The American people have once again been sandbagged by one of the Clinton clan. Unfortunately, this time it involves the United States of State, Justice, and the FBI.
There have been many sandbagging and legal deflections during the nearly 30-year political machinations of Hillary and Bill Clinton. As we move further into the 21st Century it is bewildering that Hillary Clinton even remains relevant to the issues and challenges of the United States today. Bill’s administration has been over with for more a decade while Hillary has continued exhibiting her unbridled political ambition for years.
Beginning with the reign of the Clintons in Arkansas, nefarious, slippery activities have dogged their rise to national power. Scandals like Whitewater, commodity trading, and Filegate have been left in their wake. Let alone the moral issues of Bill Clinton in the White House. In all of these activities, the Clintons have gamed the
American judicial and oversight systems to create a safe zone for their activities while both skirting and ignoring federal and state law. The sordid political past of the Clintons should be relegated to the dustbin of history, not wasting time in the 2016 presidential election. Sandbagging should be used only in natural floods, not as a political tool for calculating politicians.
The latest sandbagging by Hillary Clinton has involved the continual drip of information concerning the emails misused by Hillary as Secretary of State. Her appointment as Secretary of State was a political payoff by the Obama administration. What a deal! When did being First Lady substantially qualify any politician to be the top diplomat in the nation? Touring foreign historical sites and having crumpets and tea with foreign dignitaries does not prepare one for handling foreign issues and conflicts. The realities in Syria, Iraq, and Crimea are just a sampling of the places and issues facing the United States. Here again, Clinton and the administration for which she worked have sandbagged and procrastinated. The lack of a clear policy and definable goals have created one crisis after another. After somewhat stabilizing Iraq, the precipitous withdrawal caused a total area of chaos. Now work must begin again to retake ground lost and review the endgame of a political structure that works for all the people of Iraq. Perhaps the current Iraqi nation may take new forms and shapes as ISIS is defeated and diminished.
The 2016 presidential election is perhaps the most unexpected and unconventional in American political history. One party has nominated a total political surprise who has ignited a national movement. The other party expected a coronation and got a horse race when they nominated a same old same old candidate who has adopted many of the positions of an avowed socialist. This fact, coupled with the basic components of the Democratic platform, is not an effective prescription for the ills of the United States.
Hillary Clinton has been influencing national and international events and issues for years. Her record is far from sterling. From the middle class to the Middle East, she has advocated positions that have not worked. These failures should be front and center in this year’s presidential election.
She is a skilled and polished politician. She can be a street brawler. So too can be her opponent.
In 2016, while hard knock politics will definitely be part of the presidential campaign, national and international issues are paramount. The list is long and the issues critical. New campaign techniques, including social media, will also impact this election. With many new voters casting ballots this year, many have no memory of previous events involving both presidential candidates. More pertinent are issues involving our economy, national security, and the crime engulfing American cities.
It seems that Hillary may have sandbagged America yet again. The email investigation appears stopped at the federal level, involving the Department of Justice and the FBI: especially by a politicized Department of Justice, where the decision to not indict the Democratic presidential candidate was made earlier in this political season.
For many Americans, deciding for whom to cast a vote this year is of special concern. As well it should be.
However, being sandbagged once again does not exude confidence and positively provide information for making educated decisions.
Steve Payne says
The agreement to withdraw from Iraq, including the withdrawal date was agreed to by president Bush. President Obama continued to negotiate with Iraq to leave some troops longer also failed due to Iraqs insistence that they withdraw.
https://www.factcheck.org/2015/08/bush-clinton-play-blame-game-in-iraq/
The decision to not prosecute Clinton was made by the FBI and the Justice Dept simply acceptd their recommendation . It was described in depth at a congressional hearing.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?412315-1/fbi-director-james-comey-testifies-hillary-clinton-email-probe
James Nick says
It has been said that in the course of political campaigns, Democrats tend to fall in love with their nominees while Republicans are expected to fall in line with theirs. Immediately following his ascendancy as the Republican standard-bearer, Mr Hall tacitly acknowledged trump’s unworthiness for the office by posting several Op-Eds in this forum expressing his exasperation over trump’s nomination and the conundrum he poses for loyal Republicans. But just like Ted Cruz who swallowed his pride along with his personal dignity, it looks like Mr Hall has also caved in and fallen in line behind trump. No surprise there.
