Press, lies and Hillary’s campaign: Years of smears have created a fictional version of Clinton. They’re also a disservice to voters.

Many Americans think Clinton is a congenital liar — that’s because of the right and the media, not her! [By Heather Digby Parton Salon]

 

That tweet from Chris Cilizza of The Washington Post’s The Fix blog is cleverly framed to be about the voters’ view of this campaign. Both candidates do have high unfavorable ratings among the public (as does the Congress and pretty much every other institution, including the press.) That jaded comment by a member of the media, however, illustrates something important. Some members of the press are not just commenting on a reality; they are pushing the theme of two equally unpalatable candidates and it just isn’t true.

 

 

The main problem for Clinton is that people think she is a congenital liar. When asked what it is she lied about, most people can’t point to anything specific; they just know she’s dishonest and corrupt. The fact that she’s been dogged by political enemies and investigated by special prosecutors, the media and Congress with unlimited budgets and every possible means of getting to the truth and has been exonerated doesn’t seem to register. Indeed, the fact-checkers all find her to be more honest than virtually anyone in politics  while Donald Trump, by contrast, lies more than he tell the truth. 

 

To understand how this came to be, go back to a column from 1996 in The New York Times by vicious right-wing columnist William Safire who first dubbed her a “congenital liar” All the crimes that he accused her of committing and lies he insisted that she had told later proved him to be the liar (or badly misinformed), but it didn’t matter. For many reasons, not the least of which was simple sexism, it was set in stone that this feminist, lawyer first lady was devious, calculating and power mad — Madame Defarge and Evita rolled into one. The political press has filtered its coverage of her through that lens ever since.

 

 

As Amanda Marcotte has documented, the current “lock her up!” fever, that burning desire to see her humiliated and imprisoned {or in some cases executed for treason} goes back to the 1990s as well. And it’s no less disturbing now than it was then. It’s fed by the press’ insatiable appetite for juicy tidbits doled out piece by piece by right-wing operatives, each story building on itself to create a narrative of crisis and criminality despite there being no evidence of it being true.

 

The assumption behind the “Clinton Foundation scandal” is that the mere possibility of “impropriety” is a form of corruption despite there being absolutely no proof that any favoritism or transaction actually took place. (The fact that all politicians in Washington from President Barack Obama to lowly congress people have contacts every day with people who give them money for their campaigns directly doesn’t put any of that in perspective for some reason.) She alone is being held liable for the big money problem that infects our system from top to bottom.

 

Twitter @sheriffali

Hillary And Bill Clinton Released Their Tax Returns From 1992 Through 2015! Donald Trump Has Refused To Release Any Tax Returns Period! Yet, The Media Questions The Clinton’s Honesty! Why Media?

The Clintons’ released a total of 34 years of Tax Returns and it is available Online for the world to see. On the Other hand Donald Trump refuses to release any of his Tax Returns, not even the years prior to what he claims to be under Audit. And yet, the Media can’t talk about Politics for even 15 minutes without questioning the integrity of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

 

Apparently there was some talk about investigating the Clinton Foundation that never materialized and for CNN, FOX, MSNBC, they call that a Scandal. The Clinton Foundation has done more for people all over the world than Countries Combined together. The information is Online and available to the Public, but yet, every single day, every single hour, The Corrupt Corporate Media trashes Bill and Hillary Clinton 27/7 and you can’t help but ask Why?

 

At the same time Donald Trump, America’s Biggest Con Man, Bankruptcy Swindler, University Fraudster, Bigot, Fascist, Misogynist, Racist and Serial Liar whom Fact Checkers have certified that Donald Trump lies 91% of the time, The Media gives him a Free Pass. When asked questions by the Media, Trump insults them and yet, the American Media is Pro Trump all the way.

 

The Media along with the Republican Party is directly responsible for Donald Trump being able to embarrass America and every American on a daily basis, and it is self evident that Donald Trump, America’s Corporate Owned Media and the Republican Party, are totally bankrupt of all shame, morality and has a minus zero when it comes to credibility.

 

Hillary Clinton will be an amazing President and a good steward of American Values, working as hard as she has all of her adult life to insure you have and live the American dream. Help Hillary Clinton not only to win the Presidency but help her to have a Democratic Controlled House and Senate to implement Policies that the Do Nothing Republican Congress have obstructed for the past 8 years, leaving President Obama to have to do almost everything via Executive Order.

 

Unite and Vote Blue on November Eight! America is already Great! Hillary Clinton Will make it even Greater!

 

Twitter @sheriffali

Hillary Clinton Hits Jeb Bush First, And Hard, In Speech On Race. By The Time Jeb Bush Got To The Lectern Declaring “I Believe In The Right To Rise In This Country,” The Scent Of Political Gun-Powder Was Still In The Air!

[NYT] FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Jeb Bush and his aides had envisioned a big, inclusive, high-minded speech about race on Friday in his home state of Florida, a chance to bring his message of colorblind opportunity to a prestigious group of African-American leaders.

 

In a rare gesture of bipartisanship, Mr. Bush even planned to warmly quote President Obama, usually the subject of his derision.

 

Then Hillary Rodham Clinton stomped all over those plans.

 

In a biting pre-emptive attack delivered as Mr. Bush, the former Florida governor, waited backstage here at the annual convention of the National Urban League, Mrs. Clinton portrayed him as a hypocrite who had set back the cause of black Americans.

 

Mrs. Clinton, a Democratic candidate for president, latched onto Mr. Bush’s campaign slogan and the name of his “super PAC” — “Right to Rise,” his shorthand for a conservative agenda of self-reliance and hope — and turned it into a verbal spear.

 

“People can’t rise if they can’t afford health care,” Mrs. Clinton said to applause from convention goers, a dig at Mr. Bush’s opposition to the Affordable Care Act.

 

“They can’t rise if the minimum wage is too low to live on,” she said, a jab at his opposition to raising the federal minimum wage.

 

“They can’t rise if their governor makes it harder for them to get a college education,” she said, a critique of Mr. Bush’s decision as governor to eliminate affirmative action in college admissions.

 

When Mr. Bush reached the lectern, declaring, “I believe in the right to rise in this country,” the scent of political gunpowder was still in the air.

 

It was an unexpected moment of Campaign Theater that seemed to presage Mrs. Clinton’s general-election strategy should she prevail in her party’s primary contest: an elbows-out, cutting approach to her Republican rival. And it was all the more striking because the Bush and Clinton families make a point of highlighting their friendly ties: Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush appear on this week’s cover of Time magazine.

 

Twitter @sheriffali

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