Laura Ingraham was having fun Wednesday with a scoop from Washington Post blogger Mary Ann Akers, "the Sleuth." Akers interviewed the stand-up comedian and comedy-movie star Sinbad to denounce Hillary Clinton's tale of a harrowing trip to Bosnia with entertainers:
Finally, the Barack Obama campaign has found a big gun to help shoot down Hillary Rodham Clinton's self-proclaimed foreign policy experience. And he may be the wackiest gun of all: Sinbad, the actor, who has come out from under a rock to defend Obama in the war over foreign policy credentials.
Sinbad, along with singer Sheryl Crow, was on that 1996 trip to Bosnia that Clinton has described as a harrowing international experience that makes her tested and ready to answer a 3 a.m. phone call at the White House on day one, a claim for which she's taking much grief on the campaign trail.
Harrowing? Not that Sinbad recalls. He just remembers it being a USO tour to buck up the troops amid a much worse situation than he had imagined between the Bosnians and Serbs.
In an interview with the Sleuth Monday, he said the "scariest" part of the trip was wondering where he'd eat next. "I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'"
Clinton, during a late December campaign appearance in Iowa, described a hair-raising corkscrew landing in war-torn Bosnia, a trip she took with her then-teenage daughter, Chelsea. "They said there might be sniper fire," Clinton said.
Threat of bullets? Sinbad doesn't remember that, either.
"I never felt that I was in a dangerous position. I never felt being in a sense of peril, or 'Oh, God, I hope I'm going to be OK when I get out of this helicopter or when I get out of his tank.'"
In her Iowa stump speech, Clinton also said, "We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady."
Say what? As Sinbad put it: "What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'"
As you may have guessed by now, Sinbad isn't supporting Clinton for president. He's an Obama guy. All because of Clinton.
"What got me about Hillary was her attitude of entitlement, like he messed up her plan, like he had no reason to be there," Sinbad said. "I got angry. I actually got angry! I said, 'I will be for Obama like never before.'"
Not surprisingly, Sinbad is also upset that a "light-skinned brother" is not playing Obama on Saturday Night Live. Hillary spokesman Phil Singer tried to rebut Sinbad by suggesting the "Star Search" comedian has more foreign-policy experience than Obama:
Singer also cited a Kansas City Star article from September 2000 that quoted Sinbad as describing the situation in Bosnia as "so tense. It was Crips and Bloods." (And that's how Sinbad continued to characterize the situation in our interview Monday. He said, "At the time, we didn't realize how crazy it was between the Bosnians and the Serbs. I didn't realize how much hate was going on.")
Still, defending Clinton against Sinbad the refuter, Singer said, "The sad reality of what was going on in Bosnia at the time Senator Clinton traveled there as first lady has been well documented. It appears that Sinbad's experience in Bosnia goes back further than Senator Obama's does. In fact, has Senator Obama ever been to Bosnia?"
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.




















Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Oh! What a tangled web Hillary weaves!
March 13, 2008 - 08:08 ET by ChrisMillsWhen first she practiced to deceive.
I'm glad someone is exposing her "experience" as nothing more than a vivid imagination and such a low opinion of members of her own party that they would buy into her lies forever.
Singer said, "The sad
March 13, 2008 - 07:48 ET by motherbeltSinger said, "The sad reality of what was going on in Bosnia at the
time Senator Clinton traveled there as first lady has been well
documented. It appears that Sinbad's experience in Bosnia goes back
further than Senator Obama's does. In fact, has Senator Obama ever been
to Bosnia?" (emphasis added)
Good Grief! Is there nothing that they can't turn into a slap at their opponent?
And you know, I'll bet they think they are oh-so-clever by doing this.
They just sound desperate and pathetic.
sinbad for veep
March 13, 2008 - 07:57 ET by mom_roxand Sheryl Crow for Sec. of State.
Singer tried to spin Sinbad's quote from 2000 that the situation was "so tense". But Sinbad was referring to the situation in the country being tense, not their personal security being in danger.
This is so ripe for an SNL parody. Oh, 'nevermind'.
A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw, 1944
side note
March 13, 2008 - 07:56 ET by AgnosticWhy does it seem, to me at least, when visitors talked about their experiences in Bosnia the phrase, "worse than I imagined", or some variation tends to appear frequently but when people come back from Iraq they are frequently encouraged because things don't seems as bad as they thought?
Crowe for Sec of State?
