This presidential primary season has been notable for the surprising popularity of two completely unsuitable candidates – Bernie Sanders and a clear indication that the Democratic Party has lost all reason in the candidacy of lawyer, former First Lady, former United States Senator and former Secretary of State Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton.

In the decades since Bill and Hillary Clinton burst onto the national scene, our country has endured numerous scandals, an impeachment, an utterly undistinguished Senate record, a failed presidential campaign, a disastrous tenure as Secretary of State, criminal investigations including the current FBI probe of mishandling of classified emails, and another presidential campaign.

It has always amazed me how the Clintons seem to get away with acts and behaviors that would – and have – brought other candidates and elected officials down in disgrace. It seems that every time they get away with something, it just encourages them to new lows of unethical, corrupt, cynical and illegal behavior.

Another surprising thing about the Clintons is how they remain so popular with a wide swath of the American people despite their failings, scandals and flip-flops. In particular, it surprises me how many modern progressives are so ardent in their support of Hillary when she is the embodiment of everything they hate, and with Bernie Sanders being so much more clearly in line with their goals and beliefs. From this I can only conclude that they think she can win, and given their lack of moral scruples and desire for power at any cost, are “holding their noses” and supporting her. She is clearly the “establishment” candidate of the Democratic Party.

There are many books, articles, blog posts and other information out there on both Bill and Hillary Clinton. It’s probable that no other couple has had so many words, both positive and negative, written about them. My purpose in this blog post is to focus attention on several areas which disqualify her from the office of President of the United States. Any one of them, taken separately, is enough to disqualify her, but taken together and as a whole, paint a picture of a woman who would govern with no respect for the proper role of government, the principles outlined in our Declaration of Independence, the structure set forth in the Constitution, and with no respect for the lives and prosperity of the American people.

There is no reason to think that the Clinton Administration II would be anything more than another Obama administration, only this time with more scandal, more sleaze, and attacks on her opponents as being misogynist instead of racist.

Benghazi and the Email Scandal

As everyone knows, on September 11, 2012 a group of Islamic militants attacked the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, resulting in the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other brave Americans. In addition to the myriad failures that led to this tragedy, lies about the causes of the incident and subsequent cover-ups, the fact that Hillary Clinton employed a private email server came to light during congressional testimony.

In the months since then, as the FBI is actively investigating a presidential candidate for the first time in history, we have learned that Hillary set up a private server for her own convenience in order to keep her emails from becoming public record. While at the time it may not have been a violation of State Department rules or federal law, the fact that she wanted to be able to keep her official emails as Secretary of State from becoming public record speaks volumes about her and her mentality – and lessons learned from her previous scandals.

Hillary’s server was not secured and was processing classified documents and state secrets. It is certain that America’s enemies – and friends – had access to high-level government secrets during her tenure as Secretary of State. The fact that she was willing to put lives and our national security at risk for her private purposes is enough to disqualify her from any consideration for another public office. The fact that she has not yet been indicted for the probable crimes committed speaks to the corruption of the Obama Justice Department and political pressure on the FBI. I believe that if a Republican male Secretary of State had done the same thing, he’d be breaking rocks in Leavenworth by now.

This lack of judgment and disregard for national security alone should disqualify Hillary Clinton from any further public office in the United States.

Of course, the name “Clinton” has become synonymous with “Scandal” over the last 25 years. A complete recap of all the scandals and misdeeds associated with this corrupt couple would fill a large book, and the mysterious deaths associated with their unbridled pursuit of power is sobering as well. Here are just a few examples of these:

• Monica Lewinsky and Impeachment. After a sordid affair with a young woman intern, Bill Clinton became the second president to be impeached.
• Whitewater scandal – The Clintons invested in a venture that went under due to accounting fraud. Hillary’s firm represented the Whitewater Development Corp in subsequent investigations.
• “Missing” law firm billing records – fees related to the Whitewater scandal covered up.
• Using the IRS to target political enemies. Like Johnson, Nixon and now President Obama, bad presidents have used the IRS against their enemies. Bill Clinton engaged in that shameful practice as well.
• Looting the White House. The Clintons displayed their disdain for the “Peoples’ House” by vandalizing and attempting to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of artwork and furnishings.
• Huma Abedin, Hillary’s longtime aide, has been known to collect double salaries in violation of morals, ethics and rules. In addition, she has disturbing ties to various Muslim organizations.
• Chinagate: The 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign solicited and accepted donations from Chinese nationals in exchange for classified high-tech secrets.
• Death of Vince Foster. The death of this Clinton insider was ruled a suicide, but it’s still suspicious.
• By some accounts, dozens of people associated with the Clintons have died violently, mysteriously, or by “suicide” over the years. That’s a pretty big number to just be a coincidence.

