Caught in a lie — again ? Were Hillary’s well-crafted statements during her E-Mail press conference at the U.N. just mistakes — or were they outright lies ?

She said she turned over all her State Department E-mails, but wouldn’t give up the private E-mails on her private server...  Then her lawyer says that all her E-mails on the server were scrubbed !   She said she followed all the State Department rules....  Er, she didn’t !   She said she did it all to only use one kind of E-mail device....  But she didn’t do that either !

The unbelievable stuff that Hillary Clinton and her lawyers have said about her E-Mails is really beginning to pile up

Also Trey Gowdy tightens the noose around Hillary’s Neck  —   He tells Clinton’s lawyer to produce her for sworn testimony

HILLARY USED MULTIPLE DEVICES FOR E-MAILS

According to a report on CNN, “...  Hillary Clinton emailed her staff with multiple devices while serving as secretary of state, according to a source with knowledge of the emails, a revelation that raises questions about a main defense Clinton has used in her email controversy....” (See “
Source: Clinton used iPad for personal email at State” by Dan Merica, 3/31/15,  CNN
[http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/31/politics/hillary-clinton-ipad-e-mail-devices/]).

CNN specifically noted the following: “Clinton's exclusive use of a personal email account and server while at State has grown into a controversy that has defined the run up to Clinton's expected April presidential announcement. In a press conference at the United Nations earlier this month, Clinton explained that she used a personal email because she only wanted to have one phone, not two. ***   ‘When I got to work as secretary of state, I opted for convenience to use my personal email account, which was allowed by the State Department,’ Clinton said, ‘because I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for my personal emails instead of two.’ ***   She added: ‘Looking back, it would've been better if I'd simply used a second email account and carried a second phone, but at the time, this didn't seem like an issue.’..."

TREY GOWDY TELLS HILLARY’S LAWYER TO PRODUCE HIS CLIENT FOR RECORDED TESTIMONY BY MAY FIRST [5/1/15]

CNN also reported on this: “Clinton's iPad revelation comes the same day that Trey Gowdy, Chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, sent a letter to Clinton's lawyer requesting that the former secretary of state appear before the panel for a transcribed interview on her email usage. ***   ‘This Committee is left with no alternative but to request Secretary Clinton appear before this Committee for a transcribed interview to better understand decisions the Secretary made relevant to the creation, maintenance, retention, and ultimately deletion of public records,’ Gowdy said in a letter to David E. Kendall. ‘The Committee is willing to schedule the interview at a time convenient for Secretary Clinton, but no later than May 1, 2015.’ ***   Gowdy also said that if Clinton ‘continues to reject the offer of a neutral review, the House of Representatives as a whole will need to consider its next steps.’...”

After discussing the scope of Gowdy’s Select Congressional Committee’s prior subpoenas, CNN mentioned this: “Gowdy said in his letter that once there is a ‘reasonable assurance’ that Clinton had control of her documents, the panel could ‘schedule her appearance in a public hearing to constructively discuss these topics.’...”

WASHINGTON POST COVERAGE OF THE LATEST E-MAIL DISCLOSURE SEEMS SOMEWHAT SKEPTICAL

The Washington Post report about this most recent contradiction of remarks that Hillary made at her U.N. press conference about her E-mails is somewhat more critical and incredulous than what appeared on CNN.

The WaPo report starts off like this: “Hillary Clinton, who defended her use of a private e-mail server by saying she only wanted to use one device for all her correspondence, actually used at least two devices: her regular mobile phone and an iPad. ***   That's according to a report from the Associated Press, which reviewed Clinton's e-mails released by the State Department. There were only four messages to see. But it was enough for the AP to conclude that Clinton not only used an iPad to send e-mails — she mixed work and personal e-mails on the tablet, too....” (See “Hillary Clinton also used an iPad for e-mails, undercutting her single-device defense” by Brian Fung, 3/31/15, Washington Post/ The Switch [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/03/31/hillary-clinton-also-used-an-ipad-for-e-mails-undercutting-her-single-device-defense/]).

After specifically mentioning an exchange of public-private messages between Huma Abedin and then-Secretary of State Clinton, the Washington Post writer Brian Fung said this: “The anecdote undercuts Clinton's argument for having a private, nongovernmental e-mail server. Weeks ago, she said that it seemed "easier to carry one device for my work… instead of two." The iPad revelation suggests that as secretary of state, Clinton sent work e-mail on more than one device. (Previously, Slate wrote about the many devices of Hillary Clinton, including an iPad mini and iPod.[parenthetical remarks in WaPo article] )....”

Brian Fung’s concluding observation was “how odd it is that Clinton felt compelled to have a separate e-mail server...” ostensibly so Secretary Clinton would only need to operate one E-mail device, when so many Americans needed to do exactly that because of their work demands  —  and now it appears, so did Hillary herself.

Within days of the first reports, the story of Hillary Clinton’s secret spy ring is percolating as a subset of the E-Mail Scandal

“Mrs. Clinton’s ‘Vicious’ Circle - The secretary had a private spy network” –  WSJ

Breakthrough was tied to hacking of certain secret Blumenthal-Clinton E-mails by a convicted Romanian criminal hacker

In a  “...  ‘stunning’ and ‘breath-taking’ course of events, Jeff Gerth of Propublica came on Breitbart News Sunday to discuss his recent article detailing how an ex-Hillary Clinton aide crafted a secret spying network in the lead up to the Benghazi terror attack and corresponded with Clinton via her private email account...” –  Breitbart News

“The Weekly Standard” also did a feature on the Blumenthal-Clinton E-mails hacked by Marcel-Lehel “Guccifer” Lazar — also naming and giving the pedigree of Clinton Operatives:  Sidney Blumenthal, Tyler Drumhiller, and Cody Shearer 

Within days of the earlier reports on the subject, including the Sunday post on this blog ( See “THE ULTRA VIRES SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON: Was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [and/or her private operatives] running an Un-official, “Off-Book” or “Back Channel” Operation In Libya ? by Galewyn Massey, 3/29/15, Brooklyn Independent GOP Fountainhead [above on this blog] [http://galewynmassey.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-ultra-vires-secretary-of-state.html ]) the story has been picked up and carried by major outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Breitbart News and “The Weekly Standard” just on Monday.

COVERAGE BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

According to a report in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, “... the journalistic odd couple of ProPublica and Gawker report that as secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton appears to have relied on not only a private communication network but a private intelligence network. We know this thanks to a Romanian criminal, Marcel-Lehel “Guccifer” Lazar, who in 2013 hacked the email of Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime Clinton family consigliere. ***  The Blumenthal hack had been reported [and noted in the Wall Street Journal on] March 3. The new story goes into considerable detail and raises questions about Benghazi. According to ProPub/Gawker’s reviews of the purloined messages, “starting weeks before” the September 2012 attack [on Benghazi], ‘Blumenthal supplied intelligence’ to Secretary Clinton that was ‘gathered by a secret network that included a former CIA clandestine service officer.’ ***   The reporters asked the most obvious question and got a partial answer: ‘A Clinton spokesman told Gawker and ProPublica... that she has turned over’—  meaning to the State Department  — ‘all the emails Blumenthal sent to [Mrs.] Clinton.’ Again, in reality she turned over no emails, only printouts. ***   Left unanswered is the question whether she turned over printouts of emails she sent to Blumenthal. ‘There’s no indication in Blumenthal’s emails whether [Mrs.] Clinton read or replied to them before she left State on February 1, 2013 ’ ...” (See “Mrs. Clinton’s ‘Vicious’ Circle - The secretary had a private spy network” by James Taranto,  3/30/15, Wall Street Journal/ Best of the Web [http://www.wsj.com/articles/mrs-clintons-vicious-circle-1427744871]).

The Wall Street Journal goes on to say that  “...[t]he ProPub/Gawker report raises but does not answer other questions: ‘It’s unclear who tasked Blumenthal, known for his fierce loyalty to the Clintons, with preparing detailed intelligence briefs. It’s also not known who was paying him, or where the operation got its money.’...”   However WSJ does note that “... [i]t does seem to have been a serious operation: ‘The memos were marked “confidential” and relied in many cases on “sensitive” sources in the Libyan opposition and Western intelligence and security services. . . . The reports appear to have been gathered and prepared by Tyler Drumheller, a former chief of the CIA’s clandestine service in Europe,” who now runs an eponymous consulting firm. Among the emails is an exchange in which Drumheller and Blumenthal haggle over the former’s request for $60,000 to cover expenses for sending operatives to Tunisia....”

The Wall Street Journal also asks some questions that it is not able to answer, such as this: “Did Blumenthal’s intelligence play a role in the government’s botched response to the Benghazi attack? There’s no way to know without further investigation, but the ProPub/Gawker report does suggest that the State Department itself was not exactly on the ball [giving details of the poor State Department operation(s) in place in Libya and the region around the time of the Benghazi attack in 2012].

WHY BLUMENTHAL WAS A “FREELANCE” OPERATOR FOR CLINTON

The Wall Street Journal also said this:  “One thing we do know is why Blumenthal was acting freelance rather than working for the State Department, where he would have been subject to background checks, security clearance and the obligation to preserve his own correspondence: Mrs. Clinton ‘tried to hire him . . . in 2009, but White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reportedly nixed the idea on the grounds Blumenthal was a divisive figure whose attacks on Obama during the Democratic primary had poisoned his relationship with the new administration.’...”

