Full disclosure: I caucused for Bernie Sanders in my state, so I can hardly be labeled as a blind loyalist for Hillary Clinton, and am able to see her faults as well as her virtues. My wife Mary, who has been a Hillary supporter from the start, has seen these comments and heartily endorses them.
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For the past 24 years, Republicans have heaped opprobrium on Hillary. The question that remains is how much of it has been deserved. Let us review the record:
• She has never been arrested or charged with a crime.
• She served honorably and with distinction as First Lady for eight years.
• She served honorably and with distinction as U.S. Senator for eight years.
• She served honorably and with distinction as Secretary of State for four years, earning the devotion and appreciation of Department staff.
• She has withstood scurrilous and undeserved attacks for numerous “crimes,” including (but not limited to) involvement in the Vince Foster suicide, the Whitewater “scandal,” the private email controversy, and Benghazi, and she has done so without sinking to the level of her accusers. (I will deal with some of these issues below.)
• She has steadfastly promoted numerous progressive ideas including universal health care; equality for women, racial minorities, and religious groups; combating climate change; and economic reform. If she has not been as strident about some of these issues as Bernie, she is at least more realistic in her approach to them and she is at least pointing in the right direction.
• Research by Politifact shows her to be the MOST honest of all candidates in either party this election year. She is also more honest than almost all past candidates. Her pants-on-fire whoppers are few (1% versus 19% for Trump at this writing), while her fully or mostly true statements constitute over half of her statements (51% vs 10% for Trump).
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In light of the foregoing, it is easily argued that she is more prepared and more qualified for the office than any candidate in recent memory. More so than anyone since FDR, at any rate.
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As for some of the charges against her:
• Her responsibility for Benghazi has undergone at least 5 or 6 congressional hearings, the most noteworthy of which is the (still effectively active) committee headed by Trey Gowdy and – as Congressman Kevin McCarthy inadvertently admitted last October – was an attempt to smear Hillary and bring down her poll numbers. Her performance during that epic 11-hour session was such that it was the Committee that was embarrassed and not her. The performance was, in fact, “presidential.” As numerous military experts – including the Joint Chiefs – have stated, there was no time to do any more than was done in that situation, that what was done was done well, and that Hillary’s actions were above reproach.
• The attacks on her from the ‘90’s – Vince Foster, Whitewater, and others which have long since been laid to rest – are only being dredged up from the dead because the GOP has so little to go on that they are trying to reprise old “scandals” (that were never scandals in any case) in a sordid attempt to smear Hillary with old news.
• She has been criticized for staying with Bill in the wake of the Lewinsky affair. This criticism comes from a party that espouses the sanctity of marriage and implies that women should be submissive to the husband, and yet seems to think that a divorce should have been Hillary’s response. Disregarding the fact that her relationship with Bill is her own private business, and taking into account all the sex scandals endemic to the GOP (Vitter, Gingrich, Petraeus, Ensign of Nevada, Bentley of Alabama, Trump’s serial womanizing, etc.) the hypocrisy of the GOP is astounding. Couldn’t one equally applaud her for saving a marriage? One thing is certain: no one can accuse Hillary of dalliances.
• The email scandal is still being litigated in the court of public opinion, even where the legal channels have dried up. Is she blameless? No. However, her “guilt,” such as it is, lies in adopting the practices of her predecessors in the Secretary of State office – Powell and Rice. Not only was it legitimate at the time, but all the messages that have been turned over to the authorities contain nothing that was secret. If some of it has been declared secret retroactively, that is not relevant to Hillary’s usage.
• And then there is the biggest myth of all: the issue of Hillary’s trustworthiness. “I don’t trust her” is heard all too frequently even among Democrats. WHERE? Where in the world does this come from? Those who adopt this fallacy are buying into Republican talking points that have been percolating without evidence for nearly a quarter of a century. Sure, it’s easy to say that all politicians lie (and, yes, Hillary has done that on surprisingly rare occasions), but Trump has made a cottage industry of lying and doubling down on his lies, and all the other contenders this year have a poorer record than Hillary on this score. When Trump says, “Believe me,” that is a red flag to disbelieve him. Hillary does not ask you to believe her words, but rather acts in accordance with her beliefs. No, I do not accept the myth of Hillary’s untrustworthiness. I trust her far more than any of the Republican charlatans who have vied for the office, especially those (like Rubio or Christie) who now throw their support to Trump after roundly condemning him while on the stump.
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The next time someone you know claims that Hillary cannot be trusted, get that person to pin down exactly what is the basis for that untrustworthiness. Inevitably, that basis will be rooted in the speaker’s preconceived opinion and not on hard facts. And then ask what other politician can be trusted more, and why. Progressives will put forth Bernie, and – while it is true that he means what he says – there is a lot of doubt as to how he could pull off his “revolution” without a House and Senate behind him. First things first, people. Let’s get balance back in Congress before tackling a revolution.
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In the effort to make the perfect the enemy of the good, a number of Sanders’ supporters have indicated an unwillingness to support her, with some even going so far as indicating they will vote for the Orange One. How they think this will be preferable to a Hillary administration is incomprehensible. A Trump presidency would not stimulate a progressive revolution; it would instead create chaos and endanger our nation, the world and our environment. Even not voting as an option is a cop-out. If enough progressives take this route, Trump could actually prevail. You may not like Hillary for whatever bogus reason you choose, but to even contemplate the possibility of a Trump presidency is an abrogation of all that is progressive. You may not feel that Hillary deserves your vote, but voting against Trump is essential, and voting Libertarian or Green is NOT voting against Trump. Your vote must be placed, and must be for the one Party and one candidate with a realistic prospect of defeating Trump.
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