Audience member to Chris Mathews @ Dem forum: “Ask a real question.”

[sabra]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/06/19/clinton-mum-on-libby-pardon/

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, took a pass Tuesday morning when asked if she would object to a pardon for former Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

She was asked about Libby while addressing the AFSCME Democratic presidential candidate forum in Washington. Clinton first smiled and said, “Oh, I think there will be enough to be said about that without me adding to it.”

But moderator Chris Matthews pressed the issue, asking again if Clinton would have a problem if Libby was pardoned. Someone in the audience yelled, “Ask a real question.” Clinton then added, “A question that’s really about the people in the audience, and not about what’s happening in Washington.”

[WinkyDink]

1. "Audience member" = AKA, Ellen R. Malcolm, president of EMILY's List.

Ha!

[Zookeeper]

2. He must have been very confused...

since he shows no understanding of "real" as it applies to people who aren't spending their lives sucking up to the political elite.

[Missy Vixen]

3. Okay, I didn't miss this part

She TOOK A PASS? Excuse me?

>Clinton first smiled and said, “Oh, I think there will be enough to be said about that without me adding to it.”<

Hey, Hillary, you graduated from law school, did you not? Were you confused about the meaning of "perjury" and "obstruction of justice"?

Julie

[Marr]

4. What's happening to the American people is originating in Washington.

Why is it so damn hard for her to just say pardoning Libby would be wrong? Is it really that hard to point out that obstrucing justice in a treasonous enterprise is bad? Was she thinking about some kind of Mark Rich follow-up?

I could really do without the DLC and their triangulating, equivocating bullshit.

[gratuitous]

5. No kidding

The question of Scooter's pardon is of interest only to Scooter, his family, and Washington insiders who are missing the joie de vivre that previously marked their swell cocktail parties. About 95% of America is satisfied with seeing him do the time for his special crime. Matthews (and now Richard Cohen of the Washington Post) is clearly discombobulated by the spectacle of a well-connected white guy being treated like a common criminal, and he's looking for validation wherever it might be found.

Well guess what, boys? Scooter's being treated like a common criminal because he is a common criminal. And that's why we have prisons, to incarcerate common criminals like Scooter Libby, and the people he was protecting by lying to the special prosecutor and the grand jury.

[rudy23]

6. Why wouldn't Clinton be in favor of a pardon for Libby?

Her man Carville wants a Libby pardon.

This is a good indicator, to me, that President Hillary would not hold Bushco accountable, much like her husband did with Iran Contra.

[tularetom]

7. About time someone called Mathews on his inane questions

However, as meaningless as the question was, Senator Clinton should have responded to it. A lot of potential democratic voters are uncomfortable with the appearance of coziness between Bill Clinton and poppy bush and it isn't hard to imagine that their suspicions might extend to her as well. She could do a lot to dispel these questions with a dismissive negative response to Mathews's stupid question instead of trying to be cute.

[mmonk]

8. Sad.

Really sad that nobody wants to ask or answer a question about the unprecedented move of a leader of a country outing it's own intelligence people. It's also very very scary. It's also a very scary reply by Clinton.

[LibDemAlways]

9. Hillary can't simply say, "I am not in favor of a pardon for

Scooter Libby"? WTF? That one's a no-brainer. She never fails to disappoint.

[rudy23]

11. Because I don't think she is against a Libby pardon nt

[ejbr]

10. Hillary, "I don't like to deal in hypotheticals..."

Well girlfriend, this is NOT hypothetical. Would you or WOULDN'T you based on the FACTS as you know them. There is no "if this, then that" as with a hypothetical. The cards are laid out for your equivocating ass. Obviously, this WAS a real question or she would have given an answer based on the facts as we know them for fuck's sake.