Why Is Bill Clinton Talking Again?

As tough a few days that Hillary Clinton had over those remarks on her trip to Bosnia, it had basically subsided. She apologized, she made a few jokes about it on Jay Leno, and the campaign moved on. Why the heck would he bring it up again, on two occasions, in speeches in Indiana? Just shut your mouth, give a nice little speech on the issues, which is exactly what he did at the California Democratic Party convention a couple weeks ago (with me in attendance). There's no reason to rehash the Tuzla speech, especially because he lied over and over in talking about it.

THE FACTS:

Bill Clinton has many of the facts wrong.

His wife didn't make the sniper fire claim "one time late at night when she was exhausted." She actually told the story several times, including during prepared remarks on foreign policy delivered the morning of March 17.

It's also not true that she "immediately apologized for it." Clinton has never apologized for the comments and only acknowledged that she "misspoke" a week after the March 17 speech when video of her peaceful tarmac reception emerged.

It's also not true that she was the "first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to go into a combat zone" — a claim that Hillary Clinton has also made when talking about the trip. Pat Nixon traveled to Saigon during the Vietnam war and Barbara Bush went to Saudi Arabia two months before the launching of Desert Storm.

The trip also was not in 1995, but 1996.

Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer responded to the former president's remarks Friday by saying, "Senator Clinton appreciates her husband standing up for her, but this was her mistake and she takes responsibility for it."

She's also told her husband to quit talking about it.

Hillary Clinton is wise beyond her years.

At one level it shouldn't matter much what Bill Clinton says, but surely he knows the warped media environment in which we live. Why would he step in it?

Mr. President, you're doing it wrong.