Clinton Cash and Corruption

With a net worth of over $100 million, the Clintons are in the 1% of wealthiest Americans. They didn’t get there by operating a profitable business or successful executive careers. No – through a lifetime of employment in government with generous taxpayer funded salaries and benefits, book royalties and speaking fees, the Clintons have amassed a fortune that frees them from the economic worries that most of us have.

The Clintons also set up the Clinton Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that collects money from various wealthy donors for the ostensible purpose of improving global health and wellness. The book Clinton Cash, by Peter Schweizer, documents the many shady characters including convicted criminals from the United States and other countries who have donated millions of dollars to their foundation. What’s worse is that many foreign countries including several who do not have America’s best interests at heart donated money to her foundation WHILE SHE WAS SECRETARY OF STATE! If this is not rank, prosecutable corruption, I don’t know what is.

Hillary Clinton probably told her Wall Street benefactors that she would have to bash them on the campaign trail, but that she’s really “just kidding”. The fact is that Hillary has reaped millions of dollars in campaign contributions from Wall Street banks, law firms and other corporations. This is clearly a sign that a second Clinton Administration would lead to a worsening of the state cronyism that is dragging our free market economy down, giving capitalism a bad name and disenfranchising so many working class people. When one’s favors are for sale, the highest bidders with the deepest pockets reap the most lucrative rewards.

Impeachment and Slut Shaming

Ironically, Hillary Clinton is to progressive feminism as mass shooters are to Second Amendment rights. During the years of her husband’s checkered political career first as Governor of Arkansas then as President of the United States, Hillary was instrumental in defending him against accusations from various women who either had affairs with Bill (Gennifer Flowers, for one) or who accused him of rape or sexual misconduct (Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, and many others). Of all these women, the most famous and the most victimized is Monica Lewinsky, who was seduced by the President of the United States while a young, innocent White House intern.

Hillary described these women as “sluts”, “bimbos”, and other derogatory terms while destroying their reputations and attacking their credibility. By all accounts and objective measures, Bill Clinton is a serial womanizer at best and a sexual predator and rapist at worst. His behavior can only be described as “despicable” and Hillary’s defense and enabling of it over the years counts as “despicable” too.

All the progressive women who boast “#ImWithHer” on social media are proclaiming themselves to be unprincipled hypocrites for their support of this woman who is the ultimate anti-feminist. If Bill Clinton had been a Republican, they would have driven him from public life a long time ago.

Senator Carpetbagger

As her husband’s mediocre presidential term was drawing to a close, Hillary – clearly hungry for power in her own right – decided to run for the United States Senate from the state of New York.

Had Hillary ever lived in New York? No. Did Hillary have family or roots in New York? No! Did Hillary understand the concerns and priorities of New Yorkers? Doubtful, though she did embark on a “listening tour” of the state prior to running for office. After throwing down $1.7 million for a posh Westchester mansion, she went out on the campaign trail. After being elected with 55% of the vote, she became the first sitting First Lady to be elected to public office.

During her first term from 2001 to 2006, Hillary supported the United States’ incursion into Afghanistan and voted in support of the Iraq War. Despite her appearance as a moderate, she was instrumental in creating some of the progressive infrastructure that exists today – the Center for American Progress, Media Matters for America and the well-known lefty attack dog Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Prior to winning re-election in 2006, Hillary began exploring the idea of running for president, hoping to become the first woman president.

Hillary’s Senate career was largely undistinguished. She only authored three bills that were ultimately passed, and all three were symbolic in nature. The only thing she accomplished in eight years of being a United States Senator was to build her campaign structure and gather donors for her presidential run.

Early on in the 2008 presidential race, Hillary had a sense of inevitability. She tied with Barack Obama in the early primaries but ultimately lost out to the previously obscure first-term Senator from Illinois who popped up and with the help of the modern progressive movement stole the nomination right out from under her. Barack Obama and his coalition of Third Left progressives managed to steal the once-proud Democratic Party away from the left-center wing led by the Clintons and transform the Party into the extreme Leftist party it is today.

