Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. (photo: The Atlantic)
27 September 15
ne
of the benefits of a presidential campaign is the character and
capability, judgment and temperament of every single one of us is
revealed over time and under pressure.” Since presidential hopeful Carly
Fiorina made that comment at the start of the second Republican debate,
there have been some telling revelations about her character and her
judgment. Caught making a false claim, she couldn’t just admit she made a
mistake but instead doubled down and worsened the falsehood.Arguing during the Sept. 16 GOP debate to defund Planned Parenthood, Ms. Fiorina offered this description of a disturbing scene that was supposedly captured on controversial undercover videos of the organization: “Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.” No such scene exists, as even some of her defenders have had to admit. Ms. Fiorina was challenged by Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace to acknowledge “what every fact checker has found”: that the scene was only described by someone who claimed to have witnessed it but was not shown in the video.
Ms. Fiorina could have acknowledged her error while
maintaining, fairly, that the tapes contain other disturbing images and
language and while affirming her objections to Planned Parenthood.
Instead she insisted: “No, I don’t accept that at all. I’ve seen the
footage.” She went on the attack against the mainstream media, and her
supporters concocted a video that splices video and audio from different places in an effort to buttress her claims. Most deceptive in the CARLY for America video is use of an image (also used in the videos
produced by the Center for Medical Progress) of a fetus born
prematurely, not aborted, at 19 weeks of development. The premature
birth by a Pennsylvania woman
had no connection to Planned Parenthood or to abortion. That, though,
didn’t stop Ms. Fiorina’s supporters from using it — with the voice-over
and caption of “Here’s a stomach, heart, kidney, and adrenal” — to
support specious allegations of Planned Parenthood selling fetal tissue
for profit.
Ms. Fiorina may have deeply felt objections to
abortion. That doesn’t excuse her use of mistruths to justify her
willingness to shut down the government, which by the way she seems to
consider no big deal. “I’m not aware of any hardship to anyone, other
than the veterans trying to get to the World War II memorial,” she said of the last shutdown. When it comes to character and capability, that kind of blithe ignorance is another worrying sign.
Comments
+42
#
2015-09-27 21:54
You don't suppose
that she lives in a priveledged world which never feels any negative
results of anything. So her fears are all mythic and therefore not tied
to reality.
+8
#
2015-09-27 21:59
As a voter who would
love the opportunity to vote for a woman for president I am beside
myself that we are presented his year with two candidates: one who lies
and then tries to extend it rather than admit her lying and another, a
democrat, who lies about her use of improper email servers, that is
about as nice as I can say it, while she was Secretary of State Where is
Bella now that we need a woman of integrity to run for president.
+31
#
2015-09-28 00:01
AS a disabled Viet Nam vet relying on my comp and SS to pay my mortgage and bills, I say farina can go to hell!
+27
#
2015-09-28 00:16
Well, she cut her own throat (twice)...When is she going to lie down and bleed out?