BREITBART NEWS RADIO INTERVIEWS ORIGINAL CO-AUTHOR  —   JEFF GERTH, TWO-TIME PULITZER WINNER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

“In what Breitbart Executive Chairman, Stephen K. Bannon, referred to as a ‘stunning’ and ‘breath-taking’ course of events, Jeff Gerth of Propublica came on Breitbart News Sunday to discuss his recent article detailing how an ex-Hillary Clinton aide crafted a secret spying network in the lead up to the Benghazi terror attack and corresponded with Clinton via her private email account. ***   Longtime Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal’s hacked emails exposed the massive spy network, Breitbart News reported on Sunday....” (See “Journalist Who Unveiled Hillary Spy Network Draws Irna Contra Parallel” by Robert Wilde, 3/30/15, Breitbart News [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/30/exclusive-journalist-who-unveiled-hillary-spy-network-draws-parallels-to-iran-contra/]).

COMPARISON TO IRAN-CONTRA AND A PRIOR LIBYAN OFF-BOOK OPERATION  —   “POLITICAL FIRESTORMS,” WHICH ENDED IN PRISON OR PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS
When the Breitbart interviewer asked Gerth, “Have you ever in your investigations, and you’re stretch as a two time Pulitzer Prize winner investigative journalist for the paper of record in this country, have you ever seen anything in your professional career like this?” Gerth answered by reminding Stephen K. Bannon that he has been doing this for forty years and that there were two instances of which this reminded him.

Gerth then said that the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton email/spy network episode drew some parallels “with the stuff that came out in Iran-Contra with Richard Secord and other people who were out operating… in Nicaragua with the Contras.” Gerth also added that it reminded him of a story that he investigated on the CIA operative and business tycoon, Edwin Wilson, who went to prison for selling arms to Libya back in the late 70’s.

Significantly, Gerth agreed with Breitbart’s Executive Chairman’s characterization that these events were pivotal political “firestorms.”   The Jeff Gerth pointed out that  “Ed Wilson went to jail for decades, and some of the people, of course, in the Nicaraguan Contra situation, either went to jail or were convicted and got pardoned.”

Gerth also said that “there was actual human intelligence sources inside of Libya, for example, who were gathering information and passing it on through this channel. Ultimately winding up in Secretary Clinton’s email account.”

THE WEEKLY STANDARD NAMES HILLARY CLINTON’S NON-GOVERNMENTAL CLANDESTINE OPERATIVES  —   AND SHOWS THEIR PRIOR ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE CLINTONS

There was a similar account of the ProPublica-Gawker report in the Neo-Cons’ main outlet, “The Weekly Standard” ( See “Meet the Men Behind Hillary Clinton's Private 'Spy Network' ” by Mark Hemingway, 3/30/15, The Weekly Standard
[https://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/whos-behind-hillary-clintons-secret-spy-ring_901675.html]).  As the title implies, the article was a who’s who of Clinton operatives. Specifically, this report suggests that three men -- Sidney Blumenthal, Tyler Drumhiller, and Cody Shearer -- were involved in Hillary Clinton’s private intelligence gathering efforts. In addition, according to “The Weekly Standard,” each of these men has a reputation for being associated with their own and other Clinton scandals. The Standard goes into some detail about such scandalous material for each of them.

SPIES, SPY RINGS AND ILLEGAL HACKING BY A CONVICTED FOREIGN HACKER ADD SPICE TO THE UNDERLYING HILARY CLINTON E-MAIL SCANDAL

Americans feel threatened by lots of things — For example, lots of Americans FEAR Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President BARACK OBAMA almost equally

According to a recent Reuters Poll, Americans apparently view both Putin and Obama as almost equally threatening [especially give the poll’s margin of error of 2.1%]  —   But Republicans see Obama as a BIGGER THREAT to the United States than Putin

According to the folks at the Reuters News Service, “People in the United States feel under threat, both from beyond our borders and within them. In fact, when asked about both U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was a pretty darn close call — 20 percent saw Putin as an imminent threat compared to 18 percent who said the same about Obama....” (See “Americans see Putin as only slightly more imminent threat than Obama, poll says” by Peter Van Buren, 3/30/15, Reuters News/ reuters.com
[http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/03/30/americans-see-putin-as-only-slightly-more-imminent-threat-than-obama/]).  However, at the end of the Reuters article it was noted that “[t]he data was weighted to reflect the U.S. population and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points for all adults....”  —  That would put Obama and Putin into a statistical tie.

LOTS OF REPUBLICANS THINK THAT THE BIGGEST THREAT TO AMERICA IN THE WORLD IS ITS PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

It’s not so surprising that Republican partisans see Barack Hussein Obama as a bigger threat than Russia’s Vladimir Putin.  According to the Newsmax report on the Reuters Poll,  “...[a] third of Republicans believe President Barack Obama poses an imminent threat to the United States, outranking concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin ....   A Reuters/Ipsos online poll this month asked 2,809 Americans to rate how much of a threat a list of countries, organizations and individuals posed to the United States on a scale of 1 to 5, with one being no threat and 5 being an imminent threat....  The poll showed 34 percent of Republicans ranked Obama as an imminent threat, ahead of Putin[at 25%]....”  ( See “Reuters Poll: Republicans See Obama as More Imminent Threat than Putin,” from Reuters feed, 3/30/15, Newsmax [http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/republicans-obama-bigger-threat/2015/03/30/id/635187/]).
What is perhaps more interesting is that many Republicans also see Obama as being a bigger threat than almost anything else  —   for example as a threat  ahead of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by that same 34% to 23%.... but Obama is not seen as threatening as some other generic threats like terrorism or a nuclear armed Iran.

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of Republicans saw the Democratic Party as an imminent threat to the United States. However, 22 percent (22%) of Democrats deemed Republicans to be an imminent threat.

LOTS OF DEMOCRATS FEAR OTHER DEMOCRATS —  AND LOTS OF REPUBLICANS FEAR OTHER REPUBLICANS

There are many interesting results in this Reuters Poll. Try this one on for size  —   “It’s also interesting to see that both sides of the political aisle are worried about themselves: 38 percent of Democrats and 42 percent of Republicans think their own party is something of a threat. Politics makes for strange bedfellows, but when you’re scared of the party you’ve gotten into bed with, something seems amiss....”

THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF OTHERS BOTHER LOTS OF AMERICANS

The Reuters folks ask, “...Should we be surprised that 25 percent of respondents see Islam as an imminent threat?”  Then they point out that “ ... [l]ower on the list of beliefs and movements we feel are imminent threats sit Judaism and Christianity (7 and 6 percent, respectively), thus pulling in all three major Western religions. Still, many Americans feel atheism is an even bigger threat — 12 percent....”  Also “... people see gay rights (12 percent) and women’s rights (5 percent) as imminent threats....”

The Reuters report concludes thus: “We’re scared here in the home of the brave. We see danger everywhere, even viewing the religious beliefs of our neighbors and the expansion of basic rights to all Americans as imminent threats. There are real bad guys out there, monsters who would do us harm. But far too many of these survey results suggest we are also very scared of each other. Now that is a real threat.”

As somebody often said on “Laugh In” when we were all young and beautiful, “Verrry Intdereszting, but verrry schtupidt...”

Kings County Republican Committee Chairman Craig Eaton — The “Man With The Plan” for the future of the Brooklyn GOP

EXCLUSIVE INSIGHT INTO WHAT CRAIG EATON IS THINKING ABOUT THE BROOKLYN GOP IN THE SPRING OF 2015

In a recent lengthy meeting Craig Eaton spoke largely off the record and for background. For that reason, many of the details of the talk have been omitted; there are no direct quotes by Mr. Eaton; and as a heads-up to my readers: many of the snarkier propositions might not be exactly as put forward by Mr. Eaton [ but they are what I think he would have said if he were as intemperate and verbally incontinent as I].

Basically, Eaton said that he is ready to push forward with his plans to reorganize the Brooklyn GOP going into the 2015 organizing process that includes early-summer petitioning, mid-summer court challenges, a late-summer organizational primary and a mid-to-late September GOP County Convention.  Part of Eaton’s reorganizing plan is looking toward doubling the size of an active Brooklyn Republican County Committee to be present or represented-at the 2015 GOP County Convention.

Acknowledging that several of the county’s district leaders are heading in various other directions, Craig Eaton has done the math and says that his plans to take the GOP forward will not only succeed in 2015, they will flourish like never before.

2013 IS PROLOGUE

All discussions must start from the fact that the majority of the GOP County Committee in 2013 was in a caucus that supported Eaton’s chairmanship; and Mr. Eaton predicted that in 2015, the majority of the GOP County Committee will be a caucus supporting Eaton’s chairmanship going forward. Any other rump groups, be they former allies or former opponents of Mr. Eaton are welcome to join in backing Eaton in 2015 or to attempt to cobble together something else on their own [at least one attempt by some of the "others" appears to have failed already, before any of the real work had started].

The Brooklyn Republican County Chairman readily acknowledged that there are a hand-full of State Committee Members/ District Leaders that are off on various tangents, but none of those is capable of gravitating to or coalescing around a majority movement or coalition in 2015   —   all these people individually want what they want, but they either won’t or can’t give the others similarly situated what they want.

THE MARTY GOLDEN FACTOR —  THEN AND NOW

There was a very detailed discussion of the impact of the insurgency generated by State Senator Martin Golden and his operators inside the Brooklyn GOP in 2013. Eaton noted that even with what Marty Golden thought he had going for him in 2013, Golden completely failed to qualify and/or hijack anything near a majority of County Committee Members/ Delegates or Delegate proxies for the 2013 GOP County Convention.

Eaton then compared the activities of the Golden faction in the 2013 with those so far in 2015.  By this time in the 2013 cycle, Marty Golden and his people were everywhere; they were telling everybody about their version of Eaton’s problems as a GOP County Chairman; and they were pushing the narrative of their inevitable takeover of the Brooklyn GOP in 2013.  All of that became very embarrassing to many Brooklyn GOP activists that supported both Marty as a State Senator, and Eaton as Chairman. In 2015, according to Eaton, we don’t see or hear much from Marty at all vis a vis the Brooklyn GOP.  What it looks like is that many long-time Golden folks are working on an exit strategy  —  but who Marty is putting into the lifeboats and who he is leaving out are not making many of Marty’s supporters a happy crowd.  In 2015, people have gotten to see what happens when Marty gets only some of what he wants; and also who Golden helps out or up when things are getting tough for them and for him.

