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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Another Clinton Claim Gets a Second Look

posted by on March 26 at 11:45 AM

Did you know that Hillary Clinton tried to join the Marines in 1975?

She says she did.

RSS icon Comments

1

Wow.

I didn't know she was that young.

Even Canada didn't allow women into their military combat units until somewhere in the mid-80s though, so she was a decade too early, and I think it wasn't until this century that they allowed such things here (and still technically don't for the most part).

Meanwhile, 100 women are dead in Iraq thanks to her decision to back Bush when it mattered.

Posted by Will in Seattle | March 26, 2008 11:49 AM
2

Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Hillary Clinton mentioned once in 1994 that she went to a military recruiter's office and we're supposed to feel ... how?

Honestly, she probably did. It's the kind of thing I can see lots of people doing, including me. She might have done it just to see if they would even allow her to serve or not.

But really. This is 13 year old news from when she told this story and over 30 year old news from when this thing happened to take place. And it's a mere anecdote. What's the point?

And @1, you ... didn't know she was that young? And actually I think it's more than 100 women who have died in Iraq since the US invasion.

Posted by arduous | March 26, 2008 12:21 PM
3

Split tails don't need to be in the Marines.

Not unless they want to be raped.

Posted by ecce homo | March 26, 2008 12:31 PM
4

These three comments nicely sum up Slog.

Posted by Ziggity | March 26, 2008 12:34 PM
5

I'm sorry, who did she say this to? When? The article you referenced offers *no* details to this claim.

"Fear. The city is rank with it." -Gothmog.

Posted by Big Sven | March 26, 2008 12:41 PM
6

This whopper made me laugh almost as much as when she claimed to be named after famous climber Sir Edmund Hillary... until it was pointed out the man didn't scale Mt. Everest (and hence was not famous yet) until FIVE years after her birth.

Almost as much.

Posted by Andy Niable | March 26, 2008 12:41 PM
7

I don't get it -- do reporters not believe her because she doesn't repeat this story all the time? Or do they not believe the marines would have turned her away because "she's a woman"?

Hillary was probably used to it after she didn't get into Obama's college (Columbia) or McCain's college (Naval Academy) or Bill Clinton's college (Georgetown) or Rhodes Scholar award (to Oxford) because they didn't accept women until the late 70's or 80's.

Posted by poppy | March 26, 2008 12:45 PM
8

sven - 2nd paragraph:

"One that may get renewed scrutiny is a story she told “Women in Military Service” in 1994 -- that shortly after the end of the Vietnam war, she looked into joining the Marines."

there are also a number of links in the article to the washington post, as well as a maureen dowd article from 1994 on the subject.

the issue is that she claims she was turned away for being a woman, even though women were allowed to serve in the marines at the time.

Posted by brandon | March 26, 2008 12:58 PM
9

Will, she wasn't applying for "combat duty"; no one does, and the construction doesn't make sense. She was applying to JOIN THE MARINES (assuming her claim is true), and women have been in the Marines since 1918.

Posted by Fnarf | March 26, 2008 1:08 PM
10

I don't like or trust Hillary, but this is getting silly. Why don't they look into the claims she's making right now?

Posted by Morgan | March 26, 2008 1:23 PM
11

If by "in the Marines" you mean working REMF duty, sure I'll bite, Fnarf.

I stand by my statement. And, technically, they were auxiliary military structures like the WAF and WREN units ... so ...

Posted by Will in Seattle | March 26, 2008 1:25 PM
12

Are you kidding me with this? This is even't Slog-worthy, much less news-worthy. Is this kind of crap really what the Obama (and supporters)camp has sunk to?

So much for a different kind of politics. Seriously, he has been nothing but one disappointment after another.

Posted by fluteprof | March 26, 2008 1:26 PM
13

I agree, fluteprof, Fnarf has been a disappointment.

Posted by Will in Seattle | March 26, 2008 1:29 PM
14

i don't think obama has anything to do with this story being re-visited, but i could be wrong. according to the article, this is the result of the media taking a closer look at things hillary has said in the past.

whether or not obama represents a "different kind of politics" is debatable, but the media will always be the same. you can't hold him accountable for that.

Posted by brandon | March 26, 2008 1:34 PM
15

Now Will is slagging off the women in the Marines. Nice. http://www.womenmarines.org/history.php

The point still stands: it was possible for a woman to enlist in the Marines in 1975. A point upon which only you are confused.

Posted by Fnarf | March 26, 2008 1:35 PM
16

You know, I used to be suspicious of Hillary's Bosnia claims, but new evidence has emerged proving that she did indeed face harrowing circumstances. She wasn't lying!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHVEDq6RVXc

Posted by JC | March 26, 2008 2:15 PM
17

@14 - well, I'm mostly familiar with USAF, Army, and Navy restrictions, but I'm fairly sure even Marine units didn't permit women in any combat-related trades until quite recently. It would have been in the newsreels they show on AMC if it happened, other than for the nursing corps and similar functions.

Posted by Will in Seattle | March 26, 2008 3:13 PM
18

Silliness. We should be focusing on the things she definitely exaggerated, like her foreign policy experience. This attempt to expand the story by the media falls completely flat.

Though I wish we had more recruiters turning people away now for being half-blind and too old.

Posted by Beguine | March 26, 2008 3:16 PM
19

Nobody gives a crap what you know or don't know about the USAF, Will, and your "point" about whether or not women serve in active duty is immaterial to the question of whether Clinton tried to enlist in the Marines or not.

Posted by Fnarf | March 26, 2008 4:09 PM
20

Will @17, I think you're confusing the end of the auxillary-unit type female era, and the much later debate over combat MOS's. As of '75, I believe the point people are trying to make is that women could join the normal ol' Marine Corps and be normal ol' Marines, not merely members of lady-ish units. Just not combat MOS's, and still regarded as "split tails" by the chauvinists.

Posted by CP | March 26, 2008 8:41 PM
21

She actually did! Here's proof!

Posted by NapoleonXIV | March 26, 2008 11:11 PM
22

Poppy, the point is she's a bullshitter. She bullshits about small, stupid things and big, important things.

The idea that just a few months before her wedding she honestly tried to join the Marines just rings so obviously false. Now, maybe she was checking as part of a legal action for discrimination, but that's not what she claimed.

Posted by bob | March 27, 2008 12:11 AM

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