But as more and more revelations come to light as this campaign drags on, it’s looking like Mr Hall’s intuition and wariness were well founded. Everyday trump is being reveled for the con man he is. He a self-absorbed, morally- and ethically-challenged, pied piper that has left a trail of sexual harassment, shady business practices, illegal trading with Cuba, fraud, and political bribery in his wake.
trump’s business practices routinely involved stealing money from his subcontractors by refusing to pay for their earnest work at his construction sites. He cheated thousands of people out of money they could ill afford with fraudulent claims and unethical pressure tactics at his fake trump University and then bribed the Attorney General of Florida to drop her investigation into his scheme. He prides himself in his ability to use other people’s money laundered through his unregistered charitable foundation to illegally pay for his own business expenses and losses. And as all business leaders have a fiduciary responsibility to their companies not to pay more taxes than necessary, unlike trump, they also have a fiduciary responsibility not to make disastrous business decisions that lead to losses of billions of dollars in the first place. Yet trump brazenly frames his losses as a “win” because just like Leona Helmsley, “The Queen of Mean”, he used the system to insure that “only the little people pay taxes”.
In short, trump has a documented record of being a social parasite preying off other peoples’ sense of honest expectations and ethics. In trump’s world, we are all gullible marks in his confidence game. Anyone voting for trump should really be thinking what sort of president Mike Pence will make because, should the Republican ticket win, these shenanigans will inevitably catch up to trump and impeachment will be unavoidable.
In contrast, Hillary Clinton may be the most qualified person to ever seek the presidency. Her credentials and sense of social responsibility are well known. While trump was honing his skills as an budding grifter, Mrs Clinton, used her legal training to co-found an organization to advocate for children and families before joining another organization that provided legal services to the poor and disadvantaged. She was the first woman to be twice elected as a US Senator after being the First Lady of the United States and served for four years as Secretary of State. She has accumulated a lifetime of experience and expertise. As Mr Hall correctly notes, she is a skilled and polished politician. She will serve this country well.
Mrs Clinton is also perhaps the most vetted presidential candidate ever. Investigation after investigation by her most rabid political enemies have repeatedly failed to uncover any evidence of malfeasance or result in any indictments. The aftermath of the Benghazi affair is exhibit A for these incessant investigations into Hillary Clinton that have become a cottage industry in Congress. The congressional Benghazi investigations alone lasted longer than the investigations into the assassination of JFK or the 9/11 attacks. Seven million dollars, 10 separate committees, 33 hearings, and 13 reports later and the consistent conclusion: there was zero evidence that Mrs Clinton issued a stand down order, zero evidence that there was an intelligence failure, and zero evidence that there was any administrative wrongdoing. After such thorough vetting one can only conclude that the Benghazi investigation, like all the other investigations into the fill-in-the-blank scandals by Hillary Clinton, are nothing more than political witch hunts chasing mirages of Republican fever dreams – baseless conspiracy theories designed only to agitate the base and drive fund raising. And if Mrs Clinton should prevail in November, all these rumors, baseless conspiracy theories, and investigations are intended to lay the groundwork to try to delegitimize her and her administration in order to justify continue Republican gridlock and obstruction.
Joan Berwick says
Well said!
Gren Whitman says
Given that it’s an otherwise broadly enlightened e-publication, the Chestertown Spy puzzles this reader by continuing to include all-too-frequently yet another incoherent and pointless political and social “analysis” by Fletcher Hall.
In this instance, Mr. Hall makes several claims about Mrs. Clinton, but offers not an iota of factual substantiation. Mr. Hall’s empty accusations and deliberate mis-statements should net be given credence by the Spy.