According to several news outlets, a Justice Department inquiry into Hillary Clinton (launched some two years ago at the insistence of conservatives unsatisfied with the results of multiple previous investigations) has effectively ended. Investigators found no wrongdoing, and (off the record) law enforcement officials said they never expected the effort to produce much of anything.
This inquiry was conducted by a Trump Justice Department headed by Bill Barr, not exactly a friendly group of investigators.
I’ve lost track of the number of investigations that have been conducted into Hillary Clinton’s activities. Whitewater. Bengazi. “But her emails!”
When I saw the headlines confirming that–once again–the investigators had come up empty, all I could think about was a joke my mother used to tell: an elderly woman goes into the butcher shop. She picks up a chicken, lifts each drumstick and sniffs under it; then she smells under each wing. Finally, she smells the cavity, turns to the butcher and says “Mr. Butcher, this bird stinks.”
To which the butcher replies, “Lady, could you pass that test?”
Partisans and others are certainly entitled to dislike Hillary Clinton, or to criticize her demeanor or campaign. Disagreement with her policy positions is clearly fair. But the intensity of the animus she arouses, and the persistence with which Republicans have hounded her–and continue to demonize her three years after she lost the election and (from all appearances) retired from political life– are so hysterical and disproportionate that you have to wonder just what is going on.
The obsession isn’t new, and it didn’t begin with her campaign for the Presidency. Throughout her public life, Clinton has been held to a standard that wildly exceeds expectations applied to male political figures. I can think of any number of male politicians who have exhibited every behavior and characteristic for which Clinton has been excoriated; none of them excited the level of vitriol that has been directed at her.
It is also worth noting that a substantial number of those male politicians have been found guilty of various levels of misbehavior–including crimes–while the incessant investigations into Clinton have uncovered nothing more culpable than occasional carelessness.
It is just impossible to see this relentless campaign as anything other than rank misogyny.
I am hopeful (although not entirely convinced) that Clinton generated that level of sexism simply because she was in many ways the first: the first First Lady to reject the traditional decorative and submissive role, the first to carve out a high-profile political career separate from that of her husband after leaving the White House; and the first woman to be the Presidential nominee of a major political party.
I am hopeful (although unconvinced) that in the wake of Clinton’s candidacy, the passage of time, the number of women in the Democratic Presidential primary, and the explosion in the number of women elected to positions at all levels of government have combined to moderate the sexist hostility that prompted the tsunami of vitriol directed at Clinton.
I am fearful that I’m wrong.
Donald Trump’s base is composed almost entirely of white Christian men who see Trump as their protector against the uppity blacks and pushy women whose demands for equality threaten their historic dominance. They became unhinged when an African-American was elected President, and it’s likely they will be equally threatened if it looks as if a woman is about to be elected.
Meanwhile, Hillary has emerged exonerated from yet another actual witch hunt– conducted by men who most definitely couldn’t pass that test.
Hard to disagree with anything here but I tend to think the Republican hate machine is non-discriminatory. Anyone who is an “other” is subject to getting in the machine’s crosshairs, e.g. Bill Clinton, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, and if needed, there’s always LBJ, Carter, or FDR waiting in the wings.
Another thing Republicans could not stand about her is that she was the most qualified candidate to run for the office since the first George Bush.
Republicans use investigations to tar their opponents. It doesn’t matter whether they think there is any actual wrong doing. The investigation is the point. When you use investigation as a weapon in that fashion any investigation by the other side of your actions becomes a which hunt. In Hillary’s case stir in a good dose of misogyny and it turns toxic.
Are you suggesting that the party full of racists may also be sexists as well? 😉
What still blows me away is the GOP attracts plenty of women to their ranks. They remain silent about Trump’s behavior toward women. Just shrug it off like the Evangelicals who shrug off his immoral behavior.
#Hypocrisy
I’d say that since HRC was the first blazing the trail for other women has created more caustic behavior. AOC gets hammered daily on Twitter with disgusting comments because she’s outspoken and she’s holding truth to the power structure which consists mainly of white men.
You should see the animus aimed at Greta Thunberg and she’s only a teenager. She’s well-spoken and threatens the power base as well.
