CBS Snarks At Hillary For Not Cackling
October 13, 2007 -- 8:11 AM EST // //

The anti-Hillary inanity is really out in force these days. Take a look at this headline, courtesy of CBS News:

Cackle-Free Clinton Faces Olbermann

The piece is about Hillary's appearance on Olbermann the other night. Please tell me CBS didn't say this about it:

During the twelve-minute interview, the former first lady chuckled in response to Olbermann. But she never unleashed the highly-scrutinized, overly-analyzed belly laugh known as "the cackle" that has been the focus of national media over the past few weeks. Which raises the question: Has the tightly-managed Clinton campaign put the kibosh on the cackle?

I really don't care if this is meant as a joke. It's self-parody. We've come full circle: Damned if you do cackle; damned if you don't.

Do Hillary's advisers really tell her how and when to laugh? Here's another explanation: Sometimes people laugh. Sometimes they don't. It generally turns on whether they think something is funny or not or on what kind of mood they're in. Could that possibly be what happened here, too?

Naah. Impossible.

On a separate note, Slate's John Dickerson has a very good analysis of yesterday's Hillary flip-flop that wasn't. His conclusion: No flip-flop.

Note: The comments section is temporarily disabled. My email: greg@talkingpointsmemo.com.

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