Friday, May 22, 2015

Michael Gerson, "In just five weeks, Hillary has had a lifetime quota of scandals": Who Cares If She Endangered Americans Abroad?

Do you know what the federal government designation "SBU" means? We'll get to that in a moment.

Several days ago, I had a short discussion about Hillary with a friend living in the US. The friend quickly agreed that what Hillary had done - erasure of emails and acceptance of foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation while she was Secretary of State - was immoral, but not illegal. And yes, when the time comes, that friend will vote for Hillary.

In a Washington Post opinion entitled "In just five weeks, Hillary has had a lifetime quota of scandals," Michael Gerson concludes:

"But if Clinton succeeds [continue her campaign for the presidency notwithstanding the scandals in which she is entangled], it would expand the boundaries of the permissible. It would again define deviancy down. Americans would have rewarded, or at least ignored, defiant secrecy and the destruction of documents. Future presidential candidates and campaign advisers would take note. Americans would have rewarded a skate along the ethical boundaries of money and influence. Future donors would see a green light, no matter what candidate Clinton says about campaign finance reform.

A democracy becomes the image of the virtues it rewards. Clinton is tough, disciplined and knowledgeable. Who needs honesty, trustworthiness and transparency?"

Actually, it would not only "expand the boundaries of the permissible," but rather it would enshrine immorality as a virtue in American political life.

In a New York Times article entitled "A Closer Look at Hillary Clinton’s Emails on Benghazi" by Michael S. Schmidt, we are informed:

"Mrs. Clinton’s emails show that she had a special type of government information known as 'sensitive but unclassified,' or 'SBU,' in her account. That information included the whereabouts and travel plans of American officials in Libya as security there deteriorated during the uprising against the leadership of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. Nearly a year and a half before the attacks in Benghazi, Mr. Stevens, then an American envoy to the rebels, considered leaving Benghazi citing deteriorating security, according to an email to Mrs. Clinton marked 'SBU.'"

Or stated otherwise, "the whereabouts and travel plans of American officials in Libya" were available to any foreign entity that succeeded in penetrating Hillary's server. Do you think that foreign governments and terrorist organizations did not penetrate her server? If you don't think so, there's a bridge that I would like to sell you in Brooklyn.

Immoral, but not illegal. After all, of what significance are the lives of a few government officials when compared with Hillary's presidential ambitions? Apparently, none whatsoever.

1 comment:

  1. My sincere apologies to those of us who believe character counts. American-trained lawyers seem to have been brainwashed into believing that only technically proven illegality counts, totally divorced from the concept of ethics or morality.

    JG: did your American friend explain why they would still vote for Hillary? It's not like she has proven competence at managing anything except her florist and limo driver...

    k

    ReplyDelete