Can Hillary Be Trusted?

For some time the word on the street has been that Hillary cannot be trusted, and that this election is only a choice between two undesirable and equally disliked and despicable candidates. When I hear Republicans repeatedly chanting that refrain I understand that this is about all they have left. When I hear Democrats chanting it, I gnash my teeth. Why do so many solid progressives believe they have to hold their noses and vote for Hillary who may only be the lesser of two unsavory candidates? Where did that notion originate and why do significant numbers of people believe it?

Its origin dates back to a real-estate enterprise—a losing one by the way—that Bill and Hillary shared back in Bill’s pre-Governors days in Arkansas. A bit later a whispering campaign attempted to link Hillary to the tragic death of an Arkansas attorney. And then it was rumored that Hillary had somehow been involved in the firing of people in the State’s travel agency. There was no substance to any of these accusations, each of which was spread by conservative political operatives in Arkansas. Hillary suggested that the campaign against them was “a vast right-wing conspiracy,” and she was right.

This artificially produced cloud followed the Clintons to Washington, and was kept alive during Bill’s terrible sexual escapades in which Hillary is now accused either of failing to condemn him or attacked his paramours.

Nobody who has served in significant political positions has been immune to the fierce assaults perpetrated by their political foes. But during Hillary’s Washington career she has been trusted by the people who count—first the residents of New York who elected her twice to the Senate, and then by President Obama, who selected her to assume the toughest job in the administration—Secretary of State. During her trying years in that office, while much of the world was in shambles, she did what could be done to salvage the nations whose dismantling originated when Bush decided to invade Iraq. The mess that has proceeded from that tragic decision has only gotten worse over the ensuring years.

One of the pivotal nations in the midst of the firestorm was Libya, where four Americans, including the Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, were killed. The Republican dominated Congress attempted to make Hillary the scapegoat for that tragedy, but try as they might they failed to pin the disaster on her.

So where could they bring her down? She provided the opening with her terrible mistake of using one server for both her personal and government e-mail. Voila! And for two years her enemies have squeezed that lemon dry, and since nothing seriously detrimental in her work has been squeezed out, they are now working on the bitter rind by linking the Clinton Foundation to the State Department.

Having looked carefully at the issues that have been so widely pushed by the Republican establishment, the only one with any real legs was the e-mail debacle.

Nevertheless, no one should be falling for the “two disliked candidates” line. We have one candidate who is a disgrace and would be a blight on everything that has already made America great, and another candidate who is capable, experienced, and whose presidency promises to be deeply effective. I trust her!

Our only legitimate option is to work as hard as we can to energize the Hillary voters and insure that every possible vote for her is produced between now and November 8. This is particularly true for the millennials or those who have contacts in the millennial community. These young adults hold the balance of power and their voting strength will determine where America is headed. Hillary is not just one of two inadequate and equally despised candidates. She is right for America. So let’s get to work and see that she is elected by a significant majority, together with a change in the composition of the Senate.