A couple of weeks ago, the comedian Sinbad, a Barack Obama supporter, took a swipe at Hillary Clinton, noting that he and Sheryl Crow were with her on the 1996 Bosnia trip she's been touting as a central element of her foreign policy experience, and claiming it was neither as important nor as harrowing as she's described it. Now, Clinton swiped back at Sinbad, pointing out that "He's a comedian, you know"--and, as such, presumably not someone to take too seriously.
I'll go even further than Clinton, noting that Sinbad is a bad comedian. But if we're not supposed to take Sinbad seriously, how seriously can we take a Bosnia "mission" in which he was one of the key participants? As Sinbad himself put it, "What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.' "
(Bonus quote from contemperaneous coverage of the Bosnia visit: "Another soldier said he thought that it was all right for Mrs. Clinton to visit, but 'everyone really wants to see Sheryl Crow and Sinbad.' ")
--Christopher Orr