Hillary's Latest International Flap: Tells Tasteless Joke About The Prime Minister Of New Zealand.

[malik flavors]

April 24, 2008
Categories: Hillary Clinton

A flap in New Zealand


A reader points to a flap underway in New Zealand, in which Hillary -- asked by Newsweek, for a good joke -- told a fairly insulting one about Prime Minister Helen Clark, referring to her (inaccurately) as the "former" prime minister.

As the blogger Rachel Morris points out, the New Zealand press, but along with creating some friction with a charter member of the Coalition of the Willing, the incident points to a broader trend: Clinton, despite her image as a steady hand on foreign policy, leads the field on actual foreign policy blunders this cycle.

Along with the New Zealand flap, she's twice created real tension with key heads of state: Putin, who took it badly when she said he "doesn't have a soul"; and Musharraf, whose government reacted furiously when she suggested he might have had Benazir Bhutto killed.

She also made a fairly basic error on the structure of the Pakistani government, and more recently (if, it seems, deliberately) rattled the foreign policy establishment by openly threatening nuclear retaliation against Iran.

These stories haven't really been told as a narrative, because they don't fit the existing narrative. But they are, together, a fairly striking batch.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0408/A_flap_in_New_Zealand.html

Here's The Joke:

You have any good jokes?
Here's a good one. Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand: her opponents have observed that in the event of a nuclear war, the two things that will emerge from the rubble are the cockroaches and Helen Clark.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/132888/output/print

[redqueen]

1. She's like clockwork with the whole huge political blunder thing.

[roguevalley]

68. the PM of New Zealand is pretty cool. What a hick thing to say.

[boobooday]

2. Tasteless AND not funny. Or original. n/t

[flor de jasmim]

3. I've finally figured it out-- she read the book

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" ... upside-down, or back-to-front

She and Bush must have good conversations about ruling the "little people".

[momster]

15. Yeah -- Cheney's Annotated Copy

He lent it to her along with his personally-inscribed copy of 'The Prince'. Him and Nicolo were tight back in the day.

[Kittycat]

4. Clinton: A Diplomatic Nightmare in the Making.

Sounds a bit like Bush/Cheney to me, when it comes to this problem she seems to have.

[redqueen]

5. I didn't wanna say it.

But yeah.

[Kittycat]

6. What scares me most... Is not only is she offending people that support the US (AU).

She's not only offending countries the we have a history of being on touchy ground with (Russia)

But she's offending countries that could potential harm our soldiers, through their influence in Iraq.

We should be working on diplomatic solutions for these problems that Bush/Cheney created - not inciting them.

[Abacus]

77. I've been biting my tounge for a while now

but the personality similarities between Hillary and Bush are both eerie and frightening.

[malik flavors]

7. For claiming to be such a foreign policy wonk you'd think she'd know that Helen Clark is still...

the prime minister of New Zealand.

[redqueen]

9. Maybe that "wonk" stuff is a just a meme, too.

Considering her recent comments...

heh, and remember the "whatever" after she got the new Russian President's name wrong?

[TwilightGardener]

8. WTF? Why does everyone assume she's so bright?

[marylanddem]

10. I've wondered the same thing.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

12. Because, according to them

Her speeches are oh so detailed and specific.

She's full of specific-yness.

[ampad]

53. LOL

Sounds like a Colbert tern but yea I don't understand why they think she is so smart. When she got the Russian presidents name wrong then said whatever I was done thinking she was oh so bright. At least when you make a mistake like that say something of substance, that whatever comment was out there.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

60. She baffles people with her wonky sounding bullshit.

All you have to do is drone on and on, using words like "comprehensive" and "transition" a lot. No one's really listening because they're bored to death but they think you're smart and have plans.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

38. Because she clearly is.

Tone-deafness does not equal a lack of brightness; just a lack of political savvy.

[redqueen]

42. The what... 3? 4 versions of spin after the Bosnia flap first started?

That was just lack of savvy?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

47. Some things are indefensible.

I'm just defending her intelligence. Smart people lie, too.

[redqueen]

49. Sure, smart people lie. But not like that.

Or at least I wouldn't think they would... I don't see how it's possible to say those things and still be considered extraordinarily intelligent.

And then there's the "whatever" after she got the Russian president's name wrong. What was that about?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

52. You introduced "extraordinary," not me.

:D

[redqueen]

54. Oops sorry... I got that from Zogby...

heheh. :P

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

59. I support the Harvard Law Review guy.

Extraordinary!

[TwilightGardener]

48. I disagree. She's not as bright as she's portrayed. Smart people learn not to

say stupid things.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

64. How bright is she portrayed to be?

:shrug:

My perception is that she is intelligent. About a 120 IQ.

[TwilightGardener]

65. Eh, she's portrayed as a super-duper policy wonk and genius campaigner.

To me, she has some competence, but mostly her "intelligence" is political street smarts. She failed the bar exam. I always challenge the assumption that she's just SOOOOO smart.

