Skleenar: The words "personal" and "friend" do not appear in this article.

Neither were they in quotes in the headline. However:

(FTA):

"I have known Benazir Bhutto for a dozen years and I knew her as a leader."

Meaning she knew her as more than just another pol.

Regardless, if you issue a press release about someone you knew in any capacity for 12 years you ought to know how many kids that person had.

I realize some clueless staffer probably wrote this, but it has her name on it so she's going to have to own it one way or the other.

Disgruntled Goat: FARK is rapidly becoming "Greenlight any article taking a shot at Hillary,"

Nobody made Hillary thrust herself into national politics. If she can do the job as good anyone else she ought to be able to handle the nasty parts as well without sniveling that the good ol' boys are all picking on a girl.

Disgruntled Goat: I have many friends and I have no idea how many kids some of them have. Sometimes these things don't come up in a social context.
Multiply that by someone who is an international figure who deals with many, many more people than the average schmo

That multiplication is generally managed by having a large staff--Hillary has several dozen--who are supposed to stay on top of all that stuff.

xria: eah, who would have thought - get elected as spend years badmouthing (probably) the most important individual in the largest economy in the world, during which time when that country throws its weight around internationally much more than it has done in recent years,, claiming you could personally do a much better job, then snivel and whine when suddenly people talk about him just as critically as you talk about him. Shocking.

FTFY

spamdog: No actually it means she knew her as a leader, exactly like she said.

Perhaps. Which is why I went on to say that if you claim to have known someone in any capacity whatsoever for 12 whole years, and you want to extend condolences to her family, AND you have dozens of staff members who are supposed to help you keep track of such things, there's really no good excuse for forgetting such details.

Especially if you issue an official press release over your own signature.

Of course, if such criticism is unfair I suppose we'd have to retract all the conventional wisdom about, say, Dan Quayle or George Bush being total morons because of occasional verbal gaffes.

But that just wouldn't be consistent, would it?

spamdog: No actually it means she knew her as a leader, exactly like she said.

Actually I just reread it:

"I have known Benazir Bhutto for a dozen years and I knew her as a leader."

Notice the word "and" rather than an em dash or semicolon. Seems to me that's saying she knew her as a leader AND in some other capacity.

Wonder what that capacity was? They had the same hairdresser? Shared a cab? Drinking buddies? Stamp club?

spamdog: Oh you're such a little martyr. Get a sense of perspective!

Funny--that's what I thought I was trying to do here. If Bush' verbal gaffes mean he's an idiot, what does a mistake in Hillary's press release say about her?

It's all about trying to cross the aisle and apply the same standards to everyone, isn't it?

spamdog: Is this the best you've got? "Hillary is as dumb as Bush is!" "Saying a gaffe makes one politician an idiot and another just a normal imperfect human is inconsistent at best and probably hypocritical."

FTFY.

Hey, I don't really care if Hillary forgot how many kids Bhutto really had. I'm just having lots of fun watching the same people who make fun of Bush for accidentally trying to open a locked door rush in here to explain away Hillary's gaffe by pointing out they often forget how many kids their acquaintances have.

For the record, I don't like Hillary, but I don't think she's stupid. But the Democrats have set the tone of the debate by talking nonstop about Bush's idiocy and his administration's corruption and/or incompetence, so if they fail to keep their own campaign promises, make mistakes of their own or whatever it's simply a matter of the chickens coming home to roost.

Reminds me of the election in 2000 when Gore kept posing as the genius policy wonk and casting Bush as the stupid fortunate son, until someone dug up his and Bush's college records and found out Bush actually had a higher GPA.

Sorry, Al -- but most of us already know not to write checks we can't cash.

Skleenar: pretending this is some sign of dishonesty on Clinton's part is ridiculous

Sorry, but who said that? I submitted this link -- far as I know it neither says nor implies that anyone was dishonest.

spamdog: Don't even try to hit me with your bullshiat pragmatism - you know you're making a facile comparison.

Whatever you say, boss. If you think people who gleefully Photoshop Bush mugging it up when the door he was trying to open was locked can't be compared to those who snicker when Hillary's press release misstates the number of Bhutto's kids is facile, you're certainly entitled to your opinion.

Although I can't help but notice that the "butthurt conservatives" in this thread don't seem to be ones getting upset.

Gotta run--time to put the kids to bed. This is your cue, of course, to triumphantly proclaim that you won the argument and I ran off with my tail between my legs. Do enjoy your victory--do a nice endzone dance for me, k?

Skleenar: SquirrelsOfDoom: Sorry, but who said that? I submitted this link -- far as I know it neither says nor implies that anyone was dishonest.

Well, except for you, that is.

I hope you are proud, liar.

Judging from the amount of anti-Bush raving in your profile, I'm going to guess you're running a mild Bush Derangement Syndrome fever. Try some warm chicken soup and a good night's sleep.