I really don’t see what the I really don't see what the fuss is about Hillary Clinton's new ad that features—very briefly and as part of a larger montage of images—a brief shot of Osama bin Laden. So what? It’s not like the guy who masterminded the September 11 attacks and is still at-large is not an issue. He is. We should be trying to capture or kill him. Terrorist threats won’t end on January 20.
The ad's use of bin Laden's image was neither gratuitous nor scare-mongering. The music wasn't menacing. In fact, the first time they ran it on CNN, after some television pundit promised a controversial new ad, I actually thought the producers queued up the wrong spot. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, other than perhaps that, after six weeks of trying to find new and fresh angles to cover this interminable Pennsylvania primary (and you thought the run-up to Iowa and New Hampshire was bad!) non-controversies must somehow be elevated to controversies.
If there is anything controversial about the ad, it's Clinton's invocation of Harry Truman's famed “can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” line. This, from the candidate who voted reacted to President Bush's pressure to invade Iraq by voting to give him the authority to do so, and has bristled at taking the heat for it ever since.
--Tom Schaller
