Slog - Comments on Another Clinton Claim Gets a Second Look

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:49:32 -0800

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.

Comment by arduous

arduous — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:21:55 -0800

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.

Comment by ecce homo

ecce homo — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:31:05 -0800

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

Not unless they want to be raped.

Comment by Ziggity

Ziggity — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:34:10 -0800

These three comments nicely sum up Slog.

Comment by Big Sven

Big Sven — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:41:39 -0800

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.

Comment by Andy Niable

Andy Niable — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:41:39 -0800

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.

Comment by poppy

poppy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:45:24 -0800

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.

Comment by brandon

brandon — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:58:52 -0800

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.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:08:51 -0800

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.

Comment by Morgan

Morgan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:23:21 -0800

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?

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:25:48 -0800

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 ...

Comment by fluteprof

fluteprof — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:26:28 -0800

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.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:29:22 -0800

I agree, fluteprof, Fnarf has been a disappointment.

Comment by brandon

brandon — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:34:03 -0800

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.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:35:50 -0800

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.

Comment by JC

JC — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:15:17 -0800

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

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:13:41 -0800

@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.

Comment by Beguine

Beguine — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:16:54 -0800

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.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:09:09 -0800

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.

Comment by CP

CP — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:41:08 -0800

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.

Comment by NapoleonXIV

NapoleonXIV — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:11:10 -0800

She actually did! Here's proof!

Comment by bob

bob — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:11:21 -0800

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.