A puzzlement

Warning: a political blog coming. Stop now if you don’t want to hear about my puzzlement. As most of my readers know, I write as a liberal—my sons-in-law would probably tell you from the far far left.

I’m not sure how I feel about Hillary Clinton. I think she smart, intelligent, well versed in political doings and protocol; and I think she would do an efficient, capable job as president. But a little something holds me back—perhaps it’s my enthusiasm about the ideas of Bernie Sanders, though I harbor a lingering doubt that he could effectively put them into practice as president and he might be over his head internationally. Let’s say I like Bernie’s philosophy better but I have more faith in Hillary—wow! Just now worked that out in my mind.

But I think Hillary is getting a really raw deal from the Republicans. Now that Kevin McCarthy has openly blurted that the Benghazi investigations are nothing more than an attempt to stop Hillary’s campaign momentum, what more do people need to know? How many Benghazi committee investigations have there been (I’ve lost count—but I know they all came up empty and at great cost to that budget Republicans keep worrying about when convenient). There were more embassy attacks and more Americans killed on George W. Bush’s watch than Obama’s, but no one raised an eyebrow. With McCarthy’s verbal blunder, I hope we can put Benghazi to rest—as someone said, the ongoing fruitless investigations are an insult to the memory of four courageous Americans killed there.

And, oh yes, those emails. I’m not as clear on what’s involved, but I have read, repeatedly, that Bush and Cheney deleted thousands of emails that they had sent and exchanged on the server of the Republican National Committee. Since I am among those who think those two men did irreparable harm to this country, harm that may not be undone for generations, I am at a loss as to why that record is not being investigated. Instead we are bombarded almost daily with headlines blaring that more emails have been discovered, etc., in spite of the fact that to date investigation reveals that while using a private server may have been an act of poor judgment, it was not at the time against the law. I blame the media in part for continuing to stir the pot.

It seems clear to me that Republicans are out to scuttle Hillary’s campaign any way they can, morality, ethics, even legality be damned. I realize that politics is, unfortunately, a dirty business and probably nobody’s hands are lily white, but I think the conservatives are sinking lower than I thought possible. That’s not the kind of country I thought I lived in nor is it the kind I want to live in.

This might be my personal endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president in 2016.