There seems to be a theme…
There seems to be a right-wing cottage industry in taking down Hillary Clinton. Uranium One was just the near to the last. They singled her out when 11 other Departments had to sign off on the Uranium One deal (for anyone who thinks the Republican hate machine is non-discriminatory). The last actual Clinton scandal was Pizza-Gate, or it might have been that last FBI agent that she killed, or maybe it was that Clinton staffer who sent the server to the Ukraine, then killed himself (or did he?). I don’t think it’s over yet.
The only thing I find to disagree with is the notion that only white men are engaged in the hate machine. Check out the white women in the crowd. They seem even nastier than their nasty husbands.
I am waxing philosophical today with the following. With global catastrophe at the gate (Trump, religious fault lines, lack of climate control, improved atomic weapons, international wage inequality etc.), we have time and energy to discuss chromosomal distinctions, skin colorization and the like in how we are to conduct our affairs both political and economic? What! Sometimes I think we as the governing specie for the planet should have been passed over in favor of dinosaurs or kangaroos, then I awaken from such idle reverie and confront myself with the reality that that didn’t happen and that we are in charge – and so now what?
Philosphy is nice but a luxury we cannot afford right now. We must repair the planet’s earth, air and water. We must end our race and gender wars. We must see to it that our economy’s fruits are fairly distributed. I could go on and on in describing where we are today and how and why Locke’s social contract needs updating in view of new (and old racist and gender) realities.
How to do it? As of now it requires a political exercise, one based on electing those who are ready, willing and able to confront our problems and work for solutions, solutions that are beyond the pay grade of those steeped in cult love and religious illusion. To do: resist, tell the truth, and persevere in protecting our democracy from all enemies, foreign and (especially) domestic. November is on the horizon.
Always food for thought here. Thanks, Gerald and others! I’m waiting to see what you might have to say about Trump’s drug usage. Meanwhile, I wonder, was Hillary, or other women, ever investigated for drug use? All the GOPs noise making creates a good diversion.
e mails,,there was a story once, burried im sure now,seems Colin Powell suggested to hilary,and he also used a private server since the goverment,ie republicans refused to update the pentagon and state dept security stuff… theres never enough flack to go around..trying to harness a talking point with those bent on listening to bubba over a investigation by those who do care,and then see it downplayed like a bad joke.. more should be played on alecs intent,and the republicans follow through with their plan,via changing laws and whos getting what,over the working class..any investigation should have the tally at the end,how much of the” working classes”tax money did they waste on it..since corp,and wall street support this flack,and dont pay that much in taxes….might as well target the ones who waste your time..
AOC has started a pac,,,she can now deliver money to those running against incumbents ,
above what she can do with her own campaign funds,she also has,,,i love this, refused to pay the DCCC her dues,because they against her principals of supporting progressives running against the likes of lupinski..ill,d why to go girl,, change is good…
I never really cared for the Clinton policies of Neo-Liberalism in terms of economics, including de-regulation and welfare reform.
I agree with Todd, : “What still blows me away is the GOP attracts plenty of women to their ranks. They remain silent about Trump’s behavior toward women. Just shrug it off like the Evangelicals who shrug off his immoral behavior. ”
There is a segment of our population who are totally at ease with Male Dominated Macho Man Authoritarianism, which includes some woman. The Evangelicals have twisted themselves in knots trying to approve the means (in this case President Agent Orange and Pastor Pence) to justify the ends.
The 1% are happy the huge tax cut they received it was more important to them than any of the numerous personality defects President Agent Orange has. The Wall Street-Security-Military-Industrial Complex is happy with President Agent Orange’s saber rattling, more weapons – more profits.
jack smith; actually that report came out early on and was quickly buried under the numerous investigation reports which repeatedly cleared Hillary of wrong-doing. Guess Republicans believed continuing to investigate, like their lies, would eventually reap the reward of wrongdoing being the truth. Colin Powell and Condoleza Rice and other government officials used government approved single servers to communicate. Republicans must have spent as much of our tax money investigating Hillary’s E-mails as Trump has spent renting out his golf carts to Secret Service members, his family and friends staying at his hotels and playing golf on his privately owned golf courses.
LOL, there definitely have been days when I wouldn’t have been able to pass that test!
