In light of all the Hillary buzz and the Clinton 2016 infomercials in the form of miniseries and movies to be produced by “Inconvenient Truth” producer Courtney Sexton, it’s worth a look at what we’re actually dealing with.
Is Hillary an unstoppable political force and inevitable first female president or scandal-ridden wannabe with a ton of baggage? Here are a few reasons to lean toward the latter.
1. Hillary’s involvement in scandals started early.
As a 27-year-old staffer, she was fired from the Watergate committee for fraud and unethical behavior.
Her former boss, Jerry Zeifman, finally spoke out in 2008:
“Because she was a liar,” Zeifman said in an interview last week. “She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.”
So maybe the lying isn’t so much a new thing.
2. Seriously, she’s really into coverups.
Then, in 1993 the Clintons took the White House, and seven White House travel office employees were fired for “mismanagement.” The White House spokeswoman at the time, Dee Dee Myers, suggested that the employees were under FBI investigation. Some said it was all a show, because they wanted to get friends of the Clintons in office. Who knows.
From a June 2000 article in the Los Angeles Times:
There is “substantial evidence” that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton lied under oath in denying that she played a role in the 1993 White House travel office firings, independent counsel Robert W. Ray reported Thursday.
The problem – again – was the cover up. They acted like they knew nothing, the truth never came out, and Hillary walked away.
3. She lied about being shot at by a Bosnian sniper.
3. She lied about being shot at by a Bosnian sniper.
Remember this badass report from Sharyl Attkisson? Worth revisiting.
FLASHBACK: Hillary Clinton's Bogus "Bosnia Sniper Fire" Story Exposed by Sharyl Attkisson
CBS News Investigative Reporter Sharyl Attkisson has reportedly been criticized by her bosses for treading "dangerously close to advocacy" as a result of her pursuit of the Benghazi scandal. Which brings me to this, remember when Attkisson exposed Hillary Clinton's bogus "Bosnia sniper fire" lie? Good times. She's an amazing reporter, period.
4. She really isn’t that good for women.
Turns out that being a women in a high profile role isn’t enough to make you a role model for women. Hillary is novel as the first woman to have a real shot at the Presidency, and that earns her points with a lot of the feminists who seem to overlook some of her most glaring issues.
As Camille Paglia wrote during the 2008 campaign:
If they are to be truly equal, women must fight their own fights and not rely on a borrowed spotlight.
Hillary has tried to have it both ways: to batten on her husband’s nostalgic popularity while simultaneously claiming to be a victim of sexism.
Well, which is it? Are men convenient sugar daddies or condescending oppressors?
And for all of the fanfare, all of the opportunities her husband has handed her, what has she really done with her power? The truth is that, well, not much.
5. She hasn’t actually done much with her power.
Her husband was elected to the presidency in 1992. Hillary, by all accounts, was incredibly influential in his administration. That much we know. Since then, she’s been a senator from the state of New York. And then under Obama, she served as Secretary of State. What are her legacies?
Let’s start with her tenure as First Lady of the United States. The most memorable moments from her eight years as First Lady boil down to Monica Lewinsky, Whitewater, and the defeat of Hillarycare. In 1994, her flagship effort to pass sweeping health care reform was a failure – we had to wait until Barack Obama for that destruction.
Then she had nine years in the U.S. Senate as the first woman elected from New York. She followed Sen. Chuck Schumer’s lead on getting funding to rebuild after 9/11, and then supported Bush’s military action in Afghanistan. She befriended Newt Gingrich to try to revive universal health care. She was re-elected easily in 2006, but by 2007 she was running for president and held the Democrat line. She served half of her second term before stepping down to accept her new position as Barack Obama’s Secretary of State.
As Secretary of State she was undoubtedly hard working and competent, but is that enough to make her a remarkable Secretary of State? She visited 112 countries. There were no major gaffes or screw-ups (which in and of itself is a win for a Clinton). Her Russia Reset Button fell flat, and they still hate us. She gave a beautiful speech the night Osama bin Laden was killed. Overall, it was an unremarkable run that boils down to one horrible night in Libya, where she failed to answer the 3 a.m. phone call.
6. Benghazi.
On Sept. 11, 2012, Ambassador Chris Stevens and 3 other Americans were murdered by Islamic militants in Benghazi, Libya. Originally the attack was blamed on outrage due to an anti-Muslim YouTube video, and then-UN Ambassador Susan Rice made the rounds to all the Sunday shows to denounce the hate speech. For weeks, Hillary adamantly supported the ridiculous notion that these were “spontaneous demonstrations,” despite overwhelming evidence that she knew from the beginning that this was simply false.
More questions went unanswered. There were heated hearings, investigations, accusations, and cover-ups. The investigation still has not found out why requests for help were denied or who was responsible.
One thing, however, is clear. As CEO of the State Department, Hillary Clinton is ultimately responsible. Frustrated with the line of questioning during the hearing, Hillary exploded. The clip below shows how she feels about figuring out how the murders actually happened.
