At the beginning of the presidential campaign–before it, really–I wanted Barack Obama to get the nomination. I freely admit it. His convention speech sealed it, but I had bought in before he ever took the stage in Boston (I’m from Illinois, so I was paying attention to the Senate primary campaign). Back then I had moderately positive feelings for Hillary Clinton. I thought maybe she’d be a fine Majority Leader in the Senate. As the campaign heated up, however, my feelings for Hillary quickly turned to disdain. At points I just couldn’t stand her, and then I just couldn’t stand her all of the time. Her campaign was–yes, I’ve moved over to past tense. It’s over, she’s toast. The MSM has finally pulled its collective thumb out of its collective ass and admitted it’s over–just so deceitful and hubristic and classless. I felt like she was behind some curtain moving a dial notch by notch, carefully calibrating her campaign’s noxious bluster. Let’s just say I no longer think very highly of Hillary. And I find it uncomfortable. I didn’t set out to feel this way. So I’m trying to suppress my glee at her demise. I’m trying to rise above and not give into a happy dance on her grave.

Yet allow me to demonstrate how she’s closing with a pfft. It’s of her own doing, but there you go. I’ve written about Hillary’s “Balkan adventure” a couple times (here and here). Now the Washington Post (and others) has examined the documentary evidence to refute Hillary’s claims of “sniper fire” and other imminent threats of a deadly variety. Sort of like JFK on PT 109, but not. There’s video, there’s pictures, there’s a verdict: “simply not credible.” A joke at her expense (by hilzoy), with plenty more to come:

Now, however, there is video of Clinton running with her head down through the hail of bullets. Except for, um, the running part, and the bullets part, and the part about the greeting ceremony being cancelled.

The problem here is she lied. She didn’t have to say all that nonsense about the sniper fire.

But maybe she didn’t lie. Here’s what I think might have happened: The military guys played it up for Hillary and her crew, made it all seem dangerous, exciting, a good show. Maybe an inside joke at her expense. Lissa Muscatine, who served as Hilary Clinton’s chief speechwriter in 1996, talks of the aerial capabilities of the plane they flew in on:

We were put on a C17– a plane capable of steep ascents and descents — precisely because we were flying into what was considered a combat zone.

In the video below Hillary also notes the technical capabilities of the C17. We’ve established the assembled travelers were told of the magic possibilities of the C17. What else?

We were issued flak jackets for the final leg because of possible sniper fire near Tuzla.

Intrepid First Lady and staff given flak jackets. I imagine the Secret Service is plenty conservative about such matters, as well they should be. But let’s imagine the person handing out the flak jackets did so with a certain urgent flair, even drama.

As an additional precaution, the First Lady and Chelsea were moved to the armored cockpit for the descent into Tuzla.

Armored cockpit. Just sounds dangerous.

Hurry! To the armored cockpit! Down periscope!

I’m not without sympathy.