However, don’t get the idea that Eaton talks about such things as a part of some gripe session. He points these things out to show how Marty Golden’s position as a perceived Republican power broker, both in Golden’s senate district and inside the Brooklyn GOP as a whole, has weakened between 2013 and 2015.

OUTSIDERS AND THEIR INFLUENCE INSIDE THE BROOKLYN AND NYS GOP

Eaton then turned his analysis toward people outside the Republican Party that are trying to pull the strings inside the GOP.  Eaton was very blunt, people like Jerry Kassar and Grigory Davidzon, who aren’t Republicans and who are pursuing a non-Republican agenda have no business trolling and poaching inside the Brooklyn GOP, especially to benefit Democratic Office Holders and candidates. What these outsiders don’t understand is that real Republicans don’t like them and never have; and when they show up throwing their weight behind something, the real Republicans resent it and often work against it. (Much more was discussed, but that must await a future feature about the nascent “Reform Party” and Rob Astorino.)

Eaton believes that if the 2013 game plans were followed in 2015, he would again be elected Brooklyn Republican Party Chairman.  However, Eaton will be taking nothing like that for granted; on the contrary, Eaton assumes that many things will be different and plans to bring in between a thousand or two thousand new or newly active Republicans to qualify as  members of the 2015-16 GOP County Committee. These new Brooklyn GOP folks will come from all over the county, and their names and other data will be on a special data base that is being prepared specifically for that outreach.  Once that data base is ready, there will be an in depth and personalized social networking campaign, which in the final stages will be augmented by direct mail and, in many areas, also by personal Brooklyn GOP coordinators.

FUNDRAISING

Eaton is frank that all of that requires money, money, money....   And Craig Eaton’s next order of business is to arrange a major Brooklyn GOP fund raiser. It will be built around the appearance of a GOP presidential contender, one who is in the “leading pack” in 2015.  Whether that will be at the annual Kings County GOP  “Lincoln Dinner” or as a stand alone is still to be worked out.

Eaton closed by saying 2015 and 2016 will be all about building bridges inside the GOP to recapture the initiative and momentum of 2010; and EVERYBODY is welcome to join WITH HIM in that process.

THE ULTRA VIRES SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON: Was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [and/or her private operatives] running an Un-official, “Off-Book” or “Back Channel” Operation In Libya ?

Sidney Blumenthal’s E-mails to Hillary’s private account possibly show the existence of a “rogue network of ex-CIA types” and others “loyal to the Clintons” working in Libya prior to the 9/11/12 attack on the “U.S. State Department” compound where the U.S. Ambassador was killed

Where do these cover-ups begin and end ? 

A joint report by “ProPublica and Gawker says that  “[s]tarting weeks before Islamic militants attacked the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, longtime Clinton family confidante Sidney Blumenthal supplied intelligence to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gathered by a secret network that included a former CIA clandestine service officer, according to hacked emails from Blumenthal’s account. ***   The emails, which were posted on the internet in 2013, also show that Blumenthal and another close Clinton associate discussed contracting with a retired Army special operations commander to put operatives on the ground near the Libya-Tunisia border while Libya’s civil war raged in 2011....” ( See “Private Emails Reveal Ex-Clinton Aide’s Secret Spy Network”
by Jeff Gerth & Sam Biddle, 3/27/15,  ProPublica & Gawker [http://www.propublica.org/article/private-emails-reveal-ex-clinton-aides-secret-spy-network]).

THE BLUMENTHAL E-MAILS WERE SENT TO HILLARY CLINTON’S PRIVATE E-MAIL ACCOUNT

Blumenthal’s E-mails to Clinton were directed to her private email account and included at least a dozen detailed reports on events on the deteriorating political and security climate in Libya, as well as events in other nations.

The Blumenthal E-mails came to light after a hacker broke into Blumenthal’s account. They  have taken on a new significance in light of the disclosures that Hillary Clinton conducted a mix of State Department and personal business on a single E-mail server that she controlled, kept at her home and kept secret from other State Department officials. All of those details only recently were discovered by congressional investigators and members of the national media.

The complete contents of that Hillary Clinton’s private account are presently being sought by a congressional inquiry into the Benghazi attacks. Clinton has handed over more than 30,000 pages of her E-Mails to the State Department, after unilaterally deciding which ones were government business; and the post-Clinton State Department has so far handed over almost 900 pages of those E-mails to the committee. A Clinton spokesman told Gawker and ProPublica (which are collaborating on the story) that she has turned over all the E-Mails Blumenthal sent to Clinton to the State Department.

A HILLARY CLINTON SECRET INTELLIGENCE OPERATION  —   A “BACK CHANNEL” FOR “PRIVATE” INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION ?

The contents of the Blumenthal memos [E-mails] raise new questions about how Hillary Clinton had been using her private E-mail account and whether she had tapped into an undisclosed back channel for information on Libya’s crisis and other foreign policy matters.

It is not clear who hired Blumenthal, known for his fierce loyalty to the Clintons, husband and wife, with preparing detailed intelligence briefs. It’s also not known who was paying him, or where the operation got its money. The Blumenthal memos were marked “confidential” and relied in many cases on “sensitive” sources in the Libyan opposition and various “Western” intelligence and security services. Other of his reports focused on Egypt, Germany, and Turkey.

There’s no indication in Blumenthal’s E-Mails whether Secretary of State Clinton read or replied to them before she left her post in the State Department on February 1, 2013.  However,  Blumenthal was clearly part of a select group with knowledge of the private clintonemail.com address, which was unknown to the rest of the State Department at the time; and/or to the public until Gawker published it long after Hillary left State. The Blumenthal memos/ E-mails do suggest that she continued to interacted with Blumenthal using the account after she stepped down.

STATE DEPARTMENT WOULD COMMENT “ON BACKGROUND” ABOUT ONLY A PART OF  THIS STUFF

When reached for comment about the ProPublica/Gawker dislosures, a State Department public affairs official said that he would only speak on background; and he declined to address questions about Blumenthal’s relationship to Clinton, whether she was aware of the intelligence network, and who if anyone had been paying Blumenthal.

Asked about the Tunisia-Libya mission covered in the Blumenthal memos/E-Mails, the official replied, “There was a trip with [Secretary of State Clinton] in October of 2011, but there was also a congressional delegation in April, 2011. There were media reports about both of these at the time.”

Is the U.S. Military preparing for martial law in “exercises” within certain “hostile” American states this summer ?

What is the U.S. Army, subject to Obama as Commander-in-Chief, up to now ?

Army admits that there is an exercise called  “Operation Jade Helm 15” that will take place for about two months in the late summer of 2015, and it will take place in Texas and several other Southwestern states

All U.S. citizens in Utah and Texas are to be designated “hostile”

According to Fox News, “[c]onspiracy theories are running wild over the Army’s planned multi-state training exercise this summer. ***   Green Berets, Navy SEALs and Special Operations forces will conduct realistic training exercises from July to September across the southwest – including in 17 Texas cities. ***   The exercise, called Jade Helm 15, has critics worried that the Army is preparing for modern-day martial law. Some are even calling it “the Texas takeover....” (See “Some Americans Think the Army is Prepping for Modern-Day Martial Law ? ! ” by Megyn Kelly and staff, 3/26/15, Fox News/ The Kelly File [http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/03/26/some-americans-think-army-prepping-modern-day-martial-law]).

THE MAINSTREAM & OFFICIAL REPORTS ON WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT 

Members of U.S. Army Special Operations Command [USASOC] will be training with other U.S Armed Forces units between July 15th and September 15th  in a large interstate exercise called “Jade Helm 15.”  According to reports from official sources, from time to time, the USASOC conducts training exercises such as these to practice core special warfare tasks, which help protect the nation against foreign enemies. It is imperative that Special Operations Soldiers receive the best training, equipment and resources possible.

While multi-state training exercises such as these are not unique to the military, the size and scope of Jade Helm 15 sets this one apart. To stay ahead of the environmental challenges faced overseas, the Jade Helm operation will take place across seven states. However, Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) will only train in five states: Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. The PR team has indicated that the diverse terrain in these states replicates areas Special Operations Soldiers regularly find themselves operating in overseas.

Essentially, all exercise activities will be taking place on pre-coordinated public and private lands with the permission of the private landowners, as well as from state and local authorities.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, “Operation Jade Helm will see 1,200 service members including Green Berets and SEALs and special forces from the Air Force and Marines in July....
Soldiers armed with blank rounds will operate in and around towns in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado for 8 weeks.... The so-called Realistic Military Training has some residents fearful the drill is a preparation for martial law....”  (See “Special forces set to swarm  Southwest and operate undetected among civilians in massive military exercise” by DailyMail.com reporter, 3/26/15 [Updated 3/27/15], Daily Mail/ DailyMail.com [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3013900/Fears-martial-law-special-ops-set-swarm-Southwest-operate-undetected-civilians-ve-deemed-HOSTILE-massive-military-exercise.html]).

The Daily Mail goes on to say that “... [s]even Southwestern states will soon be infiltrated by 1,200 military special ops personnel as part of a controversial domestic military training in which some of the elite soldiers will operate undetected among civilians.... But with residents of the entire states of Texas and Utah dubbed 'hostile' for the purposes of the exercises, Jade Helm has some concerned the drills are too realistic....”