March 13, 2008 - 08:55 ET by theduck6The same Cheryl Crowe that said I love an audience of soldiers (p) when she was in Bosnia entertaining and yet when a republican President was essentially doing the same work in a far worse spot on the globe is suddenly anti-war? Let's reconsider that nomination shall we?
Sibad? That is one funny dude...and generally not filthy. THAT takes talent. Not sue of his leanings and that is another plus in my book.
have passport, will travel
March 13, 2008 - 09:53 ET by mom_roxObviously I didn't make my comment clear that I was using the Hillary Clinton-dictated résumé requirement of foreign travel for executive office. I'm certain that Sheryl Crow has traveled to many foreign countries while on tour; therefore has 'foreign policy' experience. The Clinton campaign's twisted spins/machinations would earn a gold medal in the summer olympics.
A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw, 1944
Sinbad said......
March 13, 2008 - 08:00 ET by OldSailor88"What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you."
I got a particularly good chuckle out of this line. My thought.....
If there is any husband/President on earth that would think that, it would be Billy Jeff Clinton.
Stultus est sicut stultus facit
I laughed at that too...
March 13, 2008 - 08:19 ET by heldmywThen I thought, "Hey, it's Hillary, Sinbad and Cheryl Crow we're talkin' about".
Maybe Bill was trying to, ah, you know...
Dangerous!!1
March 13, 2008 - 13:16 ET by docbSomething is wrong with the relationship -when it is too dangerous for willie but he sends his wife and DAUGHTER... or maybe it is just something wrong with the "EXPERIENCE"
But we knew that already That..
years ago I saw Sinbad on
March 13, 2008 - 08:53 ET by seaniepyears ago I saw Sinbad on Letterman or Leno, can't recall . . . anyway, he was plugging a new movie that he was in, and he said something to the effect of "you always hear about how hard it is for actors to make these movies, well I worked for 3 months and got paid 6 million dollars! that seems like a pretty easy job to me!! hell, I'll make 2 movies a year for that, six months of work and 12 million bucks?!?!?!?"
I always respected him for saying that, he is something of a realist, may not know all his politics but you gotta love his honesty
I love it. This is a
March 13, 2008 - 08:59 ET by danboI love it. This is a circus.
Pass the popcorn.
"There is a clear attempt to establish truth not by scientific methods but by perpetual repetition."
- Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology, MIT
I've always said Sinbad's
March 13, 2008 - 09:15 ET by balboaI've always said Sinbad's analysis of foreign policy is light years ahead of Carrot Top's plan to revamp social security.
I was there
March 13, 2008 - 10:20 ET by jbeeebSinbad is absolutely right in his assessment. I was on the ground at the time. In fact, unlike most US forces, I was actually lodged on the "dangerous" Serb side. Sinbad was the only person of the trip that made it to us, flying in for a quick ad-lib show before a handful of us on a hillside. Hillary never made it off Tuzla airbase I don't believe.
We didn't know what to expect from day to day, but there were certainly more dangerous places to be. I heard two gunshots the whole time I was there, one when my tentmate accidentally discharged his weapon, and the other in celebration when US forces left Srebrenica after their first trip there. I would venture that when the infamous picture of Obama in traditional robes was taken, Obama may have been in more danger that Hillary was in Bosnia. Sure the Serbs and Bosniaks didn't like each other, but my sense at the time was that in many ways they were tired of fighting and were happy we were there so they could get back to normal, at the same time "save face" by saying they were forced to back down.
The goofy thing is, when Hillary brings up her Bosnia experience is pales against McCain.
BTW, to show how dangerous it was....US troops who served in Bosnia are not authorized to wear a "combat patch" for their time there.
Hillary's experienced and
March 13, 2008 - 12:41 ET by Chris NormanHillary's experienced and ready, in case that 3:00 AM call is an invitation to a tea or an elephant ride!
Sigh
March 13, 2008 - 13:32 ET by Roger the ShrubberOnce again, trumped by the award-winning Shrub Report®
(pats own back)
9/11
March 13, 2008 - 15:01 ET by okiehawk44Does anyone else remember Hillary's completely and knowingly false story about Chelsea's experiences during the horrors of 9/11? Didn't Hillary try to spin a linkage to the attack for her daughter? She had Chelsea jogging around the Trade Center down by the Battery and then Chelsea admits she was asleep in her apartment miles away. Hillary cannot and will never be able to tell the truth about herself or anyone else -- HILLARY CLINTON IS A PATHOLOGIC LIAR! She even lied about how she got her name.