Saturday, July 2, 2016

Bill Clinton Unofficially Meeting Lynch Illustrates Elites See Themselves Above the Law



Let me say this straight away and as directly as possible: every time that I see or hear about something else, some other scandal regarding Bill or Hillary Clinton, I kind of groan inwardly. That is because like so many other people, I, too, once believed in Bill Clinton, back when he first was running for the presidency in 1992.

He was not my first pick. I liked Iowa Senator Ton Harkin better, and he was my first pick. I even liked Paul Tsongas better.

Ultimately, however, Bill Clinton got the nod. Of course back then, I considered myself a Democrat, and so when the candidates that I had been supporting were defeated, I kind of shrugged, and went ahead and supported the next candidate.

Still, there were things about Bill Clinton that I just did not like. He seemed a little too choreographed, to well-rehearsed. It seemed to me that every hair and every word was in place a little bit too often, that his image was a little too perfect. Of course, we heard about a few shady deals, such as Whitewater and his affairs. But what did they matter? After all, Whitewater was just something that Republicans latched onto in order to try and discredit him. And his affairs? Well, they were his affairs, and concerned only him, his family, and the people he was having affairs with. It was nobody's business but theirs. It was true, also, that Governor Jerry Brown continued to talk about "Slick Willy" and how he was a member of an exclusive, whites only golf club, and this, again, was another knock on the man.

However, the whole country seemed quite taken by the guy, and I was young and idealistic. These were flaws, sure, but his overall vision seemed to be fairly inspiring. His acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden in the summer of 1992 was inspiring, and let's face it, the guy really reminded me of John F. Kennedy. Plus, after 12 long years of Republican rule, I was ready for a change, not being old enough to remember when someone from the other party occupied the White House. 

So, when Clinton won, I felt elated! It felt like a huge change in direction for the country, and finally, we could move ahead and leave the Reagan/Bush years behind.

Fast forward a few years. I still wanted to like Bill Clinton, but he sure was not doing as much as I had hoped for. Clinton had supported NAFTA, even though it hardly looked like something that the United States should join. After all, Republicans were almost unanimously in favor of it, so how good could it be? Also, he had done next to nothing regarding what had seemed like a strong environmental platform, particularly with noted environmental advocate Al Gore as his Vice-President. Also, there were a few instances when he seemed to back down from a fight, such as the whole "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" compromise regarding the military. True, by today's standards, that seemed like a cop out. But at the time, trust me, it seemed like a revolutionary thing, simply having a discussion about gays even being permitted in the military. Yet, he backed down from that fight, and others, as well. In fact, he seemed not so willing to fight, and rather just kind of hopped from stone to stone across the political stream, not so much going in a particular direction that he wanted to lead the country in, but just focusing on individual politically pragmatic situations, hoping not to get his feet wet, let alone fall in and get soaked up or, worse still, washed away.

It is fair to say that I felt disillusioned. There was a sense that this guy truly was one of the elites, and that all of the brilliant speeches in his famous soto voce, to really emphasize how much he felt your pain, were decidedly insincere. But at the time, being  young and naive, I wanted to believe that there was something better. Besides, he was a Democrat, so he had to be one of us, right? And so I continued to like him, although that like was growing more luke warm each time I heard about him.

Still, I was glad that he managed to win re-election in 1996. Finally, we Democrats (and I was proud to be one, back then) finally had a guy who could have elections essentially won well before Election Day actually officially rolled around. So, I conveniently put my growing disbelief aside, and enthusiastically supported him once again in 1996. Not quite as strongly as in 1992, true, but I was still taken by the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1996, particularly by Christopher Reeves and, of course, by Clinton himself during his acceptance speech. And yes, I was happy to see Clinton win again later that year, although he was making a habit of it by then, and it came as no surprise, particularly since the people mostly blamed the Republicans for the government shut downs that had cost some people quite a lot.

The next four years, however, proved even more unsatisfactory than the previous four years had been. Already disillusioned by his either his stance or his inaction on numerous issues, his growing reputation as someone who was "Republican light" was troubling to me. He seemed more concerned with pursuing traditional Republican priorities, such as a balanced budget, than with actually helping the people. His political talking points seemed increasingly disingenuous, such as his bold assertion that he had paid down 60% of the national debt. When I first heard that, I felt amazed, and wondered why this was not bigger news, and proof that he was doing something right, with such an unbelievable success. When I found out the truth, I realized why it was so unbelievable: because it was too good to be true. He could claim that he paid 60% of the national debt because, technically, it was true. What he did not say in those glorious speeches was that he had paid them with temporary loans, meaning that we still essentially owed the exact same amount, and the national debt was still ludicrously high. And his continued inaction on environmental issues was starting to be more annoying than ever. The salt on the wound in this regard came when he finally did pass some sweeping environmental legislation....in the final three days of his eight year presidency, knowing full well that incoming President George W. Bush would waste no time sweeping these measure away. Once again, a political gimmick, one designed to make Clinton look good and his political opponents, in this case Republican President Bush, look bad. 

