Here is what
we know to be true:
-
Scandals have followed Bill and Hillary Clinton
since their days in the Razorback state.
Their supporters will passionately argue that the scandals are
right-wing conspiracy theories to bring down the family. The detractors would argue that the family is
the living representation of corruption.
-
With the exception of turning over his Bar affiliation
and paying a fine, every single scandal has resulted in no jail time, removal
from office, fine or punishment.
-
More and more questionable activities are being
raised ranging from the drone strike on the Wikileaks founder to the Clinton
Foundation to the secret deals made with Hillary Clinton’s associates.
So what does
this all mean – most would say they either believe in the adage of where there is smoke, there is fire or
the adage that this is politics as usual. I submit that both are true.
Where There is Smoke, There is Fire
There is a
fire – new and new scandals keep coming up.
It is a new week, so there will be a new scandal. The pattern is quite predictable – new scandal
comes up, blame right-wing conspirators or FoxNews, admit that nothing was done
wrong, confess that it should have been handled better and wait for the story
to go away. At no point, do they ever
admit they did anything wrong – they never give up the con.
The sheer
volume of scandals – unprecedented in known American History (although Andrew
Jackson may have had a similar number) – should disqualify Bill and Hillary
Clinton from holding office again.
The Clintons
do not help themselves either because they campaign on one thing and then do
the opposite. The wealthy should not
have so many tax loopholes yet they themselves and their friends (Warren
Buffet) take advantage of these codes.
Saying one thing and doing another…well that leads us to the other
adage.
Politics as Usual
Politics as usual is a sad statement
that too many people are willing to accept.
When our elected and appointed leaders do something wrong, we say politics as usual. When they campaign on one thing and do the
opposite, we say politics as usual. And this is not just Bill and Hillary Clinton or the Democrats, Republicans do
the same (Mitch McConnell, John Boehner).
And we are
now even at the point where we hear about outside influences and corporations
influencing politicians, we shake our heads and say politics as usual. Both
Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz both agreed on this.
People have
become frustrated. As much as candidates
say they are for people, they also see how much monies are being spent – when it
was a big deal for a campaign to spend a combined $500M, it is now trending
towards each party spending $1B each!
People see this and know that whatever happens, it will be politics as usual.
So what happens
– a disruption occurs. The tea parties
rises with the likes of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.
Momentum builds for people like Bernie Sanders who push a genuine people
first agenda (at least that is what we thought during his campaign). And then you get to Donald Trump.
Even though
he has benefited and worked the system, he is not part of the party
establishment. And he really does not
have much to gain in terms of wealth or popularity if elected President. So people say, he may do good or he may do
bad, but it will not be politics as usual.
Personal Tangent
We should
start to encourage our friends, family, colleagues to run for office – people that
we can trust to lead us and inspire our country to be great again. Americans can fix the economy themselves,
they can do a lot on their own, just need leaders to provide inspire us and
then get out of the way.
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