“Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Abraham Lincoln
The Benghazi committee hearings have come to a close and what does Hillary Clinton have to say for herself? She thanked committee members for “contributing” to her campaign by way of an influx of donations following the hearings. As always, it’s forever about her. Not the four Americans who died (although she did state she has weathered more sleepless nights than anyone…again, all about her) and not about how it happened or why it happened. I’m confused. I’m baffled.
Here’s the deal: I’m a Baby Boomer Hispanic college-educated female who thinks for herself and has raised a strong and successful daughter. I’m deeply religious and a proud conservative Republican even though I grew up very middle-class and in a predominantly Democrat hometown so yes, I’ll take your “you are biased” comments up front. I’m also slightly obsessed with current events and have been for literally as long as I can remember. It’s one of the reasons I studied Journalism in college.
So, get to the point Carla. The point of this blog is that I’m puzzled and disappointed. I just don’t get why anyone, especially a woman, would support Hillary Clinton for anything much less President of the United States of America. But, my purpose here is not to sway you against Mrs. Clinton, but rather to ask those of you who do support her, a simple and honest “why?”
It truly perplexes me that any woman who calls herself a feminist, a Democrat, or anything in between can stand by a woman who has “stood by her man” through public betrayal after public scandal, even though she so famously claimed she wasn’t and wouldn’t. Have we become so desperate for a woman president that we’ll vote for whatever female runs regardless of her lack of true accomplishment and substantiated trust? Is she really the best the Democrats have to offer?
I’m pleading with you, my sensible, logical, and smart friends who I respect and admire, what is it? How is it that you so blindly and vehemently support Hillary Clinton?
Is it because she has so many accomplishments that you can name?
Is it because she is a publicly humiliated yet loyal wife?
Maybe it’s because in your heart you consider her honest and trustworthy.
Perhaps it’s only because she’s a Democrat and she’s a woman.
Do you just feel she’s “earned” the “title?”
Her successes you cannot deny, but at what cost?
It could be that maybe you’re still just crazy about her husband and long for days gone by.
I can see how you admire her smarts but what about her standards?
Okay, how about it’s because she’s full of new ideas and represents a fresh start for a country on the brink of discord?
I get it, she’s intelligent and accomplished but so is Carly Fiorina and you hate her. Go figure.
One thing’s for sure, Hillary Rodham Clinton is polarizing and I doubt she will bring our nation together. Keep in mind she was defeated by a previously unknown former community organizer. What has she done since then that makes her more worthy today than she was eight years ago?
Let’s look back.
Hillary Rodham Clinton burst onto the national political scene in the 1980s when her husband Bill ran for and was elected president. She was an accomplished yet somewhat controversial lawyer who undoubtedly saw the fast-lane to power through her husband. It seemed like what he had she wanted and she would do anything for and put up with anything to get. The scandals are lengthy and historic, and without going into any gory details, which I’ll let you do if you doubt me or don’t remember them, and these are just a few:
Using the IRS and FBI to target political opponents
Stalking and harassing the legions of women who claimed harassment from her husband
Helping herself to taxpayer-funded White House items
Vince Foster
Travelgate
Filegate
Whitewater
Pardongate
And now Emailgate and Benghazi. Let’s look at these two more closely since they are front and center today.
“Character is doing the right thing when no one is watching.”
J.C. Watts
I Want My Own Server and I Want It Now
When HRC became Barack Obama’s secretary of state in 2009 she went through the trouble and expense of acquiring a private email server, something none of her predecessors had ever done. As anyone who’s had simple internet set up knows, much less an entire server, this is no easy task. To do so for the United States’ secretary of state means even more security and precaution. The fact that she claims to have done so for the convenience of using one hand-held device is not only ludicrous but downright insulting.
Then there’s the little detail that a State Department employee was paid by her family to maintain the private server, an employee who has since invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination if called to testify.
It goes without saying that the United States State Department had a perfectly good and secure server, but Clinton chose to send, receive, and store emails on a private server during her 2009-2013 term. This begs the question, why? And, it’s estimated that more than 65,000 emails were deleted, thousands of which have since been determined to contain classified information, including material regarding the production and dissemination of U.S. intelligence.
