Hillary Clinton’s Small Lies: You are opposing counsel

I’ve been wondering why someone with Hillary Clinton’s shining PolitiFact rating comes across as a liar, especially given the competition.

My perception, combining PolitiFact with my felt-experience that she lies: Hillary thinks she is truthful enough, and is surrounded by people who lie worse than her (as PolitiFact shows). She sees herself having integrity. She seems to feel she has a right to lie to me a bit less than other politicians, and by lying less, should be allowed to get away with it. She feels honestly aggrieved and wronged when she is called on lies while scoring better on PolitiFact — which turns into a cycle. She defends herself righteously, she believes in herself, even as she lies, less than other politicians — did anyone mention she lies less than other politicians?

For example, Hillary Clinton is stickling the email controversy back to life unnecessarily. She has said it already, she’s done the hard part:

I should have used two accounts. That was a mistake. I’m sorry about that. I take responsibility.

What psychology prevents her from just repeating that until we get bored?

I think she sees herself having integrity — which is a good thing. Trump doesn’t give a shit if you think he lies, he just wants to win — which lets him move on after each lie. She feels entitled to act like a lawyer, defend herself and treat me as opposing counsel, which is nearly the worst psychological state for winning votes that I can dream up.

I think she has a damn good excuse, if excuses counted for anything: she’s spent two decades and counting in a cross-fire of vicious false accusations. It’s made her contemptuous of being called out on the small stuff by people doing much worse. I think with Hillary Clinton it is personal: she knows herself, and knows that she intends to do good work. She’s not monastic, and she’s happy to get paid for her work like all her peers, but she works far harder and with more than average integrity compared to the Washington that constantly attacks her. She knows it, but is not fast enough at turning off her inner defensive lawyer when she speaks to voters at home wondering about her small lies.