The U.S. Special Operations Command readily acknowledges and even has openly reported on its upcoming Jade Helm exercises in a standard press release (See “PRESS RELEASE: Exercise readies SOF for threats abroad” [RELEASE NUMBER: 150324-03], 3/24/15, USASOC HQ/ USASOC Links [http://www.soc.mil/UNS/Releases/2015/March/150324-03.html]); and many news outlets have been dismissive of the internet brouhaha over the possibility of a  U.S. military conspiracy ( See e.g., “Army says Jade Helm’s a training op coming to Texas this summer. Internet says it’s a takeover!” by Robert Wilonsky, 3/26/15, Dallas News/ The Scoop Blog [http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/03/army-says-jade-helms-a-training-op-comi]); see also “Covert warfare coming to Texas sparks some fears of federal takeover” by Dylan Baddour, 3/25/15, Houston Chronicle [http://www.chron.com/news/article/Covert-warfare-comming-to-Texas-6157685.php#photo-7713764]).

Nonetheless. there are still a .wide range of internet sources sounding the alarm ( See e.g., “JADE HELM: TROOPS TO ‘OPERATE UNDETECTED AMONGST CIVILIAN POPULATION’ –  Role players to practice infiltrating towns during controversial exercise” by Paul Joseph Watson, 3/26/15, [Alex Jones’] Infowars/ infowars.com [http://www.infowars.com/jade-helm-troops-to-operate-undetected-amongst-civilian-population/]; Also note: the Houston Chronicle article, cited above [catalogues several of the sources of the “conspiracy” controversy surrounding the Jade Helm exercise, including the Infowars blog and Alex Jones’ radio program out of Austin, Texas] ).

THE ALEX JONES – INFOWARS TAKE ON THE WHOLE THING

According to the Alex Jones’ Infowars article mentioned in the paragraph above, “[a] key component of the controversial Jade Helm military exercise set to take part in nine U.S. states this summer will involve soldiers operating “undetected amongst civilian populations,” to see if they can infiltrate without being noticed... [and] that soldiers will attempt to blend in with the local population in an effort to test the effectiveness of infiltration techniques. Residents will be advised to report “suspicious activity” during the exercise....  They’re going to set up cells of people and test how well they’re able to move around without getting too noticed in the community,” said Roy Boyd, chief deputy with the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office. ‘They’re testing their abilities to basically blend in with the local environment and not stand out and blow their cover.’...  By directly involving unwitting members of the local population, this aspect of the drill contradicts the Army’s assertion that, ‘The public can expect nothing much different from their day-to-day activities since much of exercise will be conducted in remote areas.’...  Jim Stewart, chief deputy with the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office, [said] that the designation of Texas as ‘hostile territory’ was merely a way of setting up a role playing exercise under which soldiers operate behind enemy lines....  The Army has failed to specifically address why Texas, Utah and a pocket of southern California were labeled as hostile territories in training documents for the exercise, merely insisting that the drill is designed to prepare troops for foreign occupations and has nothing to do with preparations for martial law....” [Much of the Infowars’ specific information about Jade Helm exercises comes from the Houston Chronicle article cited above.]

Infowars’ concluding remarks are ominous: “...  Despite assurances that the training is to prepare troops for overseas missions, Army documents in the past have made clear that plans for martial law are in place for within the Continental United States (CONUS). ***  A leaked 2012 US Army Military Police training manual, entitled ‘Civil Disturbance Operations,’ described how soldiers would be ordered to confiscate firearms and kill American ‘dissidents.’  The manual also revealed that prisoners would be detained in temporary internment camps and ‘re-educated’ to gain a new appreciation of ‘U.S. policies,’ in accordance with U.S. Army FM 3-19.40 Internment/Resettlement Operations. ***   Jade Helm has also drawn comparisons to a 2012 scenario outlined by retired Army colonel Kevin Benson, in which the U.S. Military is used to crush an insurgent rebellion overseen by Tea Party militia members who take over the city of Darlington, South Carolina.”

CBS HAS BAD NEWS FOR HILLARY IN ITS LATEST POLLING

Not only does network TV keep the Hillary Clinton E-Mail Fiasco in the news   —   CBS Evening News reports “PLUMMETING POLLS” in wake of revelations about Clinton's exclusive use of private E-Mails while U.S. Secretary of State and unsatisfactory explanation as to why

 

FEWER THAN HALF OF THOSE POLLED BY CBS SAY THAT HILLARY CLINTON IS “HONEST AND TRUSTWORTHY”  —   AND MORE THAN SIX OUT OF TEN SAY IT WAS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CLINTON TO USE HER PRIVATE E-MAIL FOR PUBLIC BUSINESS

Thursday night’s broadcast of the “CBS Evening News”said that plummeting polls numbers show  Hillary Clinton’s popularity is in free-fall following the turmoil involving Clinton’s exclusive use of a private email during her tenure as secretary of state and her explanation of what she did and why she did it. Breitbart News reported that the CBS News anchor Scott Pelley said, “That email scandal is taking a toll on Hillary Clinton’s image as she gets ready to run for president (See “CBS NEWS REPORTS ON CLINTON’S PLUMMETING POLLS OVER EMAIL SCANDAL ” by Pam Key [with video link to Scott Pelley’s CBS Evening News segment], 3/26/15, Breitbart News
[http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/03/26/cbs-news-reports-on-clintons-plummeting-polls-over-email-scandal/]).

29% SAY THEY HAVE WORSE OPINION SINCE HILLARY CLINTON'S PRIVATE E-MAIL SYSTEM WAS DISCLOSED

In a CBS News poll out tonight, 29 percent of Americans say their opinion of her has grown worse as a result of revelations that she used her personal email account for State Department business. .

HILLARY'S FAVORABILITY FALLS FROM 38% to 26%

Breitbart and CBS also report that the number of Americans who view her favorably has fallen sharply from 38 percent to 26 percent. And less than half, just 42 percent, say Mrs. Clinton is honest and trustworthy”

LENGTHY AND DETAILED ACCOUNT OF ITS LATEST POLL PROVIDED BY CBS NEWS

CBS News provided a lengthy and detailed account of this particular poll — it provides no good news for Hillary Clinton or her camp followers.  They can spin it if they like, but by every possible metric, Hillary Clinton has taken a big hit (See “What Americans think of Hillary Clinton's email practices” by Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto & Fred Backus, 3/26/15, CBS News [http://www.cbsnews.com/news/views-on-hillary-clinton-and-the-email-controversy/]).

According to the CBS News report, “Most Americans (65 percent) say their opinion of Clinton has not changed in the wake of the email controversy, but 29 percent say their opinion of her has grown worse....  More generally, 26 percent of Americans now have a favorable view of Hillary Clinton, while 37 percent view her unfavorably; another third are undecided or don't have an opinion of her. As Clinton weighs a presidential bid, her favorable views are 12 points lower than they were in the fall of 2013, just months after leaving her position as secretary of state. Her unfavorable views have ticked up slightly, but the percentage that is undecided about her has risen eight points....”

The report also provided some other interesting data:  “When asked to evaluate Hillary Clinton on some key characteristics, the public gives Clinton her most negative marks on honesty. Fewer than half - 42 percent- say she is honest and trustworthy, while more - 47 percent - don't think she is....   More than six in 10 Americans do not think it was appropriate for Hillary Clinton to use a personal email address and server for work-related matters as secretary of state....  ”

Dan Donovan and Vinny Gentile Taking and Delivering Early Campaign Shots about Race and Racism as their New York 11th Congressional District Race Heats Up

Gentile camp quickly plays the race card in attempt to inflame the black voters in the district  —  Gentile also makes an outrageous proposal about some method of secret consultations with the 11th CD’s only black elected official if he is elected to congress  —   Gentile’s paid City Council Staffer behind the whole “race baiting” story

Donovan is a little disingenuous playing a virginal Snow White to Vinny’s Wicked Queen in the whole kerfuffle

The special election race has hardly started and the Democratic Candidate Vincent Gentile camp has poisoned the atmosphere with a vile brew of purely race-based politics of the kind that has become altogether too common for Democrats in the age of Obama.  NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION  —   Dan Donovan wasn’t too cool about any of it, either.

According to a recent report in the Huffington post, “... [a] dispute between the two candidates vying to replace disgraced Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) escalated on Tuesday, with the campaign of Democratic candidate Vincent Gentile accusing Republican Daniel Donovan of ‘doubling down on race-baiting.’...”  (See “Eric Garner Prosecutor Accused Of ‘Doubling Down On Race-Baiting' In Congressional Campaign” by some staff guy, 3/24/15, Huffington Post [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/24/eric-garner-vinnie-gentile-daniel-donovan-race-baiting_n_6933660.html]).

GENTILE’S “RESPONSE” WAS A CALCULATED AND LONG-AGO-PLANNED KICK IN THE BALLS

The comments by the Gentile Campaign were done as a so-called  “ response” to a fund raising E-Mail that Donovan’s campaign sent to Donovan supporters last week, which contained the subject line:  “Al Sharpton Coming After Dan, we need your help!."   The Donovan campaign E-Mail supposedly quoted a member of Sharpton's National Action Network criticizing Donovan.

It should be noted that much of the information contained in the Huffington Post piece, cited above, appears to have largely come from an earlier article that had appeared in the New York Observer by a former local Brooklyn beat writer Ross Barkan (See “Eric Garner Prosecutor’s Campaign Warns Al Sharpton Is ‘Coming After’ Him” by Ross Barkan, 3/19/15, NY Observer [http://observer.com/2015/03/eric-garner-prosecutors-campaign-warns-al-sharpton-is-coming-after-him/]).  That is important to note, because the Barkan-NY Observer piece is obviously heavily sourced from Justin Brannan, who is both identified and ultimately quoted in Barkan’s final condemnatory passages, as follows: “...Gentile’s campaign said Mr. Donovan should be 'ashamed of himself,' calling the email race-baiting at its ‘worst.’ ***   ‘Dan Donovan should really be ashamed of himself for using this cowardly tactic,’ said Justin Brannan, a spokesman for Mr. Gentile, in a statement. ‘This is race baiting at its worst. In a time when everyone in New York City should be encouraging a sense of community and trust, Dan Donovan is purposely driving a racial wedge between voters.’ ***   ‘It’s a despicable thing for anyone to do but especially unbecoming of an elected official,’ he added....”

