35 years of experience (or 35 years of truthiness)

I would normally let something like this go, but it has been repeated numerous times by the Clinton campaign and her supporters. We all know that campaigns can be full of truthiness. What bothers me about this is that many of the same people who are parroting this talking point have never looked into it. This is not my version of the truth as an Obama supporter mind you, but the actual truth. First, 35 years ago she was finishing law school. These two quotes are key for me:

As a corporate attorney
She also served on corporate boards, including that of retail giant Wal-Mart from 1986-1992, frozen yogurt purveyor TCBY from 1985-1992 and cement manufacturer LaFarge from 1990-1992. She earned tens of thousands of dollars in fees from each. Clinton's firm represented Wal-Mart and TCBY while she sat on their boards, a cozy practice that corporate governance experts frown upon because of the potential for conflicts of interest.

Public Service
Clinton did a great deal of public service work during her time at the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock. She served on the board of the Legal Services Corp. during the Carter administration and for a time was its chair. She helped found a child advocacy system in Arkansas and took on several tasks as the state's first lady, such as revisions of the state's education system and rural health care delivery. She also served on the board of directors of the Children's Defense Fund, and on the board of a children's hospital.

I actually don't have a problem with her spending time as a corporate lawyer. I just have a problem with the truthy claim that she has spent her life in public service. She has spent a lot of time in public service, but equal amounts in the private sector as a lawyer or serving on corporate boards.

Once again it is not a bad thing, but the campaign is not truthful about it. Here is more detailed information about it or here. Here is the Clinton campaign's take. This is precisely the problem I have with the Clintons. Instead of twisting the truth, how about claiming both public and private experience? It might be useful for a president to know something about corporate law or corporate governance. I actually think her accomplishments are impressive.

The problem is that the Clintons seem to have an almost pathological compulsion to bend and stretch the truth beyond recognition and often to their detriment for almost no gain. The Obama people are a lot nicer than I am... If I was running his campaign, I think I would mention everyday that she spent about the same amount of time on the board of Wal-Mart as the US Senate.

At any rate, I hope everyone in Arizona is voting tomorrow. If there is one thing most of us can agree upon, it is that we don't want John McCain as President. Happy voting...