Blackout.
While speaking last Monday at a women's group fund-raiser, Hillary fainted in the middle of her appearance. Earlier in the day, at an editorial board meeting at the Buffalo News, Sen. Clinton had complained about suffering from a stomach virus that affected several of her staff members at a weekend retreat in Westchester County, where she lives. Then she went to the fund-raiser, where at one point she had to leave the podium and continue speaking from a chair, then said she needed a break and left the room entirely. Hillary returned to the podium a short time later, but she passed out before she was even able to resume her speech. A member of the audience recalled that she was sort of brought down gracefully. The room was cleared and Clinton was checked by a doctor who attended the event. Her recovery was quick, though, as another member of the audience said that he saw Hillary smiling when she walked out of the club. "I saw her walk out the door by herself, she smiled and said 'thank you,'" he said. For her part, Hillary said she was fine and that it wasn't as dramatic as it sounds. In fact, she was able to make another appearance later in the day at Canisius College. The most recent reports indicate that Hillary was suffering from the flu, which seems strange considering she was able to get a flu shot back in October 2004, when the alleged flu vaccination shortage was all the rage. Maybe she got a placebo instead.
Canisius Protests.
As noted, Hillary managed to make it to Canisius College to talk about health care, but her appearance there was not entirely welcomed. Many Roman Catholics contended that Hillary, who, despite her recent protestations, is still an avid abortion supporter, should not speak at a Catholic school such as Canisius. The diocese received hundreds of phone calls and e-mails about Clinton's appearance at Canisius, the vast majority objecting to her speech, said Kevin Keenan, diocese spokesman. Meanwhile, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo said he is not pleased that Canisius College invited the pro-choice senator to campus but allowed her to speak anyway. The Most Rev. Edward U. Kmiec said the invitation was made without input from the diocese, and the offices of Church Ministry and Catholic Charities have pulled their sponsorship of the lecture. Despite this, Kmiec said the speech should go forward because the church needs to maintain a dialogue with Hillary and other public officials with whom they disagree on the issue of abortion. It is for that reason, despite calls for the cancellation of the event, that it was thought best to allow it to proceed, though reluctantly, Kmiec said in a statement. Of course, pro-life advocates were not satisfied with this mealy mouthed response. "I don't think he went far enough, I'm sorry," said Stasia Zoladz Vogel, president of the Buffalo Regional Right to Life Committee. "They owe her nothing. She's a public official. They can talk to her at any time."
Outsourcing Marine One.
The Pentagon recently chose an international team, headed by Lockheed Martin, to build the next fleet of presidential helicopters, otherwise known as Marine One. Lockheed won over Sikorsky Aircraft, which had positioned itself as the "all-American'' choice and which has been building helicopters for U.S. Presidents since the Eisenhower Administration. Lockheed won the $6.1-billion contract in large part because of Hillary's intense lobbying, as some of the construction will be in upstate New York. Britian and Italy will also help build these helicopters, which is why Hillary, who had flown in Marine One as First Lady, personally telephoned Prime Minister Tony Blair before a recent meeting with President Bush to urge him to press for Lockheed. After the contract was awarded, Hillary was at the plant in Owego, N.Y., where Lockheed will make part of the craft, and called the presidential helicopter an "Oval Office in the sky.'' Meanwhile, her colleague from Connecticut, Sen. Joe Lieberman, who lobbied strongly for Sikorsky, a Connecticut-based company, denounced the decision as "outrageously wrong."
