Scrambling to cover an opinion
a SUIT column by Chris Jungle

Rule #1 about politics is never blurt out an opinion without conferring with at least four aides and two constituents. After such a conference, it would still be a good idea to let someone else write the speeches. Hillary Rodham Clinton made the age-old mistake of saying exactly what she thought to an Israeli student. She said it would probably be a good idea in the long run if Palestine had its own state.

The gasps! The horrors! Did she say that out loud? The White House scrambled quickly to recover, saying her comment was of personal opinion and did not reflect the President's view on the situation. To be even more accurate, they should have said it did not reflect the Presidential Official Seal of Approval.

The comment ticked off (surprise surprise) a lot of Israelis, but to the rest of us, it was just someone saying exactly what they thought. I don't know how long it took me to figure out the Palestinians were without a country. There's a lot of the country that was as ignorant to the situation as I used to be. Personally, I think every group of people who can't get along with the folks in power should be given a little plot of land. That includes the Palestinians, the Kurds, and the Christian Coalition.

Enough of my beliefs on the subject, for I am a mere columnist. The important issue is that the First Lady isn't allowed to say what she thinks. Whether you think she's a witch or a Godsend, Hillary Clinton should be able to say what she thinks. I know we're not used to our First Ladies having an opinion on world issues, but the one we have now is a lawyer. If nothing else, lawyers have opinions on bunches of stuff.

So Mrs. Clinton said an unpopular opinion to some about a world issue. So what? Most of the world thinks the United States has the wrong idea about Cuba. And China. You don't really want me to bring up China again and again, do you?

It's not like the First Lady is writing a book called "Everything Will Be Fine In Palestine," or going to hold a town meeting discussing what should be done with all the Middle East mess. She had an opinion. A thought. A view on the subject. Does it merit the big scramble by the White House staff, or is the White House staff just used to being in scramble mode nowadays?

What exactly do they want her to do? Take it back? Maybe they should have her come out and say "You know when I had that thought about the Palestinians having their own pad? I've conferred with several top officials on the subject and would now like to say my formal position on the matter is 'no comment.'"

I'm not saying everything that comes out of Hillary Clinton's mouth is gold, but people should allow her to say what she thinks. Reggie White gets to say what he thinks, the Unabomber got his thoughts published in Newsweek, and someone brings up a new paradigm shift on Crossfire every week.

If it seems like I'm avoiding my thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian debate, I'm not. It's just that I don't have any good answers. These people hate each other. Right or wrong, they hate each other to the point where they will throw rocks, plant car bombs, and assassinate each other's leaders. I wish they could play a winner-take-West Bank soccer match, but it's not going to happen. Even if Palestine became more than a word to express a nation that doesn't exist, these two sides would hate each other.

Hillary thinks they should each have their own separate playgrounds. Is that such a bad idea to express? It may not be the right idea, but it's becoming more and more clear that there is no correct answer to this question. So much for all of those SAT questions on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The whole point to this is the First Lady should be able to say what she wants. I listened to Nancy Reagan tell me to Say No to Drugs and Barbara Bush talk about her dog. Both ideas were much more detached from reality, but I had no complaints. Right, wrong, or just plain absurd, these women had something to say, and they said it. I really don't see what the big scramble is all about.

Chris Jungle has been screaming "This is my only view of the world!" at all hours of the day to the world map tacked to his wall.

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