By that point, I had grown tired of the political posturing, and tired of Clinton tireless, relentless efforts to make sure that he could make himself look good in his speeches. It felt like either nothing substantial had really changed or, worse still, that what had changed had done so for the worse. NAFTA felt like it had been a bad deal for working Americans. The failure of the Clinton administration to pass meaningful healthcare reform felt like it had set back any meaningful reforms for years - possibly decades - to come. His repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act felt like it was designed to help elite, corporate monopolies, rather than helping the American people at large who he had been elected to serve. 

In other words, the entire Clinton presidency now felt like it had been eight years of delusion, of being on the outside and watching an insiders game. Increasingly, it felt like that game was not so much one of Democrats versus Republicans, but rather, of Democrats and Republicans combining forces to pursue their elitist agenda at the expense of the American people. Suddenly, it felt very much like a rigged game, and I stopped calling myself a Democrat, and became an independent, and supported Ralph Nader (yes, I was one of those people). 

Then, there was the nightmare of the Bush presidency. The whole stolen election thing, and the acceptance of some Democrats - most notably Al Gore and the Clintons - to allow George W. Bush and his group to occupy the White House, left a bad taste in the mouths of millions of Americans. Then, after September 11th, came sweeping measures to restrict the freedoms of Americans, all in the nae of security. Members of Congress passed the very long PATRIOT Act without having fully read it. America opened up off shore concentration camps and seemed to be growing comfortable with experimenting with torture. We suddenly were growing comfortable with starting wars that the rest of the world strongly opposed, and we were viewed with increasing skepticism around the world. Moreover, there were numerous corporate scandals, and many of them had very ties to members of the Bush administration. There was the failed response to Hurricane Katrina. The national debt and the budget deficit both grew to absurd proportions, although there was still an emphasis on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations among us. And then, of course, came the economic collapse of 2008, followed by the so-called Great Recession. Bush and company pushed their bailout, which helped the elites, rather than ordinary Americans victimized by the irresponsible actions of the big banks. We knew the big banks were going to get their money back, but would they not have done so if that money had gone to American homeowners, who could then pay the big banks that they owed so much money to? Yet, once again, the huge bailout was passed by Congress without most members having even gotten a chance to really read it. That included Hillary Clinton and the rising star among the Democrats, future President Barack Obama. Worse still, through all of this, Bill Clinton seemed downright chummy with George Bush and company. Sure, it was nice to hear him talking about how strength and wisdom were not opposing values, but where was his sense of outrage over what was happening to his country? I went to see former President Clinton speak at Radio City Music Hall in 2008, and what I remember most was him holding up his hand when people were jeering after President Bush's name was mentioned. He wanted to explain that his supposed political opponents were doing what they felt was right for America, and then wanted to lecture us on what was the most appropriate actions that the country could take. 

Yet, his wife, Hillary, was running for president, and that meant that Hillary now had some questionable decisions of her own, such as empowering President George W. Bush to pursue his very ill-advised invasion of Iraq. She also supported his bailout, and seemed entirely comfortable with his elitist, pro-corporate agenda. Then there was that rather strange comment that Bill Clinton made to Ted Kennedy about Barack Obama, suggesting that not long ago, the guy would be carrying their bags for them. It sounded like a fairly racist thing to say, and it was surprising that such a high profile guy would say it. It lent more credibility to the notion that Clinton would not be bothered at all with joining a very exclusive, whites only golf club. Also, Hillary's former status as a proud "Goldwater girl" became a little bit easier to believe, as well. Of course, Hillary lost to Barack Obama, and at the time, that perhaps seemed to be that. She was getting older, and although there was some speculation that she might run again, eight years seemed pretty far off. She had some health concerns not long after that, and perhaps her opportunity had come and gone. Besides, was it not fair to say, then, that people were growing tired of the Clintons?

Apparently not. Sure enough, Hillary ran again (and did anybody really ever believe that she would not run?). This time, no other major Democrats decided to run, which at first seemed to mean that she stood unopposed. At least, that is, until Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, decided to go ahead and run for the Democratic nomination. He was, by far, the biggest name standing in opposition to her heading into the primaries, although it should be remembered that he was not a big name when he first announced his candidacy. Amazingly, he received an ever higher profile, and his message against the elites in this country (and he showed no hesitation in lumping the Clintons into this category) resonated with more and more Americans. Thousands, and sometimes even tens of thousands, of people would gather to see Bernie Sanders and hear his message, while Hillary could not get anywhere near such large crowds. He got his funding exclusively from small donations by regular people, while she got huge donations from big corporations and elite banks. She had once stood virtually unopposed, her path to the White House pretty much clear. Suddenly, she was struggling to shed her label as an elite, as a Washington insider for all of the wrong reasons. Her ties to the powers that be looked very ominous.

