Op-Ed: Hillary Claims Ignorance on Weatherman-Brinks Robbery Pardons

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Can it possibly get any easier for McCain and the GOP in November?

From the Spin Cycle blog on Newsday.com:

'You can watch the video (above). If it's true, it means that (Hillary) got the worst briefings in the world when she was running for Senate in 2000 and the clemency issue was hot in Rockland County, and it means that Chuck Schumer didn't even bother to mention the issue to his fellow NY senator-elect/First Lady after promising the widows of two dead cops to fight against one of the clemencies.'

Here's the backstory:

'On October 19, 2000, as Hillary was hunting for Senate votes throughout New York, Rockland County's biggest paper, the Journal News, ran a front page story reporting that imprisoned radical Susan Rosenberg, linked to the 1981 Weather Underground Brinks robbery that left two Nyack cops dead, was seeking clemency from Bill Clinton.

'The next day, the widows and fellow state and local police attended a memorial service for the two dead cops at the site of the killings. Also in attendance: Sen. Chuck Schumer, who in that fall was frequently campaigning with Hillary. According to another front page story, on Oct. 21, he made a pledge to the widows to fight the clemency: "I intend to take our opposition as high as I can in government."

'On December 16, 2000, after Hillary became New York's Senator-elect, the paper did another Page 1 story about an upcoming 60 Minutes episode on Rosenberg's clemency application. It included a quote from one of her new constituents, Diane O'Grady, wife of one of the dead cops: "This is a woman who has taken lives."

On December 17, 2000, the "60 Minutes" piece on Rosenberg's case and clemency request ran.

'So, Clinton, in her effort to avoid being connected in any way to the case, now says she knew nothing about it. Nobody briefed her, either while she was running or after she was elected, on an emotional hot-button issue that intersected her husband with her constituents.'

What is it with left-wing politicians associating with, excusing and pardoning the Worst of the Worst in American society and expecting a total pass come Election Time?

This wasn't the only egregious pardon by her husband as he cleaned out his desk. It was one of many.

There was the pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich, whose wife Denise just happened to make very large contributions to both the Clinton Library Foundation and Hillary's Senate campaign shortly before the pardon.

That one had both houses of Congress breathing flame, resulting in a rash of subpoenas calling for witnesses as well as financial records, as the House Government Reform Committee initiated its hearings and the Senate Judiciary Committee geared up for its own proceedings.

Let me guess. Didn't know anything.

Let's not forget either the near-simultaneous pardons of sixteen members of the radical Puerto Rican Nationalist FALN, which set off 120 bombs around the United States.

Congress condemned that action too, with a vote of 95-2 in the Senate and 311-41 in the House. The U.S. House Committee on Government Reform held an investigation on the matter, but the Justice Department prevented FBI officials from testifying. President Clinton cited executive privilege for his refusal to turn over some documents to Congress related to his decision to offer clemency to members of the FALN terrorist group.

Why? Maybe because the Puerto Rican vote was so critical to winning the Senate seat she now holds? Doesn't know anything about that either, I'll bet.

Is she going to not know anything about all these pardons too?

Something else, Hillary she is. She remembers landing in Tuzla, Bosnia under sniper fire, yet doesn't know anything about a controversial pardon case that cut Senator Chuck Schumer's legs right out from under him, and stirred up outrage among the families of the Brinks Robbery's dead?

How I can I possibly add anything that could top all that, except maybe that her campaign staff (pictured above) have perhaps the easiest jobs in the country?

Oh yeah. She wants to be President of the United States. That tops it.