There are lots of reasons people support a candidate, and I respect that.
But if you're a Hillary supporter, you owe it to yourself to read about her record on human rights and the way she, as Secretary of State, supported oppressive regimes that were indirectly enriching Bill Clinton and their foundation. I didn’t know any of this, and I find it pretty shocking.
Here’s a short reading list:
Hillary Clinton chose to ignore the warning. Addressing [Colombian leader] Uribe in the visit’s keynote speech, Clinton described him as an “essential partner to the United States” whose “commitment to building strong democratic institutions here in Colombia” would “leave a legacy of great progress that will be viewed in historic terms.” During her visit Clinton also affirmed her support for a US-Columbia free trade agreement, from which Giustra and other wealthy investors stood to benefit. This reversed her previous opposition to the agreement during her campaign for president in 2008, on grounds of Colombia’s poor human rights record, especially concerning the rights of labor unions.
Then Hillary Clinton became secretary of state under Barack Obama. It’s hard to convey just how stunningly cynical she has been on Colombia: In 2008, running against Obama, she opposed, in unambiguous terms, a free-trade deal with Colombia. “Senator Clinton’s position is clear and unequivocal: She is opposed to the deal,” said a spokesperson. Yet even as she was telling voters she was against the deal, her chief adviser, Mark Penn, was meeting with Colombian officials to tell them otherwise. Then it was revealed that Bill Clinton was paid $800,000 by the Colombia-based Gold Service International to give four speeches in Latin America, in which he advocated for the free-trade agreement. “Estoy a favor,” he said. Once Hillary Clinton was appointed secretary of state by Barack Obama, she changed her position and pushed for the deal (Obama, too, reversed his campaign pledge). Celebrating the pact’s passage, she said that “by opening new markets to American exports and attracting new investments to American communities, our economic statecraft is creating jobs and spurring growth here at home.” Now she is repeating the exact same pirouette with the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As secretary of state, she backed it. As candidate, she opposes it, “as of today.”
The Clintons have also had a hand in nearly all the new luxury hotel projects that have sprung up around the Haitian capital. Denis O’Brien, the billionaire owner of the major cellphone provider Digicel and principal investor in the swank $45 million Marriott that just opened in Port-au-Prince, said Bill Clinton conceived the project. “He said to the two of us [O’Brien and Marriott CEO Arne Sorensen], ‘Why don’t you build a hotel?’ And after a bit of a conversation, about half an hour, we said, ‘We’ll put up the money.’”
Bill Clinton and [his friend the Canadian businessman] Giustra had flown in together on the businessman’s jet, while Hillary Clinton had arrived for an official visit as secretary of state.
The three dined together in Bogota. The next morning, Bill Clinton met privately with Uribe at the presidential house.
A few hours later, Hillary Clinton held her own meeting with the Colombian leader. In a subsequent televised interview, she announced that she was inclined to support a much-sought-after free-trade deal with Colombia — a reversal in position since her 2008 presidential campaign.
If the Justice Department and law enforcement agencies do their jobs, the foundation will be closed and its current and past trustees, who include Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton, will be indicted. That’s because their so-called charitable enterprise has served as a vehicle to launder money and to enrich Clinton family friends