Wikileaks Performs a Public Service

Member Group : Jerry Shenk

Wikileaks has released thousands of emails hacked from Hillary Clinton campaign staff accounts and promised more disclosures. Anyone who is conflicted about the manner in which the emails were gathered should ask themselves: 1) do the American people have a legitimate interest in their contents, and 2) could the American public have learned the information any other way?

In order, the answers, clearly, are "yes" and "no." The emails are scandalous, not only for their revelations of willful lawbreaking and the cozy media relationships Hillary enjoys, but also for her campaign’s low opinions of American citizens, including minorities and Democrats who didn’t sign on to Clinton’s coronation.

The campaign mocked Catholics and evangelicals as "severely backwards," denigrated Southerners generally, called out "needy Latinos" and disparaged Bernie Sanders supporters as "self-righteous" whiners.

The Clintons have been protected by national media for decades, but seldom more inappropriately than today. Donna Brazile, CNN contributor and adviser to the Democratic National Committee, gave the campaign advance notice of CNN town hall questions that Brazile thought might embarrass Clinton. The campaign praised a New York Times reporter for "teeing up" stories for Hillary and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos for reinforcing Clinton’s talking points.

Despite Bernie Sanders’ New England base, during the primaries, the Boston Globe helped Clinton maximize her exposure there, and CNBC’s John Harwood boasted to the campaign about his anti-Trump moderation during a Republican primary debate. Harwood also "moderated" the second presidential debate.

In a paid-speech transcript, Clinton confessed to public/private duplicity. Before the National Multi-Housing Council, Clinton revealed that her public and private positions may differ. "Politics is like sausage being made," Clinton said. "It is unsavory…. But if everybody’s watching…all of the backroom discussions and the deals…then people get a little nervous… So, you need both a public and a private position." In short, Hillary confirmed her well-known habit of lying to Americans.

Clinton’s vision for the Western Hemisphere sounds very much like the European Union. In a paid speech to a Brazilian bank, she said: "My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders, sometime in the future with energy that’s as green and sustainable as we can get it, powering growth and opportunity for every person in the hemisphere." Translation: No borders, so no sovereignty and no USA as we know it.

The leaks also detailed unethical, possibly illegal coordination between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, and Department favoritism for "Friends of Bill."

With full knowledge of its illegality, Clinton’s team strategized about how to delay releasing Hillary’s emails to frustrate a congressional subpoena. In 2015, they also attempted to redirect public attention away from Clinton’s email scandal to the House Benghazi investigation which they thought friendly media had already successfully dismissed as a Republican witch hunt.

Overwhelming evidence of Hillary Clinton’s misconduct, deception, incompetence, public corruption and illegality continues to emerge. If she’s elected, America’s constitutional tradition of the rule of law, impartially-administered, will become meaningless.

http://www.ldnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/10/28/wikileaks-performs-public-service/92883432/