On Larry King Live earlier this week, Vice President Dick Cheney said that he agreed with the snotty and arrogant letter that Undersecretary Eric Edelman sent her last month in reply to an inquiry she had sent in May about DOD contingency plans for withdrawing from Iraq. Mr. Edelman basically told her that she, a U.S. Senator, had no business inquiring into such plans and that by even asking the question, Sen. Clinton was giving aid to the enemy. Last week she got a letter of apology of sorts from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, saying that he didn't agree with Mr. Edelman's view and that he would be happy to provide whatever information he could to the Senate on such plans.
When Sen. Clinton heard what the Vice President said, she fired off a letter.
Your comments, agreeing with Under Secretary Edelman, not Secretary Gates, have left me wondering about the true position of the Administration. Therefore, I am writing to President Bush asking that he set the record straight about the Administration's position regarding the role of Congress in oversight of the war.So not only is she slapping back at the vice president, she's ratting him out to his nominal boss, President Bush.
As Greg Sargent notes, this little feud between Sen. Clinton and the White House will shore up her assertion that she isn't "Bush-Cheney lite" as Barack Obama labeled her. It also shows that unlike some Democrats in the past, she will not shrink in the face of being bullied by the Bushies. (Her campaign learns fast; they're asking people to add their signatures to the letter.) One can only imagine what John Kerry would have done in this situation; chances are he would have ignored it, dismissed it, and let it fester while he went wind-surfing or something.
Far be it from me to give advice to the GOP, but they'd better learn that if they plan to attack Hillary Clinton, be ready to get as good as you give. And about damn time, too.
Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.
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