Now comes the next test for Hillary Clinton’s inevitability as the Democrats’ nominee. During an appearance on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show (and really… where else would it be) Hillary got into a conversation with the host about the VA scandal. That should be a fairly easy one to handle, right? You condemn the awful, systemic failures of the agency, critique the “fixes” put in place thus far, suggest what else you would do to take care of our wounded warriors and move on.

But in Maddow World, nothing is every that simple. She quickly trapped Clinton into blowing the entire scandal off as not that big of a deal. (The Hill)

Democratic primary front-runner Hillary Clinton says the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) scandal is not as “widespread” a problem as coverage of the incident would indicate… The former first lady blamed Republicans for using the issue as part of an “ideological agenda” and said they want the VA to “fail.” “Now nobody would believe that from the coverage you see, and the constant berating of the VA that comes from the Republicans, in – in part in pursuit of this ideological agenda that they have,” Clinton said. “They try to create a downward spiral, don’t fund it to the extent that it needs to be funded, because they want it to fail, so then we can argue for privatization.” Senate Democrats blocked a bill to fund the VA earlier this month in order to negotiate a larger budget deal. Clinton said veterans often report having a positive experience with the VA when they get treatment through the agency.

Assuming you can stand it, here’s the video of that portion of the interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThjnJYN_JIM

How will veterans, their families and all of the people who support them react to this? Does Hillary ever watch the news? I wonder if she was aware that the government already admitted that there were nearly 60,000 veterans kept on secret waiting lists for months at a time so that the agency’s clearance rates could look better on paper.

But this was all some sort of conspiracy on the part of her “enemies” in the GOP. Like when CNN reported that a staggering number of veterans had literally died while waiting for an appointment. But we all know that CNN is a biased, Right wing outlet of the conservative cause, right? Or when the Washington Post reported that dozens of our vets had died at a single Arizona clinic because they couldn’t get in to see a doctor. Oh, that WaPo… they’re just part of the larger Fox News empire. And the fact that as recently as this week it was reported that tens of thousands of veterans are facing wait times which are still increasing rather than decreasing? I’m sure that’s all just an exaggeration.

But in the world of Hillary and Rachel Maddow it’s all a sneaky plot to make somebody look bad… but who? Hillary was in charge of the State Department. They have nothing to do with the VA. Who was she even trying to defend in this incoherent interview? But not to worry, Secretary Clinton. I’m sure this won’t block your path to the nomination. Nobody who watches Maddow’s show with any regularity is going to care.