Brannan, who has pushed the “Donovan doubling-down on his race-baiting...” story for over a week to multiple media outlets and directly to many Brooklyn Democrats via a Twitter feed, is the long-time Chief of Staff of Councilman Gentile.

DONOVAN’S RESPONSIVE BUT OVER THE TOP RESPONSE

The Huffington post article noted Dan Donovan’s responses to the Gentile camp’s charges of racism: “I don’t think anyone should put race in the race, for lack of a better way of saying it....  Race has nothing to do with this election....  I would hope that people would respect that Eric Garner’s mother lost a son, his wife lost a husband his children lost a dad....  And I hope that no one would use his death and the tragedy and circumstances surrounding that in a political election.”

THE GENTILE-BRANNAN SUR-RESPONSE

Gentile’s campaign quickly sur-responded that Donovan’s remarks were proof that he wasn’t fit for office.  Again, it was Justin Brannan that was in the middle of everything.  —   Gentile campaign spokesperson Justin Brannan said the following in a statement to the Huffington Post: “The only thing more disgusting than race-baiting is doubling down on race-baiting....    But sadly these are the types of deceptive and unsubstantiated tactics a desperate candidate with zero legislative experience and a do-nothing record will employ....  It’s not only hateful, but it's insulting to the voters... [t]he hardworking people of New York's 11th Congressional District deserve better than this -- they deserve an open and honest debate on the issues that matter and they deserve a leader, not a demagogue calling shots from the same tired and divisive national Republican playbook." [Hmmm !  “... the same tired and divisive national Republican playbook...”   —   Seriously ?  I mean SERIOUSLY !]

GENTILE’S INITIAL REMARKS WERE A LITTLE SELECTIVE  —   THAT’S WHAT I THINK

I don’t expect Vinny Gentile or his people to just throw in the cards in what looks like a one-sided game in favor of Dan Donovan, but several things appear to have gotten lost in the shuffle and cut before the first hand has even been looked at, much less played, by either Gentile or Donovan.  First, Donovan’s fund raising E-mail only mentioned Sharpton as a small piece among several other reasons to help out the Donovan Campaign. Specifically, the fund-raising E-Mail, sent from Ron Carara, Mr. Donovan’s campaign manager, claimed that various left-wing radicals were  attacking Mr. Donovan, trying to hurt him and attempting to derail the Donovan Campaign.  The radicals mentioned in the E-Mail included Occupy Wall Street activists, Mr. Sharpton’s National Action Network and even Mayor deBlasio.

DAN DONOVAN IS MISCAST AS SNOW WHITE OR ANY OTHER INGENUE — THAT’S WHAT I THINK

On the other hand, it is obviously and absolutely ridiculous for Dan Donovan to try to get away with this:  “... Race has nothing to do with this election....” —>   WHY DOES HE THINK THAT HE IS SO POPULAR THROUGHOUT MOST OF STATEN ISLAND AND THE SOUTHWEST PART OF BROOKLYN  ?   <—    IT SURE AIN’T HIS GOOD LOOKS AND SEEMINGLY POTENT  “BACHELOR LIFESTYLE” –  NOR HIS ROCK-RIBBED CONSERVATIVE-REPUBLICANISM  ! ! !  (BTW, ALL OF THAT WAS QUITE SARCASTIC.... ).

SO FAR SOME MISSED ISSUES BECAUSE OF —>  EVERYBODY’S   <—  RACE STUFF 

Since I think both sides have decided to double-down on their respective this, that or the other stuff involving race and racism  —   Donovan has so far gotten away with a major gaffe about what he can’t do to help many of the Sandy victims in his Staten Island DA jurisdiction or “his” future Staten Island-SW Brooklyn congressional district.  And nobody seemed to catch Vinny G's promise that. if elected to congress, he would give special entre, and to hold behind closed door meetings with certain Staten Island Democrat elected officials that nobody else will ever hear about. It's especially interesting that he singled out his City Council colleague, Debi Rose.  I wonder why he said this —  it seems kind of well, stupid  —  unless it has some special meaning, which I'm sure it does.

President Obama and Hillary Clinton have an afternoon quickie at the White House

Secretive meeting between the once and future has wags’ tongues wagging, but White House won’t kiss and tell — Yet

Both the Obama folks and the Clinton camp give terse statements acknowledging the White House tete a tete  —   White House says Barack and Hillary  “...enjoy catching up in person when their schedules permit...”

One hopes a good time was had by all....

According to Politico and other outlets, “...  Hillary Clinton did meet privately with President Barack Obama on Monday at the White House. Clinton was in Washington for an event about the future of urban policy hosted by the Center for American Progress in the morning and the presentation of the Toner Award at a dinner in the evening [reported on this blog in a 3/24/15 UPDATE to the prior post]. ***  In between, the all-but-declared Democratic presidential candidate swung by to see her old boss in the building she’s hoping to move into. ***   The White House wouldn’t comment about whether a meeting was going to happen earlier in the day, but White House press secretary Josh Earnest confirmed afterward that it had happened — though he provided few details. ***   ‘President Obama and Secretary Clinton enjoy catching up in person when their schedules permit,’ Earnest said. ‘This afternoon they met privately for about an hour at the White House and discussed a range of topics.’...” (See “Hillary Clinton meets Barack Obama at the White House’ by Edward-Isaac Dovere, 3/23/15, Politico [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/hillary-clinton-barack-obama-white-house-116327.html]).

Interestingly, Politico added this: “Reflecting the growing message [sic] coordination between the White House and the Clinton near-campaign, immediately after the White House announced the meeting, her official account tweeted out a photo of her going in for a hug with Obama....”

Earlier in the day, the White House press corps had specifically inquired as to whether Hillary Clinton, who was known to be in D.C. for events, would be visiting the President. According to Breitbart News, Associated Press reporter Josh Lederman asked, “Does the President have any plans to meet with her?   And if he does, would you be able to open that up to some level of access, considering the circumstances of it?”  The Press Secretary declined to answer substantively, saying “I don’t have any additional details to share about the President’s schedule today,” he said, acknowledging that they had visited in the past. “I don’t have any meetings to share with you from here.” However, after the meeting between Obama and Clinton had finished, and Hillary had been whisked off, Josh Earnest did acknowledge that the meeting had occurred but without providing any details of what had been discussed ( See “Obama Hosts Secret Meeting at the White House With Hillary Clinton” by Charlie Spiering, 3/23/15 [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/23/obama-hosts-secret-meeting-at-the-white-house-with-hillary-clinton/]).

Hillary Clinton — Not Irish-American, but gets into the "Irish American Hall of Fame" — Also gets a "Lifetime Achievement Award" for the achievements of others

Hillary Clinton looks like she has doubled-down on one of her BIG LIES that didn’t fly in 2008  —  That she was part of the North Irish Peace Process  —   But in 2015 she had OTHER PEOPLE SAY IT, so it might be okay THIS TIME AROUND

During 2008, at least three different fact-check organizations said Hillary’s claims about her being part of the North Irish Peace Process were not accurate  —   She also got  “One Pinocchio for exaggeration” from the WaPo   —   the Boston Globe said that Hillary Clinton’s stories of bringing Protestant and Catholic women together became more dramatic with each retelling  —  And Daily Kos even said Hillary Clinton's taking credit for what others did viv a vis getting the Irish Women together was "Outrageous" 

At that time, in North Ireland, what people remembered about Hillary's part in all of it was her “Teapot” Speech  —  And that was pretty much it

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post recently showed their skepticism even to Hillary’s recently modified and very modulated approach to her role in the North Ireland peace deal during her current recycling of the story  

Even though the too-clever-by-half Hillary hedged her bets at the celebration of her “Irish America Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award” last week  —   She accepted it not for herself, but  “...on behalf of all the remarkable women that I met and admired in Northern Ireland....”   —   The Times and WaPo reported that principals at “Irish America”  were making the same inflated claims about Hillary Clinton's deeds during their 2015 event that she had concocted in 2008 

On March 16, 2015, Hillary Clinton was inducted into something called  the “Irish America Hall of Fame,” whatever that is  —   since many, if not most, great Irish Americans are not in it, and Hillary Clinton is in no way “Irish American.”  According to Irish America Magazine, the sponsor of the award, the former First Lady was "... being honored for her work on behalf of the Irish peace process...."  That Hillary had any real part in the “Irish peace process” remains controversial  — as if making false claims about one’s personal history is merely something that can be described as “controversial” ( See ““Hillary's Entry in Irish Hall of Fame Comes Despite False Claims of Bringing 'Peace' to N.Ireland  –  Embellishment pays” by Daniel Halper, 3/16/15, The Weekly Standard [http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/hillarys-entry-irish-hall-fame-comes-despite-false-claims-bringing-peace-nireland_888675.html]).

THE MEDIA AND THE FACT CHECKERS IN 2008

In 2008, the last time that she ran for president, when Hillary Clinton was making many hollow claims about her vast foreign policy experience, one of her biggest confabulations was that she “helped” to broker the 1998 Good Friday peace accords.  Most major news outlets and at least three (3) fact-check organizations had to yank hard on Hillary’s leash to bring her to heal about that overcooked chestnut.

