How should one think about the unfolding allegations rocking the Clinton Industrial Complex (which includes both her campaign and her foundation)? By now, you may have heard about Peter Schweizer’s book, “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.” The book isn’t even out yet, and Clinton’s team is already sheltering in place like Churchill’s cabinet during the Blitz. That’s in part because Schweizer, a conservative author and dogged investigative journalist, has teamed up with notorious right-wing rags The New York Times and The Washington Post to essentially re-report and expand on allegations made in the book.
Because it would be absurd to claim these papers are part of the “vast right-wing conspiracy” — which won’t stop flacks from saying it — they’re better equipped to drop the payload over the target. Even Lawrence O’Donnell, a Democratic water-carrier of such sterling reliability that he makes Gunga Din look like a slacker, had to concede on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the Clinton campaign no longer has a Schweizer problem. It has “a New York Times problem.”
It’s hard to boil down the Times’ deeply detailed account, but the broad brushstrokes are as follows: A Canadian business wanted to sell its uranium mines in Kazakhstan and the United States to a Russian state-run — i.e., Vladimir Putin-run — firm. I know what you’re thinking: What could go wrong?
In order to grease the skids — allegedly, of course — Canadian uranium moguls Frank Giustra and Ian Telfer gave millions to the Clinton Foundation and arranged for a $500,000 speech by Bill Clinton (whose speaking fees mysteriously skyrocketed after his wife became secretary of state), bankrolled by a Russian investment bank with interests in the deal. While in Kazakhstan, former President Clinton agreed to hold a joint press conference with president-for-life Nursultan A. Nazarbayev. (He’s been getting “re-elected” with just shy of 100 percent of the vote since 1989.) Clinton generously praised Kazakhstan’s human-rights record, a propaganda gift of the first order. Days later, Giustra’s deal was approved by the Kazakh government.
Also, when she became secretary of state, Hillary Clinton promised to disclose all such donations to the Clinton Foundation and submit her husband’s foreign speeches for White House review. None of that happened. There are other allegations in this story and, more important, there are many more such stories to come (according to several people who’ve read the book).
So again: How should we think about all of this? One place not to look for answers is the Clinton leviathan and its sundry remoras. For starters, no matter what the allegation, the Clinton response is always to shoot the messengers and point to the alleged misdeeds of somebody else. They have other familiar tactics as well. With the Clintons, the freshest evidence is instantly “old news.” There’s also the long and storied Clinton fondness for lying. For instance, nearly every claim in Hillary’s press conference about her stealth server has been debunked, starting with her insistence she followed all of the rules.
In short, simply taking her word alone would be preposterous, particularly for journalists who aren’t supposed to take any politician’s word for anything, even ones who don’t suspiciously delete thousands of “personal” e-mails.
Still, I suspect that the conclusion that this was all simply about payoffs probably misses the mark. Sure, the Clintons like money. That’s obvious. But the money is incidental to what’s really behind all of this: a mixture of entitlement and machine politics. The Clintons are like the Tudors of the Ozarks. They believe they are royalty, but they also understand that even monarchs need friends.
The Clinton Foundation is the perfect vehicle for their ambition. Like the medieval Catholic Church, it blurs the lines between ideals and interests.
This is curious, isn't it: " [a] dogged investigative journalist, has teamed up with notorious right-wing rags The New York Times and The Washington Post to essentially re-report and expand on allegations made in the book."
Both the NYT and WaPo ran interference for Bill and for Obama, nary a discouraging word for either, yet both appear to be cooperating in eviscerating Hillary. Why? It's not like they are going to support any Republican, except maybe Lady Lindsey. So what is going on here? Have they got someone waiting in the wings? Are they planning to begin a movement to draft Obama for a third term?
Opinions?
"This is the most lavishly funded and entirely moronic foreign ministry on the planet."~~Mark Steyn's description of the US State Dept.
Quote: Cincinnatus wrote in post #2This is curious, isn't it: " [a] dogged investigative journalist, has teamed up with notorious right-wing rags The New York Times and The Washington Post to essentially re-report and expand on allegations made in the book."
Both the NYT and WaPo ran interference for Bill and for Obama, nary a discouraging word for either, yet both appear to be cooperating in eviscerating Hillary. Why? It's not like they are going to support any Republican, except maybe Lady Lindsey. So what is going on here? Have they got someone waiting in the wings? Are they planning to begin a movement to draft Obama for a third term?
Opinions?
Something is definitely going on but I'm not certain what it is.
I can imagine several scenarios. Here are some thoughts written up very rapidly:
1. The PTB sense dangerous (for them) rumblings among the serfs and will seem pull back a little by setting up Hillary to get symbolically 'thrown under the bus'. There will be committees and investigations but in the end nothing will be done .Bill and Hil and Chelsea will continue to live in the lap of luxury. A pretend conservative reformer from the eGOP has been selected to get elected. Someone full of fire and brimstone who suddenly 'change' once in office .
Ideally this will be someone who is not a 'natural born' citizen as 'understood' at the time the constitution was written.
This would allow continuation of what has been going on in your face to continue behind the scenes.
We are also being ginned up for war in the Middle East. This will give a eGOP president the justification to further erode freedom and enhance the police / surveillance state in the name of fighting Jihadis, or criminal illegals, or some such in the name of national security.
Republicans will applaud this because one of our own would never use these tools against us. There may as actual terrorist attack or a planned one that is conveniently precedented and used to further justify the police / surveillance state.
There even may be some token restoration of 'free speech' for those who 'cling to their bibles and guns'.
ObamaCare will remain because to replace it would be too disruptive however there will be a few tweaks in the name of 'reform'.
Amnesty will remain in place under a different name because not to do so would not be 'compassionate .
The country will continue to be flooded will legal aliens who will suppress salaries, job opportunities, and bring their culture of statist / collectivist big central government. Salaries will go so low that more and more people will need to be use government subsidies to survive.
There will be token efforts to suppress the flood of illegals, mainly in the form of deporation of a handul of criminal illegals. .
2. The PTB sense dangerous (for them) rumblings among the serfs and will seem pull back a little by setting up Hillary to get symbolically 'thrown under the bus'. There will be committees and investigations but in the end nothing will be done .Bill and Hil and Chelsea will continue to live in the lap of luxury. A pretend conservative reformer from the eGOP has been selected to get elected.
There is a Democrat in the wings who will be presented as a moderate reformer, whose progressive past will be suppressed by the MSM.
Again ideally this will be someone who is not a 'natural born' citizen as 'understood' at the time the constitution was written.
3. Draft Obama for a third term. After all Saint FDR did four.
4. TPP will pass and reduce us all to the status of medieval serfdom over seen by our global corporate masters.