John Spencer is an a... -- no, I won't dignify his comments ... even with an insult!

While Hillary Clinton was helping a fellow Democrat out at a fund-raiser this past weekend, John Spencer, her opponent for the New York Senate seat, was sitting on an airplane with a reporter making such comments as:

Spencer: "She's getting ugly! [referring to Hillary]

Spencer: "You ever see a picture of her back then? [referring to a high school picture of Hillary] I don't know why Bill married her!"

Spencer: (Noting that she looks different now ...) "Chalk that up to millions of dollars worth of work! (with a laugh)

Ms. Clinton was polite in her responses, saying, among other things that "My high school picture was cute!" And she certainly didn't comment on Mr. Spencer's looks -- I won't even post a picture of the son of a ... [Stop!]

Hillary Clinton was the first First Lady who held an advanced degree, among other things, and her beauty never shined more brilliantly than when she showed both dignity and humility during Bill's ugly affair in the late 1990s. I remember the concern in her voice and in her facial features while she fought (unsuccessfully) for health care reform during Bill Clinton's first term and I remember the disdain that was returned to her by the pharmaceutical and insurance executives and their lawyers during the hearings. Some of the TV commentators (and talk show types like Rush Limbaugh) were actually scornful. And yes, she was quite "beautiful" through it all.

Mr. Spencer, who is miles behind Hillary in the current Senate race, probably also forgot her being featured in Vogue (below).



Or that she was sculpted by Daniel Edwards in an evening gown for a prominent display only this past summer ...



I guess I am getting old, but I was never prouder of nor recall a more beautiful Hillary than when she visited the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq a few years back. And although she will turn 59 on the day after tomorrow, she will make a very lovely and (frankly) stunning president should she be the ultimate choice of the American people.



A very beautiful and concerned US Senator Hillary Clinton receives a tour through the barracks of the 2nd Battalion 2nd Airborne Division in Baghdad

To Hillary, the numbers coming back from Iraq this month are not simply numbers to be shoved into the "course" we are "staying," but wonderful and brave young men who are giving their everything for a cause that is questionable at best.