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Sunday, July 31, 2016

Hillary Clinton Never Quits?

This article first appeared in Eagle Rising.




One of the biggest compliments being paid to Hillary Clinton this week by many speakers at the Democratic convention is that she never quits. She is dogged. Many of her detractors concede that point. She is definitely a fighter. But when I think about what I have observed of her since she was first lady is that her doggedness and never say quit persona seems to be reserved for her own fortunes as opposed to what she is trying to do on the job,

When she was first lady and we started learning of the various scandals swirling around her and her husband. she always came through it standing-if not exactly smelling like a rose. The Rose Law Firm, billing records, White House travel office, $100,000 made on cattle futures in 100 days, you name it. The public learned about them, but she kept saying it was all about political persecution and vast right-wing conspiracies. Somehow, she always survived. When the Monica Lewinsky story came out, she told an interviewer that it was a vast right-wing conspiracy. Later we learned the story was true, but Hillary kept marching as the aggrieved woman.

Her tenure as a (carpet-bagging) senator from New York was marked by no notable achievements or legislation. In spite of that lack-luster record, she set her sights on the presidency. In the 2008 campaign against Barack Obama she fought to the bitter end then wangled her way into the secretary of state job. Tenacious? Absolutely.

As secretary of state, Hillary traveled to over 100 countries-a record for the position that has been marked by constant overseas travel by her predecessors. Not that the visits accomplished much. Remember the reset button with Russia? How did that turn out? China? No success there. The Middle East? A disaster. Egypt and Libya were her two biggest failures. In Egypt, she led a disastrous policy that greased the skids for solid US ally Hosni Mubarak, a dictator, who was replaced by Mohammad Morsi, another dictator and head of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hillary and Obama supported them and gave them all sorts of weaponry even as Morsi engaged in heated rhetoric against Israel. When Morsi was overthrown, the new military government was met by a cool reception from Washington. Egyptians to this day have nothing but contempt for the Muslim Brotherhood-supporting Hillary Clinton-whose top aide, by the way, Huma Abedin, has documented connections with the Muslim Brotherhood.

And then there was Libya and Benghazi, the ultimate indictment of Hillary as secretary of state.  One can never say she was tenacious when it came to supporting the security of her diplomatic staff. Over 600 requests for more security were denied even as the Brits pulled up stakes and left due to security fears. On the night of September 11, 2012, Clinton showed little tenacity when it came to sending help to rescue her people in Benghazi during the course of a 13-hour siege. In fact, we don't even know what the tenacious woman who never says quit was doing that evening. Her emails could have told us, but they seem to be unavailable.

But through it all, the congressional committee hearings, the whitewash "investigation" by the Accountability Review Board, and the FBI investigation into her missing emails, Mrs Clinton never quit. She fought tooth and nail to save her future as she was running for the presidency. Through every ugly revelation that came out, she never threw in the towel and never did what most other politicians would have done-withdraw in disgrace and  enter an alcohol rehab program or something similar. Not Hillary. When it comes to her own skin and her political future, she continues to get off the mat and fight like a tiger.

And yet, this great fighter has no real accomplishments other than being a first lady, being elected a senator, being appointed a secretary of state, and now winning the Democratic nomination for president. Beyond the resume, her actual accomplishments are nil-nothing but failed policies, scandals, cover-ups and lies.

Hillary Clinton quit during the Benghazi attack. Hillary Clinton quit on Russia. Hillary Clinton quit on Egypt and the Middle East.

It's a pity that at the one time she could have shined like a star-September 11, 2012, she showed no tenacity in trying to save the lives of her own diplomatic personnel in Benghazi.


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