In spite of making every effort to make Hillary Clinton’s claims look good, according to Politifact, “[Hillary Clinton] is perhaps best known in Northern Ireland for an Oct. 31, 1997, speech at the University of Ulster in Belfast in which she brought back a teapot that had been given to her in a previous visit....  In her memoir Living History, Clinton recounts her teapot speech and several other anecdotes about her visits to Ireland and Northern Ireland, but there's little in the book to indicate that she played a key role [in the peace process]....  In his book Making Peace, George Mitchell mentioned Hillary Clinton only in passing and he did not mention her in his speech when he was given a United Nations Peace Prize in 1998.... Clinton claimed that she ‘helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland.’... But based on our interviews and research, it's a stretch for [Hillary] Clinton to say so.... ” (See “A small but significant role” by Bill Adair, 3/10/08, Politifact
[http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/mar/10/hillary-clinton/a-small-but-significant-role/]).

In a very lengthy article looking at many of Hillary’s fabulous claims about herself,  Joe Miller of the fact-check addressed the question of whether Hillary Clinton’s activities ‘helped bring peace to Northern Ireland.’...” , his conclusion was even more terse and straightforward, tart and tangy than Politifact:  “[Hillary] Clinton has said that she ‘helped bring peace to Northern Ireland.’  Of course, ‘helped’ is a fairly weak claim, one that could be made by nearly anyone who contributed in a way that didn’t actively hinder the process....Irish officials are divided as to how helpful [Hillary] Clinton’s actions were, and key players agree that she was not directly involved in any actual negotiations....” (See ““Hillary’s Adventures Abroad –  We find some exaggerations in Clinton's claims of foreign policy experience” by Joe Miller, 3/13/08, factcheck.org [http://www.factcheck.org/2008/03/hillarys-adventures-abroad/]).

One of the most devastating pieces against Hillary’s Irish Peace claims in 2008 came from the Washington Post’s “fact-checker” Michael Dobbs.  Dobbs said that even the lead U.S. negotiator, Senator George Mitchell, said the former first lady was "not involved directly" in bringing about peace in North Ireland. According to Dobbs, “I just spoke to the Clinton administration’s leading Northern Ireland peace negotiator, who said that Hillary was ‘not involved directly’ in the diplomatic negotiations that led to the landmark April 1998 Good Friday agreement on power-sharing....” (See “Clinton and Northern Ireland” by Michael Dobbs, 1/10/08, Washington Post [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/clinton_and_northern_ireland.html]).

A much quoted  Boston Globe article in 2008 noted that Hillary Clinton’s  stories of bringing Protestant and Catholic women together became more dramatic with each retelling,  however it also noted that her claim that she brought Catholics and Protestants together ‘for the first time’ seemed dubious.(See “Clinton trumpets role as Irish peace facilitator” by Marcella Bombardieri & Globe Staff, 1/7/08, Boston Globe [http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/07/clinton_trumpets_role_as_irish_peace_facilitator/]).  Those claims were further debunked by a piece in Daily Kos, whose author “LibDem” called Hillary’s self aggrandizement in describing her role in bringing the Irish wives and mothers together as “outrageous,” especially when compared to the courageous work that was done by the Irish women themselves (See “Hillary Exagerates Role in Northern Ireland” by Lib Dem, 3/5/08, Daily Kos [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/03/05/469842/-Hillary-Exagerates-Role-in-Northern-Ireland#]).

THE NY TIMES AND THE WASHINGTON POST  —  SKEPTICAL OF HILLARY CLINTON’S CYNICISM

Right up front in its report about Hillary Clinton’s recent award from the folks at “Irish America,” the NY Times made it clear that there was a significant back story to all of it.  Times writer Amy Chozick opened by saying this: “The subjects of Ireland and tea made for an unpleasant brew in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 campaign for president. Her primary opponent, Barack Obama, once belittled her as having merely “had tea with” world leaders as first lady. Her husband defended her as “a peacemaker, not a tea maker.” Then she was accused of overstating her own contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process....” (See “In Accepting Irish-American Honor, Hillary Clinton Recasts Her Role in a Peace Pact” by Amy Chozick, 3/16/15, NY Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/us/politics/in-accepting-irish-american-honor-hillary-clinton-recasts-her-role-in-a-peace-pact.html?_r=1]). After showing that Hillary was shrugging all of that stuff off; and that she was tweeking the peace making story a bit, Chozik closed by a snarky bit, which highlighted the fact of Hillary Clinton’s closeness to Gerry Adams, still a suspect in a 1972 murder investigation.

The Washington Post coverage was a bit more focused on Hillary’s claims then (2008) and what was being said about Hillary now (at the 2015 “Irish America” event) ( See ““Hillary Clinton garners award for role in easing the Northern Ireland conflict” by Anne Gearan, 3/16/15, Washington Post/ Politics
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-garners-award-for-role-in-easing-the-northern-ireland-conflict/2015/03/16/d80780f6-cbf6-11e4-a2a7-9517a3a70506_story.html]).  Ms. Gearan particularly noted that “Magazine editor Patricia Harty said Clinton was honored “for her role in helping to broker the Good Friday agreement” during the administration of her husband, Bill Clinton. ***  The event underscored Hillary Clinton’s long history with Northern Ireland... [and that s]he faced attacks during the 2008 campaign after saying she ‘helped bring peace to Northern Ireland,’ a claim she avoided making [at the “Irish America” event].”

Gearan and the Washington Post also made this clear: “Clinton played no direct role in fostering the 1998 peace deal but is credited with helping solidify support for the reconciliation effort. Her work bringing together women from both sides of the conflict served as a foundation for Clinton’s later work as secretary of state to include women in political and peace discussions....” It was also noted that “Clinton did not go into the particulars of her involvement [in obtaining the peace deal the during the Irish America gathering], while praising the roles played by others....”

LAST YEAR’S "HALL OF FAME" INDUCTEE  —   GUV MARTIN  O’MALLEY  —   DON’T THAT BEAT ALL; OH, AND DON'T FORGET IRISH AMERICA'S TOP OF IT'S LIST OF "50"  is VP JOE BIDEN

In an interesting bit of irony, last year’s inductee into the  “Irish America" Hall of Fame was none other than Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, one of Mrs. Clinton’s likely opponents for the Democratic nomination for President in 2016.

Oh, in another bit of irony, guess who tops the "Irish America" list of its " Top '50' " influential Irish-Americans ?  Another "none-other-than" type  —  another one of Hillary Clinton's possible challengers, Vice President Joe Biden.

TED CRUZ TO ANNOUNCE HIS CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENCY — TODAY — WHILE SPEAKING AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY IN VIRGINIA

The early Cruz announcement might nudge the other GOP candidates’ campaigns to make their own faster starts

Cruz’ quick kick-off also might turn the focus of the debate toward some issues that Ted Cruz wants to  talk about  —   smaller government   —   and a more hawkish approach on foreign policy.

According to a report in Newsmax, “By choosing to mark the official start of his campaign at the Virginia Christian college founded by the late evangelist Jerry Falwell, rather than a venue in his home state, Cruz is signaling he'll court religious conservatives as well as small- government tea-party activists as he competes to become the lead anti-establishment candidate in the party contest. ***   The timing and focus may help Cruz, who lacks the major Wall Street backing of hopefuls such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, build a national donor base for the $40 million to $50 million he'll seek for a primary. ***   While Cruz is unlikely to draw away early support from establishment-aligned hopefuls such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie or Walker, his immediate task is pull supporters away from candidates who've shown strength with evangelical voters; namely, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, and neurosurgeon Ben Carson....” (See “Why Texan Ted Cruz Is Announcing in Virginia 2 Weeks Before Rand Paul” by Bloomberg News Staff, 3/23/15, Newsmax [from Bloomberg News]          [http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/ted-cruz-texas-virginia-rand-paul/2015/03/22/id/631800/

Cruz describes his campaign for the White House this way:  "We reassemble the Reagan coalition. We bring together fiscal conservatives and social conservatives and national security conservatives. We stand strong for economic growth. But we also stand for life and marriage. We defend constitutional rights but we also stand and lead the fight against ISIS and a nuclear Iran....   The way we get to 51 percent is we bring together conservatives and libertarians and evangelicals, and women and young people and Hispanics and Reagan Democrats."

According to the Newsmax report, Cruz's early rollout might push other campaigns to  faster starts of their own. It also could turn the focus of the debate and discussion toward issues Cruz would like to discuss,  from smaller government to a more hawkish approach on foreign policy.

Since Kassar Mentioned It — A Wee, But Obviously Necessary, Tutorial On Patriotism to Marty Golden’s Sadly Un-patriotic Chief of Staff

On my return from Edinburgh, Scotland, some reflections on the “reformations” of a “trans-formative” president; and of the toils, troubles, and plots afoot by a few “honorable men,” hoping to a achieve a glorious restoration

Jerry Kassar, State Senator Martin Golden’s Chief of Staff thinks that bashing 47 Republican Senators for trying to block Obama’s sell-out to Iran is almost as important as criticizing Hillary Clinton and her private E-mail scandal  —  It’s things like that, which lead real conservatives to see Kassar as a true Magnum-sized Scumbag  —  of course, there are many more

If nothing else, real patriots should take some joy in the humiliation of the “trans-formative” President Obama by the “Counter-trans-formative” 47 Senators who sent their open letter to the Iranian leadership  —  clearly, it was all a dicey proposition, but where's the harm ?

I have long questioned Jerry Kassar’s and several other of the so-called Conservative Party’s leaders’ conservatism; now, it is PATRIOTISM that is the focal issue  —  at least as far as concerns one, Gerard Kassar.  The catalyst for that inquiry is Jerry Kassar’s most recent “Common Sense” column for the Brooklyn Media Group (See “Deletegate – Common Sense” [in the on-line version: ‘Common Sense: Delegate’]  by Jerry Kassar, 3/18-3/25/15, Brooklyn Media Group / my print version being in the “FREE – Brooklyn Spectator News” [http://homereporter.com/common-sense-deletegate/]).