[lutefisk]

67. She's very ambitous, hard working, and "fairly" bright. Smarter than Bush!

Somewhere between Chimpy and Obama in overall intelligence, from what I can see.

[Madam Mossfern]

71. I'm sorry

I tried to squish your avatar.

[lutefisk]

73. Don't worry. Squish it all you want. It'll keep plugging away...

...kind of like Hillary Clinton.

:hi:

[Ichingcarpenter]

11. Isn't that Sexist also? Why did she chose a woman as the blunt

of the joke?

[City Lights]

50. As BC said, "Apparently it's okay to say bad things about a girl."

Hillary is the queen of cheap shots, and apparently agrees with her husband.

So much for fighting for, and empowering women.

[gal]

62. She's allowed to be sexist though

It's just the other side or anyone that disagrees with her that can't.

[cali]

13. hill's pig ignorance and pig "joke:"

Clark is not the former PM. She IS the P.M. And she's just been honored by the UN for her environmental leadership. What does Hillary do? She designates the current PM as the former leader and compares her to a cockroach. Disgusting. Now watch the hillbots defend her disgusting comments.

[geiger]

14. presumptous familiarity. what a dolt.

[BattyDem]

16. Someone who spent 8 years in the WH should know better.

I was going to say these are "rookie" mistakes, but they're not. They're just stupid mistakes because even a person who has no experience in foreign policy knows that insults, accusations and threats do not help diplomatic relations. :eyes:

[City Lights]

17. She and George have the same level of class and share a joke book.

:thumbsdown:

[IndependentDem]

18. ready on day one...

to piss off the world, friends and foes.

I don't understand why this type of shit isn't covered more in the media or by Obama's camp. To me these comments and the threats to nuke Iran are much more important than what happened in Bosnia over 10 years ago.

[Adelante]

19. Not even mentioning "obliterating" Iran

Ready for diplomacy on Day Two Thousand

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. She just doesn't have the political talent.

Unless you are intending to insult the person yourself, you don't tell that sort of joke, even if you preface it with "her opponants say".

Maybe she really thought that it was a compliment - her being the ultimate political survivor. I'm sure the hillary lovers here would be thrilled to hear us pay her that same compliment.

"She just can't be defeated! She's so tenacious that in the event of a nuclear war, the two things that will emerge from the rubble are the cockroaches and Hillary Clinton, waving her 'Hillary is 44' flag!"

They'd love it, I'm sure.

[Catherina]

21. That's odd. Her #1 fan Rush Limbaugh has a similar joke about Hillary Clinton

He even had a picture of the Clintons as cockroaches on his website the they he featured Bill Clinton's interview :shrug:

Middle Right

[redqueen]

23. How fitting.

[Jed Dilligan]

41. Great catch--you should post it as an OP

[yodermon]

22. WTF? What does that joke even mean? Why pick on New Zealand?

Why is that funny?
Maybe I'm just dense.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

24. Disturbing for several reasons:

"Here's good one."NO. It isn't a good one. It's not funny.

"former prime minster" - Uninformed.

"in the event of a nuclear war" - something Hillary thinks is a good joke set-up. Reminds me of Reagan and the "bombing begins in five minutes." Or Bush looking for the WMD under his desk. It's just clueless, especially when people are dying in wars at this moment. Not too many thigh slappers about nuclear war.

"cockroaches and Helen Clark" It certainly sounds like a slam against the sitting Prime Minister of a country I would normally think of as an American ally. Does she have some personal animosity towards Helen Clark?

[Cali_Democrat]

32. Also, why does she seem so obsessed with nuclear war?

[Cha]

81. hilary is jealous 'cause Helen Clark

is the Prime Minister of New Zealand and hilary will never be president of the USA where she thought it was shoe in.

Poor hilary..there's gonna be so many jokes about her and her vicious campaign when this is over..right now it's not very funny.

[berni_mccoy]

25. New Zealand ROCKS! Clinton SUCKS!

[1776Forever]

26. Here is the video on YouTube of her PunJab so called "joke"..........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Mq8kOXV_E&feature=related

[grantcart]

27. beneath the headlines Clintons' top China adviser resigns

A top expert on China has resigned as an informal adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign in the wake of the candidate's increasingly harsh anti-China rhetoric.

Richard Baum, a political science professor at the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA, resigned in light of what he called “grossly misguided accusations” made by Clinton about China.

“As a lifelong Democrat, it saddens me that Sen. Clinton has chosen to take the low road in her effort to gain our party’s presidential nomination,” Baum said in an e-mail to Politico.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Politico.

Clinton recently has ratcheted up her anti-China sentiments, criticizing the country on everything from its human rights violations to its undervalued currency.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9719.html

[karynnj]

28. This is incredible - if true, she is by far the worse Democratic candidate in my life time

and McGovern got my first vote. Someone should tell her that this joke - intentionally made and embarrassing is INAPPROPRIATE.