The opposition party, they tend to be a one trick pony. And you can usually tell what they are guilty of, because they project their shenanigans on everyone else. Look at our current POTUS, he claimed Barack Obama was not an American citizen.
They were sniping at American intelligence agencies at the start of the birther movement, starting the discrediting process early. Because when Barack Obama was vetted, they were claiming it was all a lie! So they were sowing the seeds of incapability, partisanship and deep state back then. After all, how could the entire intelligence apparatus let a foreigner run for president!
Let’s not forget that our current POTUS grandfather was a dubious immigrant which was refused reentry into his home country, Germany, but he made his bones running a luxurious hotel (By Yukon standards)that seem to allow prostitution. The main reason why he was not allowed back in Germany, was that he stiffed the German government on taxes, and also fled to avoid conscription in the military.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/06/27/the-story-of-donald-trumps-grandfather-who-came-to-the-u-s-as-an-unaccompanied-minor/
And remember, POTUS daddy, was arrested in June 1927 at a KKK rally during a policeman’s memorial march. The man had the same name as POTUS daddy, Fred Trump, also the same address that he lived his entire youth and most of his life.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/donald-trump-father-kkk-1927/
The apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree now does it?
So, by reading the different articles on the subject, and listening to all the baloney that has been spewed over the years about Hillary Clinton and even Barack Obama, it’s all projection! They take from their own histories and superimpose it on others to beat the press the punch. That way they can say it’s all fake! How many votes did they take to rollback the affordable care act? 60? More? The Benghazi fiasco, how many investigations? 5? More? And let’s not forget digging up every issue Hillary Clinton was ever involved in, because if you do enough digging, you will probably find something on somebody, and even if it wasn’t illegal, it can be manipulated to look bad.
Hence, what they are doing to Joe Biden right now. There is no agenda to run on, so they just make stuff up. It keeps their evangelical lackeys in line, and I would imagine, a lot of them don’t really believe in the BS being proliferated on an hourly basis. But it gives them cover, they can fool themselves, they can be willfully ignorant of truth, because it does not fit their wishful narratives.
The whole entire opposition party is guilty of delusional projection, Trump learned well, after all he became POTUS. It is astounding to watch this all happening, because they feel impervious to consequences. Adolf Hitler had consequences, Mussolini had consequences, he was hung up in the square and dressed out like a slaughtered goat. I remember when Trump floated the idea that he could pardon himself, LOL, right there was some insight into a highly criminal and narcissistic mind.
And, I couldn’t leave without posting a little nugget, LOL.
“The man of lawlessness” sets himself in opposition to God and is therefore a “satan,” which means “resister.” And, indeed, his “presence is according to the operation of Satan.” (2nd Thessalonians 2:9). Since he is a hypocrite, a false teacher claiming to be Christian, he “sits down in the temple of The God,” that is, what such false teachers claim to be that temple. (2nd Thessalonians 2:4.)
As the death of the apostles eventually came about, the man of lawlessness was free to spread false religious dogma, (2nd Thessalonians 2:3, 6, 8). The apostle Paul said that this man would “gain great power performing every powerful work and lying signs and portents” and those who are deceived by his man of lawlessness are perishing, i.e. destroying themselves, because they willfully rejected what they knew as truth… (If you read anything, you must read 2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12)…
When, you really get into it, it almost looks like a puppet master controlling these men and women, because it just doesn’t make any sense. The willful ignorance, the naïveté, the narcissism, all of the lies and innuendos, all of the false narratives and slander, coming at unfathomable pace, it does seem like a puppet master making it up to an unpleasant end.
Via con Dios, or maybe I should say, via con Diablo, LOL. Because things are going to hell in a hand basket!
Pure politics is what it is in this age of social/entertainment media advertising/fake news/propaganda/brainwashing of the masses through maintaining copious anger and fear of the future. While what is used to maintain anger and fear is adapted to today’s culture, the fact of using it for crowd control is very old indeed.
Republicans know that they abandoned public service long ago in favor of the one rule of capitalism, make more money now, personally and corporately, no matter the cost to any others ever. The best offense for that is to convince the gullible that Republicans are as bad as they seem and Democrats are even worse. Republicans are your home team supporting your home values which are awful but the world is even worse.