Here’s exactly what Kassar had to say, both in print and on-line:  “The 47 Republican US Senators were wrong to sign a letter to the Iranian government informing them that the Senate would likely oppose the nuclear arms agreement. The agreement should be opposed – it stinks and is another example of a president who has his priorities mixed up. But the letter should never have been sent. ***   International negotiations are to be managed by the president and the State Department. The Senate and Congress have an important role but at a different point in the process. If the 47 senators wanted to send a letter indicating their disapproval with the potential agreement, they should have sent it to President Obama....”

I’m not sure whether Kassar was wearing his Constitutional Law expert hat; his U.S. Foreign Policy expert hat; his making decisions based on long-time expertise gained from being a well-paid side-liner for his whole adult life (sometimes referred to affectionately as being a political and/or staff hack) hat; or whether it was just his doing what his boss State Senator Marty Golden tells him to do hat (which sometimes is, and sometimes is not, the same as the prior category). However, ripping and giving advice to the bulk of Republicans elected to the U.S. Senate, and the overwhelming part of the majority caucus in the upper chamber, does seem quite notable.  Equally notable, is that with his anti-GOP senators tongue-lashing, Kassar is completely on the same page, both literally and figuratively, as his liberal Democratic colleague in columns, Brian Kieran (See “Use the Facts, Not the Spin” by Brian Kieran, 3/18-3/25/15, Brooklyn Media Group / as above, my print version being in the “FREE – Brooklyn Spectator News” [link not found]). Although Mr. Kieran’s column devoted more than twice the space to this issue, both Kieran and Kassar did appear to be in substantial and basic agreement about the letter addressed to Iran by the 47 Republican senators.

Unfortunately, both men failed to perceive the real threat to this republic. It is not whether the treaty negotiations with Iran result in any treaty that allows or facilitates Iran’s achievement of some primitive nuclear weapons capacity; nor is it about the technical roles constitutionally and/or traditionally exercised by the President as opposed to the Senate. In short, foreign policy and who formally initiates foreign policy is not the central concern here. The issue is that the Obama regime’s immediate foray into these talks is but one more example of its “trans-formative presidency”  —  this time to achieve some agreement by means of secret treaty negotiations with Iran concerning its nuclear weapons capabilities.

In these negotiations, the existential threat to America is not from Iran, but from the actions of a rogue Obama regime bent on the goal of achieving some form of a “trans-formative presidency.”  When faced with such an existential threat, true patriots must rise up and counter the threat. In this instance, any acts in the furtherance of a rogue and so-called “trans-formative presidency,” of necessity needed to be countered by a dutiful and patriotic group of senators loyal to their Republic, and acting as a “Counter-trans-formative opposition,” patently disloyal to the rogue president, but true to their oaths to this Republic.

That these wonderful, dare I say “honourable,” men announced their intentions with such bravado so near to the Ides of March; I was left feeling disappointed that so little of actual moment occurred at the Capitol on that historic and literary memorial for the year 2015. Then again, there was no executive visit to the chamber or any of its precincts, hence no opportunity for a dramatic confrontation.

Of course, the letter by 47 Senators humiliated the President of the United States  —  for that they need the applause of their fellow patriots; if nothing else, to drown-out the scorn and criticism of cynical partisans like Kassar.  However, since the “Great Obama” appears incapable of any sort of humility, there is probably little to be gained by the mere humiliation of this oh-so-imperial president,  Obama, except possibly, for the sheer joy of it.

Is Jerry Brown Changing his tune and his mind about Hillary ? — Cal Guv to Appear on “Meet the Press”

Will Jerry Brown Be Another Democrat Running Against Hillary Clinton ? 

First Octogenarian President almost as likely as first Female President —  Brown would be 78 years old upon his inauguration as the nation’s 45th president in 2017, if he were he to win the nomination and the election next year 

Is this good news or bad news for Hillary ?  —   Depends who you ask....

California Governor Jerry Brown will be the featured guest on NBC News’ Meet the Press with host Chuck Todd this week. Todd has been one of the most prominent Beltway journalists to tout Brown’s potential as a “dark horse” candidate in 2016. Last July, Todd predicted on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that Brown would be challenger to Hillary Rodham Clinton ((See “Jerry Brown to ‘Meet the Press’ Presidential Ambitions?” by Joel B. Pollack, 3/20/15, Breitbart News/ (AP)Associated Press [http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/03/20/jerry-brown-to-meet-the-press-presidential-ambitions/]).

“I still think the person that is most likely to do this is going to be Jerry Brown. And he equally is a nemesis to the Clintons in a way that is different from Al Gore but also possesses every one of those attributes that Mark was talking about Al Gore, other than winning Iowa and winning the popular vote. Jerry Brown’s resume with the left and populist movement is as strong, if not stronger,” Todd said, adding that Clinton “... can’t just go unchallenged until the general election.”

Brown has recently spent time in Washington, D.C. Last week, he met with Obama administration officials to discuss a variety of policy issues, and bashed Republicans for their opposition to the president’s executive amnesty for illegal aliens. He was also a guest of the Washington Post at the super-elite Gridiron Dinner.

JUST A WEEK AGO — BROWN WAS TELLING EVERYBODY IN THE DEMOCRAT PARTY NOT TO CHALLENGE HILLARY

According to a report in Politico last week, the California governor urged his fellow Democrats not to run against Mrs. Clinton in the primaries(See “Jerry Brown: Leave Hillary Clinton alone”
By Edward-Isaac Dovere, 3/13/15, Politico [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/hillary-clinton-primaries-jerry-brown-116066.html]).

GM gone fishing... Will be back soon...

GM chasing down a big lead....  Will be back soon...

GM in hiding, because he over did it with his Hillary E-mail coverage...  Will be back soon...

GM sent by 47 GOP Senators to go over and scuttle the nuclear talks with Iran...  Will be back soon...

GM nursing a bad hang-over...  Will be back soon...

Oh no ! — Not again, Mrs. Bill ! — It sure looks like Hillary Clinton is caught in a Catch-22 trap of her own making

>>>  Or, to be Shakespearean, about it, while Lady MacClinton  is declaiming "out damned spot..." she’s  been “... hoist on her own petard...” <<<

Why would Hillary say that she “...fully complied with every rule that [she] was governed by...";  if in less than a day, it all turns out to be a big lie ( or, if not a big lie, then merely a very convenient, but totally inaccurate, statement of the facts of the case) ?

Here it is. At her press conference on Tuesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said,  "...I fully complied with every rule that I was governed by..." when serving as Secretary of State. Well, if that’s so, then she had to sign an “OF-109" form required of every State Department official, including the Secretary of State, upon leaving their position or office.  That form states that the signer has "...surrendered to responsible officials all unclassified documents and papers relating to the official business of the government acquired while in the employ of the federal government...."   Unfortunately for "Mrs. Bill" Clinton, she did not surrender any of her e-mails until  —  not months but years — after she left the office of Secretary of State.

According to Newsmax, the signing of an “OF-109" form and not complying with its requirements constitutes a false statement; and it is a felony, punishable by fines and/or prison time, said Shannen Coffin, a former Assistant Deputy U.S. Attorney General and a guest expert on Fox News Channel's "The Kelly File" (See “Lawyer: Hillary Committed Felony if She Signed Disclosure Form” by Greg Richter, 3/11/15, Newsmax [http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/hillary-clinton-disclosing-records-form/2015/03/11/id/629656/]; see also “What State Dept. guidelines did Hillary Clinton violate?” [video link of Megyn Kelly interview with Shannen Coffin] 3/11/15, Fox News, The Kelly File [http://video.foxnews.com/v/4106177790001/what-state-dept-guidelines-did-hillary-clinton-violate/?playlist_id=2694949842001#sp=show-clips]).

FURTHERMORE, AS IF THAT STUFF ABOVE WEREN’T PLENTY ENOUGH ALREADY....

The former Assistant Deputy U.S. Attorney General said "Mrs. Bill" Clinton didn't comply with the Federal Records Act, and she also did not comply with her own records management handbook for the Department of State, which set out a very specific process as to how one would remove records from the State Department's control.  Those rules require an exiting employee to "prepare an inventory of personal papers and nonrecord materials that [they] are proposing for removal" and then "request a review of those materials that they've proposed for removal...."   Thereafter, a State Department records official would  sort through all records, including emails, at the time of the departure of the State Department employee to determine what is public and what is private.

State Senator Marty Golden announces that “... The Bidding is Open...” when it comes to the NYS Minimum Wage

— What am I bid, what am I bid....?  Here’s your unions’ twenty thou... Do I here hear thirty from the merchants....?  Okay, twenty-five from the restaurants....   Back to the unions, thirty  — do I hear thirty....  Thirty it is to the little guy with the healthy cigar from health workers....  Cmon, do I see somebody for forty  —   Manufacturers ?   Developers ?   Nobody —  nobody....  There it is —  forty from the box stores; is that BJ’s or Costco’s  —  Okay, we’ll work that out some other time....  We’re at forty anybody for fifty ?  C’mon you restaurant and service unions, do something for your people....  Is that it... ?  Once...  Twice...  SOLD !

According to Nick Reisman’s report in NY State of Politics,  “Brooklyn Republican Sen. Marty Golden warned of dire consequences for small businesses if a minimum wage increase is approved this year, but he wouldn’t rule out blocking the measure from being included in the final budget deal [ yeah, it was tough for me to follow, as well]....” ( See “Golden Doesn’t Slam Door On Minimum Wage” by Nick Reisman, 3/11/15, NY State of Politics [http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2015/03/golden-doesnt-slam-door-on-minimum-wage/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter]).

