Peter denied Jesus three times but Hillary Clinton appears to have a much more difficult task; she is going to have to deny herself at least 45 times.
Last Friday, Hillary Clinton's spokesperson, Karen Finney, appeared on CNN's The Lead and exasperated Jake Tapper by continuing to avoid avoid answering the important question as to whether her boss still supports or opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bill in Congress. Not a smart move in the long run because yesterday Tapper struck back by listing in detail, with her own quotes, 45 times that Hillary pushed the trade bill over the years. First Tapper writes about Hillary's current reluctance to back the trade bill in stark contrast to the many times she strongly supported it in the past:
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, seems reluctant to take a firm position on an issue dividing her party: whether President Obama should have fast-track trading authority for the immense trade deal he has been negotiating, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. With some progressive voters eyeing her with some skepticism, and facing a challenge (such as it is) from candidates on her left, she is being advised to tack in that direction.
President Obama has been pushing hard for the deal, while Democrats in the House of Representatives on Friday revolted and voted against a key part of the legislation. One told me, "there was a very strong concern about the lost jobs and growing income inequality," adding, pointedly: "Ms. Clinton should take notice."
She clearly did. After first dodging the issue, on Sunday in Iowa, Clinton said that "the President should listen to and work with his allies in Congress, starting with (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi, who have expressed their concerns about the impact that a weak agreement would have on our workers, to make sure we get the best, strongest deal possible. And if we don't get it, there should be no deal."
Clinton said, "there are some specifics in there that could and should be changed. So I am hoping that's what happens now -- let's take the lemons and turn it into lemonade."
But as members of the Obama administration can attest, Clinton was one of the leading drivers of the TPP when Secretary of State. Here are 45 instances when she approvingly invoked the trade bill about which she is now expressing concerns:
And here are just the first 5 in his list of 45. Remember, each listing also comes with a dated bonus Hillary quote expressing enthusiastic support for the trade bill which she is now furiously backpedaling from:
1. January 31, 2013: Remarks on American Leadership at the Council on Foreign Relations
2. January 18, 2013: Remarks With Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida
3. November 29, 2012: Remarks at the Foreign Policy Group's "Transformational Trends 2013 Forum"
4. November 17, 2012: Delivering on the Promise of Economic Statecraft
5. November 15, 2012: Remarks at Techport Australia
You can earn bonus points on your bluebook exam if you can match up at least a dozen videos of these 45 Hillary quotes endorsing the trade bill.
