In one of the more awkward backpedals performed to date in this campaign, Hillary Clinton has been forced to admit she fudged somewhat when she said she remembered landing "under sniper fire" during a 1996 Bosnia trip. Well, that's perfectly understandable — sniper fire is so easily misinterpreted after all. "I have written about this and described in many different settings, and I did misspeak the other day,” Clinton told a Pittsburgh radio station yesterday, explaining with an overly hearty chuckle that it had "been a very long campaign. Occasionally, I am a human being like everyone else." The rest of the time she is, what, an automaton? Then to underline the point that she is not at all prone to irresponsible hyperbole, she said, "Last week, for the first time in twelve years or so, I misspoke." Hmm! To which time in particular might she be referring, last week's remarks in Washington, D.C., or the first time she mentioned the phantom snipers at a February 29 speech in Waco, Texas? It's so difficult to keep track of these things. When will candidates learn that the cover-up is nearly always more damaging than the scandal that prompted it? —Maggie Shnayerson