And you want to be our president.
Equally amazing is that the IT company that maintained Clinton’s private email account was run out of a loft apartment in Denver and the company’s servers were kept in a closet. Emails for the secretary of state of the United States of America and our national security were stored in a closet. In Denver. Unbelievable, and anyone who doesn’t find it even a tad dubious is either lying to themselves or brainwashed beyond reasoning. Had Condoleezza Rice or James Baker done even half of this, they would have been run out of Washington faster than you can say “vast right wing conspiracy” and they certainly wouldn’t be running for president.
Four Americans
Then there is the 2012 attack on the American compound in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Clinton was secretary of state during the attacks and her leadership and honesty have been the subject of Congressional hearings. In the months leading up to the attacks, Stevens repeatedly requested additional security, to no avail, resulting in him being the first U.S. Ambassador killed in the line of duty since 1979. That’s 33 years people.
After the bombings, Clinton and her staff as well as the Obama administration all publicly laid blame for the attacks on an anti-Islamic video even though it was later revealed that she had privately communicated with both her daughter and the Egyptian prime minister that it was what she labeled a “planned attack” by an “al Qaeda-like group.” She’s also on record as saying “at this point what does it matter?” Shameful.
This is all nothing new. In a 2008 speech, then-Senator Hillary Clinton recalled a trip she made to Tuzla, Bosnia as First Lady, saying, “I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”
But, news footage of her visit revealed her “sniper fire” claim wasn’t just exaggerated, it was completely false.
NBC news anchor Brian Williams was fired for making a similar claim. A news anchor.
It’s no coincidence that “Clinton” has become synonymous with scandal. Many would claim that all politicians lie and cheat, but something about the president of the United States conducting sexual affairs in the Oval Office just makes my skin crawl. The fact that his sexual escapades lead to a subsequent impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice is no laughing matter. He used a cigar; a cigar! And his loving and ambitious wife stood by him and tarnished the character of multiple women who laid similar claims against him. That doesn’t sound like someone I want having my back or fighting a “war on women” and it certainly doesn’t sound like a feminist. Again, ask yourself: what if this had been George and Laura Bush? She would have been laughed off the page and sent packing to Crawford with all the other so-called rednecks.
It seems Hillary Rodham Clinton’s “war on women” consists of covering up and accepting her husband’s multiple affairs and accepting Clinton Foundation donations from countries that have abysmal women’s rights records. Are these facts alone not troublesome to women voters?
Pyschologists often say the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Kinda scares me.
Sometimes people just become so accustomed to stretching the truth they don’t even realize they’re doing it. When you repeatedly get away with doing so, it’s almost like people start to believe you and you feel you’re above the truth and above the law. Apologies are rare and think about it, when have we ever heard Hillary Clinton apologize for anything?
Again, is she really the best we women can offer our country? Shouldn’t we be demanding someone more trustworthy and respectable and a little less flippant and secretive? Just what are her accomplishments anyway? Yes, she’s held the title of senator and secretary of state, but name just five incredible and admirable things she did as either. She ran for senator in a state she wasn’t from and she seems to running from the truth every time I turn around.
Still, millions support and adore her. My mom met her years ago at an event in Santa Fe and said she was nice as can be. Cool. I’ve heard Taylor Swift is nice too but I don’t want her running our country.
In my opinion, Hillary Clinton seems anything but nice or friendly. In fact she comes off as downright angry and out to get people. I’m not sure I want that in the White House. There is already enough anger out there. We don’t need someone full of resentment and an “I’ll show you” attitude commanding our military and trying to make this country work again.
So friends, do we punch the gender lever just because Hillary Clinton is female or do we dig deep and demand someone who will turn this country around and who we have no doubts about? Do we truly believe our country is in such great shape that we want more of the same? I for one am done with a Clinton and Bush campaign and am instead opting for someone new. I will always love and respect both Presidents George Bush and George W. Bush, but I am also a thinking woman who refuses to stay the course and choose a candidate based solely on a name and my loyalty. I prefer a president who is going to offer us a new direction and renewed hope. If anyone can convince me otherwise, I’m listening. Do tell.
Beyond Words 