Hillary Clinton would like all of you to know that she was not trying to attack the President in a recent interview in which she called his decisions in Syria a "failure." Oh, well alright then. Wait....

Courtesy of Politico:  

Hillary Clinton called President Barack Obama on Tuesday to “make sure he knows that nothing she said was an attempt to attack him” when she recently discussed her views on foreign policy in an interview with The Atlantic, according to a statement from a Clinton spokesman. 

The statement comes amid tension between the Clinton and Obama camps in the wake of the interview. It also comes as Obama and Clinton, his former secretary of state, are due to cross paths at a social gathering Wednesday night in Martha’s Vineyard. 

In the interview, Clinton dismissed the Obama administration’s self-described foreign policy principle of “Don’t do stupid stuff.” And while she also praised Obama several times, Clinton nonetheless called his decision not to assist Syrian rebels early on a “failure.” 

Yeah come on! How can telling reporters that you knew the right thing to do all along, implying that the President's choices were poorly thought out, and calling the result a failure, EVER be construed as an attack?

Here is the statement from her spokesperson:  

Secretary Clinton was proud to serve with President Obama, she was proud to be his partner in the project of restoring American leadership and advancing America’s interests and values in a fast changing world,” said the statement, shared with POLITICO. “She continues to share his deep commitment to a smart and principled foreign policy that uses all the tools at our disposal to achieve our goals. Earlier today, the secretary called President Obama to make sure he knows that nothing she said was an attempt to attack him, his policies, or his leadership. 

It continued: “Secretary Clinton has at every step of the way touted the significant achievements of his presidency, which she is honored to have been part of as his secretary of state. While they’ve had honest differences on some issues, including aspects of the wicked challenge Syria presents, she has explained those differences in her book and at many points since then. Some are now choosing to hype those differences but they do not eclipse their broad agreement on most issues. Like any two friends who have to deal with the public eye, she looks forward to hugging it out when ... they see each other tomorrow night.” 

Yes well before that hug I suggest that the Secret Service pat her down for any knives she might have in her possession that might end up in our President's back.

One has to wonder if Hillary actually did not realize the impact her words would have, or is simply backtracking after being called out by people whose support she might need in her campaign?

For instance:

Just to clarify: "Don't do stupid stuff" means stuff like occupying Iraq in the first place, which was a tragically bad decision.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 12, 2014

Like I said I am still going to support Hillary in 2016, because we need to hang on to the White House.

But I would really appreciate it if Hillary could allow me to mark my ballot without having to hold my nose while doing so.