Once again, the Washington Post collaborates with those on the warpath against Hillary Clinton. This is nothing new. Their editorial board just about convicted her of wrongdoing in the now debunked email scandal with a series of editorials from March 3-10, 2015 which I wrote about in the Washington Blade. Now they are doing it with the "Cash" book. In a Sunday editorial "With friends like these" they repeat the innuendos without informing readers as Politico reported, "The Washington Post and Fox News have exclusive agreements with the author to pursue the story lines found in the book." Or that the author, "Peter Schweizer is the president of the Government Accountability Institute, a conservative research group, and previously served as an adviser to Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin." Also in the Sunday paper was another Ruth Marcus anti-Hillary diatribe "Sloppiness and greed". Friday columnist Chris Cillizza claimed Hillary had the worst week in Washington.
Clearly Cillizza missed the gathering of more than 150 movers and shakers at Vernon Jordan's home committed to raising the needed funds for Hillary's primary campaign and ready to hit the streets for her. Anyone thinking it was such a bad week wasn't at the Women's Summit in New York where Hillary's speech had women giving her a rousing ovation and they weren't in New Hampshire where she got a strong welcome from voters and the groups she met with, great press, and strong support from the entire state Democratic political leadership.
The book whose author works for a Koch funded organization and who the Post cut a deal with, has been mostly debunked before it's even released. Schweizer himself said on ABC with George Stephanopoulos there is no direct evidence of any wrongdoing. It is now widely agreed nothing in the book shows Hillary did anything wrong or was in anyway influenced by donations to the Clinton Foundation.
The book calls into question some of the reporting of the Clinton Foundation and they have admitted their reporting needs to be cleaned up and they will do that. They will also report names of donors on a quarterly basis instead of an annual basis. This book is only the beginning of what will be a continuous string of right-wing attacks on Hillary during the campaign and unfortunately, as has happened before, the media will buy into them with blaring headlines, repeating the innuendo, and later have some small column in the back pages when they are proven to be nothing as has always happened in the past. Brent Budowsky wrote about what he called a Holy war against Hillary in The Hill.
These attacks must hurt Hillary personally when her record in public life has never been shown to be anything but honest. She has made a career of speaking out for those who can't speak out for themselves and fighting for equality and the civil and human rights of those who have been oppressed. It is hard to imagine how thick one's skin needs to be to still be willing to put oneself forward.
Clearly Hillary doesn't do it for the fame or the money. For 19 years she has been the most admired woman in the world according to Gallup. The question is why does she do it? I believe it is for the chance to do good and to move America forward in ways she has been fighting for all her life. The reason so many people support her is because they believe it is time for a woman of her experience, intelligence and drive to be elected President of the United States. Time to allow a competent woman to show she can do better than the men who have come before.
Hillary Clinton's life and work from the Children's Defense Fund to Secretary of State show her to be the most prepared person to be President at this or maybe any time in our history. She has the ability to deal with the complex issues we face both here and abroad. Some have said Hillary is running for the power. If that is the case it is the power of the Presidency to lead and change the nation for the better. To change the Supreme Court for decades to come; to fight for children and to lift those in need out of poverty; to ensure that every American has their civil and human rights; and to restore fairness to both our economic and judicial systems.
For so many who believe Hillary can do those things if elected it will be crucial to stand with her over the next eighteen months; to rebut the innuendos and falsehoods and help her make the case the time is now to elect the brightest, most competent, most ready, and first woman President of the United States.