Whatd'ya know, Hillary know's the Clinton backpeddle too

Hillary Clinton, D(NY), appears to be backpeddling from her extremely well worded anti-torture stance.

Going from a September 28 Senate floor speech,

Therefore, George Washington, our commander-in-chief before he was our President, laid down the indelible marker of our nation's values even as we were struggling as a nation – and his courageous act reminds us that America was born out of faith in certain basic principles. In fact, it is these principles that made and still make our country exceptional and allow us to serve as an example. We are not bound together as a nation by bloodlines. We are not bound by ancient history; our nation is a new nation. Above all, we are bound by our values.

George Washington understood that how you treat enemy combatants could reverberate around the world. We must convict and punish the guilty in a way that reinforces their guilt before the world and does not undermine our constitutional values.

To a October 11 meeting where she said,

She was asked about the "ticking time bomb" scenario, in which you've captured the terrorist and don't have time for a normal interrogation, and said that there is a place for what she called "severity," in a conversation that included mentioning waterboarding, hypothermia, and other techniques commonly described as torture.

"I have said that those are very rare but if they occur there has to be some lawful authority for pursuing that," she responded. "Again, I think the President has to take responsibilty. There has to be some check and balance, some reporting. I don't mind if it’s reporting in a top secret context. But that shouldn’t be the tail that wags the dog, that should be the exception to the rule."

Here's what happened to me. When I first read Hillary's initial statement I was pretty excited. I actually thought, "If this is Hillary, I can see myself voting for her." But almost as that thought finished, I thought, "Careful Hercules (that's what I call myself), she's the same person who was silent on the Iraq war and PATRIOT Act, until both became unpopular. Why don't you just wait and see."

Mostly I'm glad I didn't blog a glowing comment on her speech, and how she may be votable after-all because Stalin would have had my lunch. She's hedging herself a full two years before the election. She didn't even make it a full month of conviction on the torture issue. Isn't that some sort of record? Waffling two years before an election and only one month before an empassioned speech on the Senate floor.

Beyond everything else, I think this is her biggest problem. She's far to caluculating. Even with Bill, you had a sense that under all the politics he cared. Not so with Hillary. It's just about getting the title.

Count me out.