Hillary: I Told you So!

by Tom Kando

Nearly two years ago I published the present article. At that time, it was titled: “The Persecution of Hillary Clinton” The gist of it was that Clinton should not run for the presidency, because she would only get hurt badly and there would be no gain in it for her.

Once again, I have been proven prescient. Of course, I could not have predicted the specific mechanisms of her defeat - for example the last-minute Comey letters, Russia’s role, etc. I did note the widespread use of lies and the fabrication of pseudo-issues by her enemies (Benghazi, the private server, the Clinton Foundation, etc.). I’ll admit that the rise of Trump, Trumpism, the post-truth society, fake news and the astounding advent of pure and unvarnished LYING as the new ACCEPTED norm in political discourse has exceeded my wildest imagination. Even so, I did have a sense of the direction which things were taking and, sorry to say, I have been vindicated. That is why I am (partially) republishing this two-year old article:

For Hillary Clinton, all hell has broken loose. Anyone with half a brain could predict that sooner or later, they were going to start her destruction. The only question was the choice of alleged “crime(s).”

Her “crime:” She used her private e-mail as Secretary of State. Just for good measure, they are also piling on another charge: her foundation accepted money from Arab countries.

“Benghazi” had become stale. In its heyday, Benghazi generated a lot of commotion, even though it was always 100% contrived. Ask ten random people what Benghazi was about, and not ONE would be able to tell you, apart from aping Fox TV and saying that “Hillary lied about something.” In reality, nothing fraudulent happened.

So they are now trying something new. The e-mail thing. This will go on, and there is no doubt that they’ll find other “fun” topics to throw at her.

Who are “they”? Obviously the Fox-GOP plutocracy mouthpiece is the prime actor. But the problem is much more endemic. It is embedded in the fabric of our culture.

In more primitive societies, political fights are often settled violently, as when Russian opposition leader Boris Nemstov was assassinated recently, or Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in 2007. Of course, our country is no stranger to political murder either, from the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King to many less illustrious martyrs. Even more regressive regimes use even more barbaric means. We now have ISIS, the Taliban, Boko-Haram, Al Qaeda and assorted other groups who murder, rape, torture, kidnap, behead, encage and burn their victims alive.

In the US, political conflict and destruction take on less violent forms: They are a highly skilled art form combining politics, entertainment and profit. Every new scandal du jour is publicized, exploited and enjoyed by EVERYONE, by ALL the media, regardless of their political inclination or self-interest.

Log on to the Internet. Whether your portal/browser is Yahoo, AOL, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or something else, the latest scandal will be thrown at you like a bucket of ice water, regardless of who does the accusing, who is being accused, and the political slant of the reporter. Channel surf on your television, and you will see ALL the anchor people milking the same scandals ad nauseam, be they liberal Rachel Maddow, conservative Bill O’Reilly or “centrist” Anderson Cooper. It’s about entertainment, the thrill of public defamation and ratings.

Now that the destruction of Hillary Clinton has begun, my advice to her is to NOT run for President. Playing this game will cause her terrible pain and premature death. Does the prospect of living in the White House warrant the years of torture she is sure to suffer as a candidate and as a president?

It’s not worth it, Hillary. Don’t do it. The pain, the attacks, the torture have just begun. Don’t you want to have at least a few happy years left?

When Obama first ran for the presidency, I felt differently. There was promise, hope, idealism and optimism in the air. As it turns out, he ended up being molested, vilified, attacked and hurt more than any other President ever. But this is the 4th quarter and he has no choice bu to stick it out. I feel deep compassion for him. His primary legacy, Obamacare, will be destroyed. When this happens, Obama’s presidency will have been largely in vain, but for one thing: It will have demonstrated the eternal fight between good and evil, the great power of the latter, and the need to continue the struggle. 

Precedents abound. The Gracchi brothers were both murdered, to be followed by bloodthirsty men such as Sulla. Danton and the Girondins might have attenuated the French Revolution’s bloodbath, but instead the Jacobins, the Montagnards and men such as Robespierre carried on that bloodbath. The Weimar Republic and men such as Gustav Stresemann might have steered Germany into a positive direction after World War One, but instead Hitler prevailed. Kerensky and the Mensheviks might have given the Russian Revolution a human face, but instead Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin and the Bolsheviks made the Soviet Union what it became. Benazir Bhutto seemed a promising leader for Pakistan, but she was assassinated. The list goes on. President Obama’s name will be added to the list of valiant but quixotic martyrs.

Now, we have the attempt by the first female candidate to occupy what is still the most powerful position in the world. However, if I were Hillary Clinton, I wouldn’t do it. Compared to the grief she is likely to get, Obama’s eight years will look like a cakewalk.

If I were Hillary Clinton, I would do a Mario Cuomo: The late and brilliant governor of New York understood what he would be in for if he became a presidential candidate, and he therefore declined the candidacy, which many desperately wanted him to accept. He knew that despite his charisma, his great qualifications and his spot-on values, the bigots would destroy him. He saved himself the agony.

Hillary, save yourself. Don’t run. They’ll destroy you.

© Tom Kando 2016;All Rights Reserved

  leave comment here