But, there was her Ghandi joke long ago. For someone of her experiences and intelligence, she is tone deaf.

[Spazito]

29. Geez, for someone who is touted as a feminist....

you would think: A) she would be VERY aware of a female Prime Minister and her current status and B) she sure as hell wouldn't be making cockroach jokes about her.

[Cali_Democrat]

30. I see Hillary is really showing off those foreign policy credentials *snicker*

[Skidmore]

46. nyuk..nyuk....Bill larned her that while she was gettin' experience

watching him close-up.

[TwilightGardener]

31. So when is this MAJOR gaffe going to be played relentlessly on CNN, etc?

[IndependentDem]

35. my guess is never. n/t

[myrna minx]

33. Oh good lord! n/t

[liberaldem4ever]

34. I don't want this person to be our President

We already have a President who embarrasses us-why do we need another one with Hillary? Who is she trying to impress with that joke? It's dumb and not funny in the least. :puke:

[Occam Bandage]

36. Swear to god, she's the only person alive with less tact than Bush.

[nichomachus]

37. There's no such thing as "it's just a joke"

Jokes reveal a great deal about the person telling them, no matter how much they claim "It's just a joke."

There were a thousand things she could have joked about -- why did she choose that?

One possibility -- a deep-seated envy of a female politician who (a) is successful and (b) is likable.

[Indenturedebtor]

39. Nearly everything that comes out of her mouth is shit

Just what we need - another divisive tactless shitheel who lies and makes us look bad. Oh and don't forget the warmonger thing.

That's ok though, the Primaries are over. She can't win.

[Barack_America]

40. You have got to be fucking kidding me.

She actually used an insult against a woman head of state that male sexists undoubtedly crafted?

There's her "sisterhood" for you. Oh yeah, she's all about promoting women in power.

And Helen Clark is a self-made woman at that, unlike our dear Hillary.

Unbelievable. UNBELIEVABLE!

[redqueen]

45. Is it really unbelievable?

I mean now... at this point... do you really think so?

I would have years ago... now, though... not so much.

[Barack_America]

55. You're right. It is entirely believeable.

I should have said "disgusting".

:mad:

[Mme. Defarge]

43. I can't bear the thought

of another embarrassing 4 years.

END IT NOW!

[Bigleaf]

44. Fuck, they are actually alike in more than one way. Open mouth, insert foot.

[TwilightGardener]

51. Hillary supporters? Bueller? Bueller? Where's the defenders?

[Kaylee]

56. Ooooooo. Open mouth...insert foot. nt

[Zachstar]

57. Clinton + Foreign Relations = Joke

[invictus]

58. OK. I am convinced that Hillary is crazy. She and McCain are two unstable peas in a pod. n/t

[stratomagi]

61. I know this may be splitting hairs but

technically nobody has a soul, so despite being mean spirited she was factually correct on Putin. :evilgrin:

[Ichingcarpenter]

63. The Flight of the Conchords responds

Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtSc0tFWh7s&eurl=http://endpoliticsasusual.blogspot.com/2008/04/hillary-insults-flight-of-conchords.html

[glitch]

66. Good God.

This cannot be possible, no Democrat can be this stupid.

[redqueen]

69. Well...

[glitch]

84. Indeed.

:P

[Az_lefty]

70. Hillary is a flipping disaster...

I don't know why I ever had any respect for her.

[Danger Mouse]

72. So, did ONE SINGLE Clinton supporter show up to try and defend this?

:crickets:

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

74. Hillary is SO not funny!

[samsingh]

75. why is she joking about nucelar war?

[rainbow4321]

78. Same reason she joked about sniper fire...

while there are real troops dodging/getting killed by real sniper fire.


She is one fucked up idiot who doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone but herself.
My apologies to fucked up idiots around the world...it was the first thing that came to mind.

[anonymous171]

76. Holy shit she is a hawk!

[blogslut]

79. And she has the nerve to get butthurt when people tell crass jokes about her

amazing.

[Cha]

80. America deserves better this time around.

"The former Prime Minister"! Is that why she told one of her inane jokes about her?..'cause she thought she was "former"?

She'll never be president. clinton supporters must really dig faux pas like this and applaud hilary's honesty when they know damn good and well she's as dishonest as they come.

[Darth_Kitten]

82. Apparently Obama didn't know that Canada doesn't have a president.

n/t.

[Barb in Atl]

83. Wait a frackin' minute...

We have weeks and weeks of "Obama said Pennsylvanians are BITTER!" but no one thought to mention the international incident of insulting the New Zealand Prime Minister!?!

C'mon people. Even NUKING IRAN got minimal coverage. (sigh)

Goin' to NC to get out the vote. Let's end this thing.