Last month, First Lady Laura Bush called Hillary's comparison of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to a plantation "ridiculous."
This past weekend, Mrs. Bush criticized Hill again, telling an interviewer that the senator's recent comments about her husband were "out of bounds" and suggesting that there should be a sort of First Lady kindred spirit between the two: "We certainly know what it's like to have your husband criticized. So I think there's a certain empathy that we might have for each other."
On Tuesday, Sen. Clinton responded, insisting that "I have a lot of empathy. I've been there. I know how difficult it is. Certainly since 9/11, it's been a profound challenge, so I certainly do respect that."
However, "I would not be doing my job if I were not asking some of these tough questions and raising some of these criticisms. I profoundly disagree with the direction that the administration is taking the country."
Perhaps Sen. Clinton doesn't feel like she has to pay Mrs. Bush any mind because 2005 was the fourth straight year that Hillary was named Gallup's "Most Admired Woman" in America, an honor that usually goes to the nation's current First Lady.
Interestingly, President Bush has gone seemingly gone out of his way to not criticize Hillary's husband, which contrasts with the way former presidents Clinton and Carter have publicly treated the Oval Office's current occupant. In fact, on several occasions President Bush has confounded some Republicans who wanted the president to take a harsher public stand on his predecessor (ie., on morals, fighting terrorism, etc). There was serious rolling of eyes in some GOP circles when President Bush had Bill and Hillary back to the White House in June 2004 to unveil their portraits. He lavished the former president with remarkably gracious praise and warm words, needless to say it seems impossible that Hillary would ever be able to utter anything remotely similar about Laura's husband.
