Let’s take a break from the Donald Trump blather.
I want to discuss Carly Fiorina, who I thought killed it at the GOP “undercard” debate Thursday night. My hope is that the former business mogul makes it to the A Team roster at the next Republican debate.
But she said something that’s worth exploring. She has called Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton a “liar.” She said Clinton has lied about what she knew at the time of the Benghazi attack in September 2012; she has lied about the email matter.
I was reminded a bit by a scene from one of my favorite films, “The Cowboys,” starring John Wayne.
In the scene, Wayne’s character crosses paths with a gang of cattle rustlers led by Bruce Dern, who tried to persuade The Duke that he and his men are experienced at driving cattle, which is what Wayne did with a bunch of youngsters. He tells Wayne that he worked with this and that rancher. But Wayne knows better and confronts Dern, telling him that one of the men he claimed to work for had died years earlier.
Dern then tries to back away from his false claim, telling Wayne that he had just gotten out of jail and was trying to turn his life around. “I don’t care about that,” Wayne tells him, “but what I can’t stand is a liar.”
He tells Dern and his men to beat it.
Calling someone a liar is about as serious as it gets. It speaks to the character of the individual who receives the accusation.
It can be hurtful if the individual who gets pegged as such believes he or she has been truthful. It’s no fun being hit with that term and believe me, I know how it can raise the hackles of those who receive the label.
I cannot predict how Carly Fiorina’s intensely personal attack on Hillary Clinton is going to play out. That was only one of the things she said during the debate this past week. I thought on the whole she acquitted herself very well and likely has risen to the front rank of GOP candidates.
And as John Heilmann said this morning on ABC News’s “This Week” talk show, given the talk about Trump and his recent statements about Megyn Kelly and all the attention that has come to him regading his views on women in general, it would be wise indeed to ensure that Fiorina is included in the next found of first team debaters.
As for the “liar” accusation, someone will need to press Fiorina on specific evidence she has that Clinton lied about Benghazi or the email controversy. This shouldn’t be the kind of accusation that gets flung out there without proof.
Perhaps she’ll do better at answering that question than Trump did when he was asked Thursday night to provide credible evidence that Mexico’s government is “sending” criminals into the United States.
