Milbank: From Clinton's seat at SOTU, "[s]he could have inserted the knife [into Obama] without even being detected"

On the January 24 broadcast of National Public Radio's Morning Edition, discussing members of Congress running or considering a run for president in 2008 who were in the audience for President Bush's State of the Union address, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank asserted: "Hillary Clinton was situated immediately behind Barack Obama, making it easier for her to actually place the knife into his back, if that's what she was trying to do." Later, on the January 24 edition of MSNBC News Live, Milbank repeated his line to host Chris Jansing. Jansing opined: "I don't think [director] Martin Scorsese could have staged this one better, Senator Clinton sitting right behind Senator Obama during the State of the Union." Milbank called Clinton's seat "a perfect spot" and stated: "She could have inserted the knife right there without even being detected."

On January 19, CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck discussed a baseless allegation by InsightMag.com that the Clinton campaign had falsely alleged that Obama was educated at a madrassa. In reference to that accusation about Clinton, Beck stated that if "you hear a strange grinding noise coming from the Clinton estate, it could be Hillary Clinton sharpening her knives in the basement."

From the January 24 edition of NPR's Morning Edition:

RENÉE MONTAGNE (co-host): And, of course, Nancy Pelosi [D-CA], as speaker [of the House], may be one of the few Democrats not running for president, who --

MILBANK: That's true. By my count, there were 10 in the chamber there. And, in fact, [Sen.] Hillary Clinton [D-NY] was situated immediately behind [Sen.] Barack Obama [D-IL], making it easier for her to actually place the knife into his back, if that's what she was trying to do. [Sen.] John Kerry [D-MA] a few rows up, [Sens.] Chris Dodd [D-CT] and Joe Biden [D-DE] a few seats down. Then, on the other side, you had [Sens.] Chuck Hagel [R-NE] and John McCain [R-AZ] and Sam Brownback [R-KS]. You know, people watching their every fidget. You know, the only time you could definitely count on them all being very enthusiastic in their applause was when Bush mentioned ethanol, which, of course, plays well in the Iowa caucuses.

From the 11 a.m. ET hour of the January 24 edition of MSNBC News Live:

JANSING: I don't think Martin Scorsese could have staged this one better, Senator Clinton sitting right behind Senator Obama during the State of the Union. Did they ever even talk to each other?

MILBANK: I don't think so. Obama was sort of looking down at his speech, and the former first lady was sort of starring off in the distance, as if daydreaming. But it really was a perfect spot. She could have inserted the knife right there without even being detected. She might have been seen --

JANSING: Not that we're suggesting anything.

MILBANK: She might have been seen by Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, who were just four and six seats down from her in the same row, who are also running for president. And then there was John Kerry up front, sort of lounging in his chair, dangling his toe impatiently, and gripping the handrest to prevent applause.

—A.I.