Hillary’s still lying

Hillary Clinton had a bad week until it turned awful. She got tripped up once again, this time in a radio interview on NPR (!); her caution, testiness and lack of tact came through as she was thrown on defense about her previous opposition to gay marriage.

She has to plead caution, not being ahead of the time (being too conservative, in other words) to escape the charge she was being politically calcu lating. Somewhere there is a real liberal out there thinking this is a disaster waiting to happen and an outrage that this is the best the left can do.

Even more revealing was her testiness. “You are putting words in my mouth,” she said. (Translation: How dare you ask me hard questions.) “No, you’re not clarifying.” (Is NPR part of the vast rightwing conspiracy now?)

Apparently no one told the media this was a coronation and no one had the

nerve to prepare Clinton with tough questions. She’s a hard worker, so I suppose she can practice being more forthcoming, but that is a little like planning to be more spontaneous. She is who she is — a very cautious, calculating person who didn’t start out to be the candidate, but instead the power behind the candidate. She doesn’t have the easygoing personality and common touch her husband does and she gets worse under pressure.

Moreover, Clinton has opened up whole new lines of questions: How did she miss a great civil rights cause like gay rights, and why did she hang back for so long? When was she ahead of the curve on a controversial issue? How rich is she, and was it the best use of her time to make more millions rather than doing philanthropic work over the past 18 months? Does she feel poor? When was the last time she went grocery shopping? (Then there are all those pesky questions about Iraq).

Republicans better pray she improves enough to keep her in the race and keep others out. Otherwise, they may find themselves up against a more formidable opponent.