#NEVERFORGET
Hillary Clinton is a dishonest and unethical politician, not a martyr
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was murdered in the streets of Dallas, Texas. Almost immediately, amid the grief, anger and disquiet inspired by this horrible act, the history of the Kennedy administration was rewritten.
It’s an old axiom that history is written by the victors. But in special circumstances, history is written by the mourners. In JFK’s case, the authors of history went to work in the wake of his assassination and transformed a controversial, stuttering and shaky presidency into the shining and glorious Camelot that schoolchildren and History Channel viewers learn about today.
In much the same way that a eulogist will typically omit the rougher edges of the deceased’s story and focus charitably on his better angels, Kennedy’s questionable choices, public foibles and private failings were scrubbed from the record; or at least shuffled to the dusty back pages where they would be less likely to interfere with the preferred narrative. The American prince — forever young and virile, clever and brave — would be remembered not as an arrogant and inexperienced executive who needlessly cost American lives at the Bay of Pigs, but as an inspiring and prescient force who swept away the remnants of yesterday to make way for the glorious future that lie ahead.
Something similar is happening at the moment with Hillary Clinton.
Having lost a hard-fought and bitter campaign, Mrs. Clinton’s supporters are lionizing the former Secretary of State in ways that are usually reserved for monarchs and rock stars (kings and Queens?). From trust circles of weeping Ivy Leaguers to Kate McKinnon’s bizarre dirge on Saturday Night Live to thoroughly detached deifications like this one in Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter, some lucky soul who spent the last few years stranded on a desert island would be forgiven for assuming that Hillary was a beloved empress who had been struck down in the prime of life rather than a machine politician who came in second in a presidential race.
In truth, of course, Hillary Clinton is alive and well. And since, at some point, she will presumably return to her previous career of peddling political influence for money, it is important to be sure that history is not too skewed by mourners whose sense of outrage outpaces by their sense of perspective.
HONESTLY?
Hillary Clinton is a liar. This is not speculation or opinion. She has been caught in outright lies about her management of e-mails, her management of embassies, her health, her lineage and her political accomplishments. And that’s just this year!
Throughout her public life, Clinton’s relationship with the truth has been casual at best, totally and cynically divorced at worst. She lies as a matter of course. From her earliest scandals at the Rose Law Firm to the FBI investigations that plagued her until the eve of the 2016 election, she has cultivated a thoroughly-earned reputation as ‘untrustworthy’, to use the pollsters’ preferred terminology. While no single lie has yet gotten her formally indicted (her husband holds that particular monopoly in their marriage), the cumulative effect of her lifetime of lies is palpable, and it showed up at the ballot box.
IT’S ALL POLITICS
Hillary Clinton is a terrible politician. On a personal level this is not necessarily a failing, but most people who are in the business of being a politician are able to figure out a way to not be terrible at it. Not so, Hillary.
During her most recent failed campaign, Secretary Clinton and her surrogates touted her 30+ years of public service as proof that she was an accomplished political figure. But in all that time, the only election she ever won was when she carpetbagged her way to an open New York Senate seat in the afterglow of her husband’s presidency.
Her stump speeches are notoriously stiff and wonky. When she does attempt soaring and inspiring rhetoric, it invariably comes off as rehearsed and insincere; like a robot mimicking human emotion. The casual ease with which politicians like Bill Clinton engage the electorate is an attribute totally foreign to Hillary. In the place where most politicians store their charisma, Hillary Clinton keeps extra reserves of paranoia and vengeance.
BAD TO THE BONE
Of course, being a bad politician is not fatal to a person’s character. Most of us would sleep well at night knowing that the ability to convincingly lie to the American electorate was not one of our core competencies. But Hillary Clinton isn’t just a bad politician, she’s a bad person.
The stories of Hillary’s mistreatment of staffers, underlings and those pressed into her service (including and especially Secret Service agents) are the stuff of legend. Her disdain for those she feels are beneath her (a sprawling group if there ever was one) is palpable. The condescension, the anger, the profanity-laced tirades — they are all part of the unofficial record that has followed Hillary her entire career. It is said that a person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter is not a good person. Hillary has been rude to a lot of waiters.
THE VERDICT IS IN
All of these failings and shortfalls were put on trial this election season and the voters’ verdict was deafening. Despite all of the advantages that a modern presidential candidate could reasonably hope for, when given the choice between Hillary Clinton and a carnival barker with no political experience, no moral compass and no apparent tether to truth, facts or reason, the American voters chose the latter.
Hillary Clinton is not a martyr and she should not be lionized. She is the sum of her failings, and she has the election results to prove it.