A Failure as Secretary of State

Perhaps the clearest evidence of Hillary Clinton’s unfitness for the office of President of the United States is her tenure as Secretary of State.

President-elect Obama asked Hillary Clinton to serve as his Secretary of State while she was still a sitting Senator from New York. I’m sure he did this to co-opt her as a member of his administration (“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”), to quiet her and to get her supporters in line with his. While this may have been a good move for him politically, it was a disastrous move for the United States and our standing and interests in the world.

The Obama administration has presided over the most rapid disintegration of the world order since the 1930s. Between the Arab spring, Russian and Chinese expansionism, escalating Islamic jihad and terrorism, the disintegration of Iraq and the rise of ISIS and the increase of terrorist attacks throughout Western Europe the world is unquestionably a more dangerous place today than it was eight years ago.

President Obama, who clearly believed that because HE was president the world would change for the better certainly deserves his share of responsibility for this deterioration. But his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton deserves the lion’s share of the blame for it.

Hillary was the prime mover behind the “strategy” to abandon former enemy turned ally Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. After seeing the fate of his fellow dictator Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi changed his tune, turned in his WMDs and became an American ally. He knew that the radical Islamists were the true threat and was aiding us in fighting them. Hillary advised President Obama to abandon Gaddafi and support the jihadists who were trying to oust him.

As Pete Hoekstra has so well documented in his book Architects of Disaster, The Destruction of Libya the end result of the misguided Clinton strategy was the loss of Libya as an ally and ultimately the deaths of four Americans including the Ambassador. It also led to Gaddafi’s ignominious death as he tried to flee, which will no doubt cause other dictators to think twice about reforming and working with America.

While a President Clinton would not be as ignorant and neglectful of foreign policy as President Obama has proven to be, I don’t believe she would understand or effectively manage the numerous perils facing our nation in this day and age. Many people fear she would be a “war-monger”, leading to more American blood and treasure being expended on foreign wars, with little if any benefit to our nation.

Conclusion – An Out of Touch Liar

Hillary Clinton is campaigning as a “champion of the middle class”. This is richly ironic, because Hillary knows nothing about how the middle class lives today. During her years at the Rose Law Firm, she was earning in the medium six figures (over $200,000 in her last year – and this was back in the 1980s!) At age 68, after spending over 30 years living off of taxpayers in one government role or another – First Lady of Arkansas, First Lady of the United States, United States Senator and Secretary of State – Hillary has little or no experience with any of the following things that all of us experience in our everyday lives, including:

• Shopping at the grocery store and standing in line after a hard day at work
• Preparing and serving a meal for her family after working all day
• Meeting a payroll or paying business taxes
• Driving home in rush hour traffic after a 12 hour day at work
• Losing a job, being unemployed, trying to find a new job
• Losing money on retirement savings because the stock market falls
• Worrying about how to pay for a child’s education in private school or college
• How to make ends meet on a shrinking income as taxes and prices rise
• Worry about being able to buy a house or pay the mortgage

For the last 37 years, Hillary’s life has been one of government housing, free transportation, free 24×7 bodyguards, free travel, lavish vacations, more money than most people will ever earn, and being completely unaccountable for her poor choices and decisions.

Worst of all, perhaps, is that Hillary Clinton is a perpetual, known, proven, habitual liar. Hillary lies about lying. She lies when the truth is easier or would serve her better. Hillary can’t be expected to be honest with the American people because she is incapable of that kind of honesty, and in the absence of honesty, there is no trust. Because she is a known liar, she would have no credibility with Congressional leaders, heads of state or anyone else; another hindrance in successfully running the executive branch and navigating this dangerous world our failed president is leaving us.

Hillary, by virtue of being a chronic liar, insults the intelligence of every person she lies to. The very act of lying requires the listener to suspend belief, which means to suspend the act of thinking as a reasoning human being. I find her lies offensive, and I think her supporters are ignorant, cynical, cunning, careless or some combination of all these. By supporting her, they become complicit in her lies and corruption.

Between the two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, it’s really hard to say which is worst: The Socialist or The Crook. Either one would be a disaster despite being held in check by a Republican Congress.

Even though Mr. Sanders is running a strong campaign it’s becoming clear that Hillary will be the nominee of the now morally bankrupt Democratic Party. It is my sincere hope that the Republican Party nominate a candidate who will have a fighting chance of defeating Hillary and slowing the decline of our nation. Please, let it be so.

By Richard D. Turnquist

March 26, 2016

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