We all could have identified who are the easiest to be cult-ivated this way and we would have been repelled personally but they are merely sheep to be counted as votes (customers) by the party of privilege.
Why is anyone surprised at any of this or looking for under cover conspiracies to blame?
Besides her gender, Hillary encapsulates all of the qualities that the far right finds most blameworthy. For instance, she is an intellectual, the antithesis of the Troglodytes who unquestioningly support their causes. She is the only politician to call out their supporters as “deplorables”, a friendly euphemism for Troglodytes. She is clearly the bane of their dear leader’s existence, as he never tires of reminding us, and to him rivals Obama as the planet’s most sinister human. They despise her for not having committed any crimes for which she could be prosecuted, and love her for providing the Trogs with something to shout about at Trump’s rallies.
Trump’s Trogs shudder at the fact that her vote count exceeded his by some three million in the last election. Because they believe all women should work (like all cabinet members) to prove how deeply subservient they are, they, and he, despise her for actually introducing a far-ranging health program as first lady. She was the instigator of the JCPOA that assured a non-nuclear Iran, and of course Trump himself has demonstrated that he prefers assassination and (in the case of the Kurds) betrayal over negotiation and treaties.
She is profoundly interested in and supportive of the interests of children, unlike the far righters who don’t mind watching their grandchildren fail to thrive as climate change diminishes their ability to do so.
And like every democratic who has ever served, she believes in science which makes lies harder to promote and thereby threatens their key tactic in selling their brand of B.S.
Maybe she doesn’t handle sensitive emails with all the respect they deserve, but in most cases she is so far superior to today’s Moscow Mitch mob and their slow-witted leader that they have surrendered the right to criticize her. She leads. He simulates leadership. But simulation is like masturbation: If you do too much of it you start to think it’s the real thing.
Before we paint all GOP or Evangelical or any other seemingly “Trumpian” women as all the same…like all groups of human beings, they vary. There is substantial evidence from our work on the 2018 election that goodly numbers of GOP women either voted DEM or didn’t vote due to their discomfort/anger over treatment of immigrant families, especially the separation of children. We all have hearts and souls….yes, some are dark to the core, but “party” doesn’t necessarily identify them.
Terry, would the country be more like your accurate description of Hillary Clinton and less like the “leadership” of the current party of privilege.
Pete,
I think you have posed the essential question, the answer to which remains unknowable until November. Are the number of American voters who adore Trump’s vilification of decency and his utter lack of values and his mobster-like tactics now in the majority? In light of his lack of accountability for his countless transgressions, sometimes it seems so. If they are, we will become as atavistic as the children in Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and the American experiment in democracy will be over, perhaps for all time.
Terry, LOL, you do too much of it you’ll end up with prostate cancer!
Pete,
This is a Time unlike any other in human history. There are a lot of variables that have come together at this precise moment. The population has exploded on this planet, the fight for resources, is real. The greed factor enters into all of it. The technology as far as social media and communications between individuals exacerbates the problem.
everything has exploded on the scene so quickly, there are no rules and regulations for spreading lies, conspiracies, and slanderous innuendo.
The entities that give platforms to the subversive, are just as responsible and culpable as the subversive. They refuse to self regulate, that cost money, and the greed factor wants as much of that in their pockets as possible. That means accepting subversives money, and refusing to provide expenditures to build a bulwark against false narratives. So again, it’s all about the money, Greed.
These God like CEOs, are so infatuated with themselves, they are like the monkey grabbing the fruit out of the clay jar but gets caught because his hand won’t fit back through the top and he refuses to let go of the fruit.
That piece of fruit is the all-consuming tunnel-visioned goal, he doesn’t think he’s going to die, but ends up dead.
Absolutely, spot on, but disagree that misogyny has diminished just has racism has not diminished. The election of women and Trump’s permission for males to commit blatant misogynistic acts has made it more difficult for women in every walk of life. In Courtrooms and boardrooms women are fighting subtle and blatant attacks.
Sheila, I totally agree with everything you said here, except the part about white Christian men. If we look at the biblical teachings, these men are anything but Christian. They masquerade as Christians, but their actions say something totally different.