Yet, she won. Despite her sagging poll numbers, and despite her tremendous struggled in so doing, even with every major establishment figure, both in the economic world and within the Democratic party, unanimously supporting her. It took closed primaries and voters being suppressed and questionable vote counts and the prospect of the superdelegates who had supposedly pledged their support of her long, long before the convention. Still, she lost a lot of states, and barely hung on, despite the odds being overwhelmingly in her favor. 

Of course, in typical Clinton family tradition, she converts everything a political opportunity. The shamelessness on the part of both Bill and Hillary Clinton in in their posturing has become such a huge and glaring contradiction, that it could almost feel like an inside joke, if the consequences were not so dire. She shamelessly wore an Armani jacket costing well over $12,000 while giving a speech to Americans about the growing inequality in the country. And so she also shamelessly speaks about reining in the corporations and big banks, conveniently omitting that she has the unwavering support, financially and otherwise, of those same elite banks and corporations. Her supporters conveniently forget this inconvenient truth, as well. She loses no time in getting the only high profile Democrat with some measure of credibility who actually supports her, Elizabeth Warren, and making her public appearance with her. The idea is that they are now reaching out to the same disillusioned supporters of Sanders, who feel that elite interests are ruining the country. Don't worry, folks, we're on your side.

Except that they aren't. Hillary Clinton would pretty much be exactly as Bill Clinton would be in terms of policies and political approach. Everything would be about looking good in speeches, and what is actually best for the American people will take a back seat. The shame is that many of her supporters, if not most of them, actually know this. But the idea of the symbolism of a woman finally, at long last, being elected president suggests a certain empowerment of the people, and of women at large, that does not reflect the reality of the possibility of Hillary being elected. Much like the speeches of the Clintons, it would look officially, and reinforce this false notion of America being the land of opportunity, where traditional prejudices against minorities like Obama and women like Hillary, are suddenly, finally, falling by the wayside. Never mind that they both support elitist agendas. Never mind that ordinary Americans are being hurt by this elitist, exclusively pro-corporate direction that their country has taken. 

The fact that she "won" this election in shadier ways than George W. Bush won his election is conveniently pushed aside, and here we go again with yet another scandal associated with a Clinton. This time, it is Bill Clinton, once again. He decided to step out of his plane and meet with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac at a Phoenix airport. Unofficially, of course. According to both of them, they only spoke socially, and did not discuss the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, even though by all appearances this meeting was very shady and suspicious. According to Lynch, Bill Clinton chose to do this on his own, and was not invited. He just decided, spur of the moment, to go ahead and meet with Lynch, because they both happened to be at the same airport at the same time. What a coincidence. And he innocently made a point of walking over, surely delaying all sorts of flights because of the security presence that he requires, in order to shoot the shit with her. 

Sorry if I am using strong language here, but I am trying to make a point about the level of elitism and the false sense of entitlement involved here. This is yet another in a long line of suspicious matters relating, in one way or another, to the Clinton political machine. And the well-oiled machine keeps on running. 

This machine sure seemed to be running right over the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans. It is above the law, obviously unstoppable. Sometimes, it feels like this political machine not only set up Hillary's win on the Democratic side, but also had a hand in setting up Trump's win on the Republican side, to assure that she would have someone who was virtually assured of a loss (even though Hillary is still struggling with whopping disapproval numbers of her own). After all, it is not entirely convincing that Trump even really wants to be in the White House. He seems to be doing everything humanly possible to look bad, and Clinton, of course, is posturing in such a way as to look like the responsible, sensible candidate.

Bill Clinton's decision to visit Lynch on the tarmac is already being considered an extremely bad one, although Lynch publicly laughed it off, sounding surprised that it blew up to the degree that it did. She acknowledged that the meeting would cast a shadow over the investigation and it's findings, and expressed regret over that.

But, again, it was reduced to joking, basically. Just laugh the matter off, because how serious could a major conflict of interest, a serious breach in the public trust, possibly be, anyway? This is Bill Clinton, he with the soto voce and those baby blue eyes. He wouldn't lie to us, would he?

And the well-oiled machine keeps running, humming and as smooth as ever. 

It seems that Hillary Clinton is predestined to become the first female president. Not because the stars aligned to make it so, but because she is an insider in a rigged game, and the powers that be orchestrated this, maneuvered things to be just so, democratic process be damned. Some, particularly the mainstream media, will hail her triumphant election as a true victory for the American people, angling this story so that she becomes a pioneer for women's rights and, in a wider, more general basis, in empowering the American people as a whole with greater opportunity and freedoms. Yet, the continued disillusion with elite interests that seem to be hurting Americans and restricting their access to basic necessities, and the American Dream as a whole, also seems assured with another term of a Clinton in the White House. And in the process, an opportunity to change all of that seems already to have been lost, while the American people as a whole stand on the sidelines and passively watch it happen, yet again. 


Meeting Between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch Provokes Political Furor by Mark Landler, June 30, 2016:   
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