Queen Hillary Leaves Jet Passengers in Holding Pattern

NewsMax.com 8/08/03 Carl Limbacher

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton seems to be following in her husband's footsteps in more ways than one, even holding up commercial air traffic when it suits her schedule.

Back in 1993, America got its first dose of the Clintons' royal pretensions, when newly minted President Bill Clinton held up air traffic at Los Angeles International Airport for two hours while he sat on Air Force One getting a $200 haircut from chi-chi stylist Cristophe.

Now comes word that Hillary caused a similar delay at New York's JFK airport, with the New York Post reporting that American Airlines kept a plane full of passengers on the ground because her highness couldn't manage to make it to the airport on time.

"The flight out of JFK the other night sat on the tarmac without explanation until an hour and a half after the scheduled departure time," the paper's Page Six reports. "A few people in first class found out the reason for the delay when an unapologetic Hillary Clinton and her entourage of flunkies and bodyguards hurried onto the plane so she could make it to a book signing for 'Living History.'"

A spokesman for American Airlines denied that her former first-ladyship was responsible for the flight's delay. But the episode isn't the first time Mrs. Clinton has reportedly demanded the royal treatment while flying.

"I was on the New York shuttle a couple of weeks ago, and I saw something interesting," MSNBC "Hardball" Chris Matthews revealed in July 2001.

"Hillary Clinton [was] up in that little bankhead - [the] bulkhead seat they reserve for VIPs in the corner, nobody around her; Secret Service guys all around with those little earphones and one large guy, rather embarrassed, rather sheepish, walking along with his own earphones carrying her bags."

Somewhat agitated at the idea of Mrs. Clinton turning the lifesaving federal agents into her own personal Redcaps, Matthews exclaimed, "Who in the Senate gets a Sherpa to carry their bags for them?"

"I've never heard of a senator getting a bag carrier. Who pays for the airfare for this guy? Who pays for his lifestyle? Who pays his salary to walk around carrying her bags, so she can walk around light-handed, with nothing in her hands?"

"I think next time you're on the shuttle," Matthews told his guest, Gail Sheehy, "you'll see this show. It looks like - you talk about Queen Elizabeth, this looks pretty regal."