It has always been extraordinary to me the language that people often resort to under stress. I really had to do a double take when Hillary, a very admirable democratic politician, to my disappointment fell back on the term "misspoke" after being caught red-handed in what appears to be some major embellishment that is threatening to "dry rot" the carefully crafted foundation of the "commander-in-chief threshold" put forth by her campaign. I happen to agree with Keith Olbermann who said last night, in effect, that she and her campaign had missed the narrow window of opportunity of simply addressing the incident with a "whoops, you got me!" humorous moment.
Probably a lot of older Kossacks around here had a similar jaw-dropping experience when that little euphemistic jewel "misspoke" again crossed our ears and eyes. As a little bit of history for those who are not familiar, "misspoke", was foisted off on the American public by the Nixon administration as Watergate began to heat up. In essence, it was a calculated attempt to avoid responsibility for a conscious deception... which failed miserably, and merely introduced blood into the water of the growing feeding frenzy of the media and the American public.
A lot has been said and written about the degree in which Hillary attempted to deceive, or if indeed she was simply expressing her recollection of events as she actually has them stored in her mind in regards to Tuzla... to me, a lot of these arguments are not that important. It's just plain human nature in the best of us to embellish... I would even argue that it's the American way. My only problem, and I suspect the same of most other Americans, is that for some absurd reason we attempt to hold our politicians and leaders to a higher standard... thus, the war for dismissing versus holding her accountable.
In my opinion, the rambling explanation for the "misspeak" offered by Hillary really does her a disservice. To me, this was another opportunity lost, similar to her posturing around her Iraq vote, in which she could simply demonstrate her own human failings, perhaps with a bit of humor, which I personally would find both humanizing and endearing.
Honestly, I find it disturbing that during a time of stress, "misspoke" is the term that popped into her head, or was either discussed ahead of time by her campaign during a damage control session. I have to wonder what in the world is going on that Nixon is resurrected here for a lot of older voters... it certainly doesn't incline me towards voting for her. I also begin to wonder if, at some point, a lot of her campaign's output to date is going to be declared simply "inoperative"...