MARTY GOLDEN IMITATES YOGI BERRA, JUST AS LIFE IMITATES ART

“What you’re doing here is your diminishing small business and putting small business out of business and there’s less people working,” Golden said. “So at the end of the day, the results here is going to be the opposite effect. You’re going to have less people working than you have working.”

Somebody, cue the Aflac duck....

Chairman of Select Benghazi Committee, Congressman Trey Gowdy, Issues a Direct “OR ELSE” Threat to Top Democrat for President in 2016, Hillary Clinton — And, at last, Hillary looks like she’s ready to talk about E-mails

Trey Gowdy says if former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to turn over her server to an independent party, the House Select Committee on Benghazi will have her to testify about it  —  Gowdy promises two separate inquiries about Mrs. Clinton: one about her E-mails; then, after that’s done, one about Benghazi

Gowdy also says Hillary’s E-mails are public records and not hers to control

Meanwhile, it looks like Hillary is ready to do some kind of personal event related to her E-mail issues within a few days

Appearing Monday evening on Fox News Channel's "The Kelly File," Congressman Trey Gowdy said that he plans to give Hillary Clinton an opportunity to turn her personal email server over to a neutral independent arbiter, such as a federal judge, an archivist, or an inspector general; but he also said that, if she doesn't turn over the server, then Mrs. Clinton will have to “...  come see the committee twice and not once. And the first the first time will be to discuss her email arrangement....” ( See “Trey Gowdy: Hillary Will Have to Answer If Server Not Turned Over”
by Greg Richter, 3/9/15, Newsmax [http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/trey-gowdy-hillary-clinton-private-email/2015/03/09/id/629182/]).

GOWDY SAYS HILLARY’S E-MAILS ARE PUBLIC RECORDS

Congressman Gowdy also said this:  "It's not just my committee. It's House Armed Services, it's Foreign Affairs, it's FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] requests....  These are public records, and if they're not personal, if they're public, then she's not entitled to be the sole arbiter of who gets what when."

GOWDY RIPS HILLARY CLINTON’S LAWYER AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT OVER STONEWALLING HIS COMMITTEE’S E-MAIL REQUESTS FOR OVER SIX MONTHS 

In the same interview with Megyn Kelly, Representative  Gowdy said that when he wrote to Hillary Clinton’s lawyer asking for her e-mails, her lawyer referred him back to the State Department.  Gowdy then said that when he went to the State Department, they  “... missed every single opportunity over the past six months to tell us that, not only did [Secretary of State Hillary Clinton] not have an official e-mail account, [the State Department] didn’t even have her records. You would think that [it] would come up in all the conversations that we had with the State Department which is precisely why they are not the neutral third party arbiter I would recommend the Secretary turn her server over to so you can analyze it for forensics to see whether or not there’s been any hacking or tampering....”  (See “Gowdy: Hillary’s Lawyer Referred Us to State Department for Emails” by Ian Hanchett, 3/9/15, Breitbart News [http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/03/09/gowdy-hillarys-lawyer-referred-us-to-state-dept-for-e-mails/]).

HILLARY PREPARING TO PERSONALLY ADDRESS HER E-MAIL PROBLEMS IN THE COMING DAYS

Meanwhile there have been reports that, according to people familiar with her plans, Hillary Clinton will speak publicly for the first time this week about her using only a private E-mail account during her tenure as Secretary of State. Clearly the Clinton camp is  hoping to defuse an issue that some Democrats say she needed to address days ago (See “Hillary Clinton to Discuss Email Flap Publicly” by Peter Nicholas & Laura Meckler, 3/9/15, The Wall Street Journal [http://www.wsj.com/articles/hillary-clinton-to-discuss-email-flap-publicly-1425944959]; see also “Hillary Clinton to address email controversy –  Press conference likely, three sources close to the former secretary of state confirm” by Glenn Thrush & Josh Gerstein, 3/9/15, Politico [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/hillary-clinton-address-email-controversy-115903.html

Here’s what the New York Times had to say about Hillary’s planned address about the use of her private E-mails while she was  Secretary of State: “Hillary Rodham Clinton is preparing in coming days to address her use of a private email account while serving as secretary of state, according to people close to Mrs. Clinton, even as she continued to avoid questions about the matter on Monday after speaking at a Clinton Foundation event in New York. ***   Though Mrs. Clinton has spoken at a handful of events since The New York Times reported that she exclusively used a private email account at the State Department, her lone public utterance has been a Twitter post in which she said she wanted Americans to see her emails. ***  One of the options Mrs. Clinton is considering is a news conference, something she has not held in more than two years. A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton did not respond to requests for comment....” (See  “Hillary Clinton Prepares to Address Her Use of Private Email as Secretary of State” by Nick Corasaniti, 3/9/15, The New York Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/us/politics/hillary-clinton-prepares-to-address-her-use-of-private-email-as-secretary-of-state.html?_r=0]).

According to the report in Politico, cited above in this post, “... [t]he decision to address the issue comes amid mounting criticism of her use of a personal email account, which did not comply with State Department regulations issued in 2005 governing email used for official business. Reports in the New York Times and the Associated Press detailed how Clinton used a private server, housed in her suburban New York residence, to channel her emails, which are supposed to be maintained as part of a federal agency’s historic record....”  And Politico said  this in its ultimate paragraph: “Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton attended a Clinton Foundation event in New York Monday, but did not respond to reporters’ questions about the emails. A spokesman for Hillary Clinton did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this story.”

“So in a sense, [Hillary] Clinton made all the Sunday shows, albeit in a way no candidate wants to...” — Wa Po Commentator.

"First, Clinton continues to do Republicans’ work for them, painting a portrait of deception and dishonesty. Second, it makes the “inevitability” theme sound more like a complaint [that] Democrats are stuck with her"

Trey Gowdy on “Face the Nation”:   “Huge Gaps...”  "...months long..."  on Benghazi E-mails  —   So Much for the “Release” of 55,000 E-mail “Documents”  until recently secretly held by Hillary Clinton

On “Meet the Press,” Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.): “...[T]he silence is going to hurt her”; and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): "Did she communicate on behalf of The Clinton Foundation as Secretary of State? Did she call the terrorist attack in Benghazi a terrorist attack in real time?  I want to know. And the one thing I’ll never agree to is let the State Department tell us what e-mails we should receive, or let her and her team tell us. Some independent group should do that."

TREY GOWDY TALKS ABOUT MISSING E-MAILS  —  WANTS COMPLETE RECORD

Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation” yesterday, “...Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, criticize[d] Hillary Clinton's lack of transparency over Benghazi emails.” (See “Trey Gowdy: ‘Huge gaps’ in Clinton's Libya-related emails” [CBS video link], 3/8/15, CBS New/ Face The Nation
[http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/trey-gowdy-huge-gaps-in-clintons-libya-related-emails/]).

According to Poltico’s report on Gowdy’s Sunday morning TV interview on the CBS  “Face the Nation” program,  “... [i]n the batch of emails handed over to the House Select Committee on Benghazi, Gowdy said there’s no record of any communication on the day that Clinton was famously photographed wearing sunglasses and typing on her Blackberry. ***   ‘We have no emails from that trip,’ he said. ‘It strains credibility to believe that if you’re on your way to…to discuss Libyan policy that there’s not a single document that’s been turned over to Congress.’...”
(See “Trey Gowdy sees months-long gaps in Clinton emails” by  Adam Sneed,
3/8/15, Politico [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/trey-gowdy-sees-months-long-gaps-in-clinton-emails-115871.html]).  Politco also reported that Gowdy said this: “...  Clinton is welcome to release all of the emails she archived while serving as Secretary of State, but she doesn’t get to decide what’s in the public record and what isn’t....”

Now, with  Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy's well-stated allegations of missing Benghazi E-mails, Hillary Clinton is wide open to comparisons with Richard Nixon and Watergate. How will  Hillay's "...months long gap..." stack up against Nixon's "...eighteen minute gap..." ?  All of that will be more than merely "fair comment "; it will ultimately be a cosmic moral symmetry  and "fair treatment" for her and her supporters.

JENNIFER RUBIN DOES “SNL” AND SUNDAY MORNING SHOWS RUNDOWN IN WA-PO COLUMN

“When ‘Saturday Night Live’ skewered Al Gore’s performance in the 2000 debates and Tina Fey seemed to become more like Sarah Palin than Palin herself, you knew there was an understanding about these figures so familiar that people would, well, get the joke. The comedy does not work unless the assumption is widely held, even if it is strenuously denied by the victim’s supporters. So, too, it is becoming with Hillary Clinton. ***  The fake laugh, the overly deliberated and failed attempt to “relate,” and the voracious quest for power....”  (See “Hillary Clinton’s scandals define her” by Jennifer Rubin, 3/9/15, The Washington Post/ On the Right [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/03/09/hillary-clintons-scandals-define-her/]).

Rubin went on to tell us that “... Sadly for Clinton, you got pretty much the same analysis [as ‘SNL’] from pundits. And the critics were all over the Sunday talk shows. Chris Wallace stripped the bark off Lanny Davis. Establishment pundits extraordinaire Mark Halperin and John Heilemann slammed Clinton [on the ABC Stephanopoulos show, ‘This Week’] ....   On ‘Meet the Press,’ taking Clinton to task were both Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) ... and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) And finally, on ‘Face the Nation’... Trey Gowdy... and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) [raising National Security concerns and susceptibility of Hillary’s E-mails to cyber attacks]  we’ll find out in the coming weeks just what the legal situation is with regard to that.’...  So in a sense, Clinton made all the Sunday shows, albeit in a way no candidate wants to. The furor has some immediate consequences. First, Clinton continues to do Republicans’ work for them, painting a portrait of deception and dishonesty. Second, it makes the “inevitability” theme sound more like a complaint [that]Democrats are stuck with her....”