship with Wal-Mart, they might have lost their lunches.
Pity the thousands of unionists at last Tuesday's state Democratic convention who chanted her name, and the hundreds of retired Teamsters at Thursday's luncheon in midtown who had interrupted their Founder's Day meal to hear the corporate litigator turned union-loving Democrat deliver a campaign speech.
They would have dropped their forks if they had heard that Hillary served for six years on the board of the dreaded Wal-Mart, a union-busting behemoth. If they had learned the details of her friendship with Wal-Mart, they might have lost their lunches.
Oh, and let's talk about Hillary's "experience." All she was for Wal-Mart was be the wife of Arkansas's governor and thus a PR prop for the company's devastating march through Middle America during which it laid waste to more Moms and Pops than Sherman did as he descended upon Atlanta.
Clinton put a respectable public face on Wal-Mart during its staggering growth period in the '80s. And she partook in some of the profits as a board member and thus, shareholder. As I wrote at the time:
In 1986, when Hillary was first lady of Arkansas, she was put on the board of Wal-Mart. Officials at the time said she wasn't filling a vacancy. In May 1992, as Hubby's presidential campaign heated up, she resigned from the board of Wal-Mart. Company officials said at the time that they weren't going to fill her vacancy.
So what the hell was she doing on the Wal-Mart board? According to press accounts at the time, she was a show horse at the company's annual meetings when founder Sam Walton bused in cheering throngs to celebrate his non-union empire, which is headquartered in Arkansas, one of the country's poorest states.
So what the hell was she doing on the Wal-Mart board? According to press accounts at the time, she was a show horse at the company's annual meetings when founder Sam Walton bused in cheering throngs to celebrate his non-union empire, which is headquartered in Arkansas, one of the country's poorest states.
Too bad she didn't face any verbal sniping during those days. But then, she hasn't tolerated any verbal sniping since then, either.
rss feed
