On Using Two-Decade Old Smears Against Hillary Clinton

[MineralMan]

It appears that some opponents of Hillary's nomination have been reduced to the paucity of dragging out old right-wing smears 20 or so years old, in a vain attempt to find something that sticks. As we get closer and closer to a mathematical end to the Democratic primary period, panic appears to be setting in.

Bill Clinton, as we all know, was President for two full terms, despite a failed impeachment attempt by the Republicans. He left office at the end of his second term and has maintained his popularity with many Democrats ever since. Still, there's history there, history manufactured or exaggerated by countless Republicans and right-wingers.

I can hear the discussion now in some hotel room in a city where a primary is looming:

"It's not working. We keep trying to hang something on Hillary, but people are still voting for her. If we lose this huge state, we're truly screwed. What are we going to do? This is our last chance."

"Well, there's all that old Bill Clinton stuff. We could go back and research all that and feed it to the media people we know. They could re-run the re-runs and maybe something would stick to Hillary. It's worth a try."

"But will people buy that? How would we get Hillary's name into it? I mean, it was Bill Clinton and that was 20 years ago and more."

"Well, I don't know what else we're going to do. It's desperation time. Besides, it's Clinton, Hillary or Bill. The voters won't be able to tell the difference and all of that stuff will seem new again. Just refer to 'Clinton' and leave the first names out. I don't know. We've got to do something or this is the last stop on this gravy train for us."

Disclaimer: This imaginary conversation was not overheard by anyone. It's, like, all on the hush-hush...

[NWCorona]

1. What smears are we talking about?

I can't see anyone serious on the left using WW or anything like that.

[Attorney in Texas]

3. I think "smear" is Hillary speak for "inconvenient fact"

[NWCorona]

13. Sadly you might be right

As I can't get an answer.

[MineralMan]

4. Well, it is difficult to read every post on DU.

I understand. No problem. Things happen awfully quickly, don't they?

[NWCorona]

8. No disrespect but you didn't answer my question

And you made the post so you must have some idea.

[MineralMan]

17. Didn't I?

OK.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

2. It's totally unnecessary. She's given us plenty to work with. Gold mine.

[synergie]

6. And yet ...

[NWCorona]

12. And yet, what?

Bernie came from nothing and Hillary has every advantage. 6 blowouts in a row!

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

27. She's been correcting the errors of the past 20 years, acknowledging mistakes, being wrong, and

evolving. She was wrong to trust, or did she make a deal with Bush? TPP is "the gold standard" of trade policy...or not. Obama regrets having gone into Libya for the sake of regime change; at least she stands behind this bad decision. It goes on and on. She doesn't have to tell lies. Her truths change. People don't trust her because she has no center.

[dchill]

5. What a fantasy you're having!

And what a waste of time.

[MineralMan]

9. Yah, sometimes I just let my imagination run free,

based on things I see happening. I'm a very imaginative kind of guy.

I don't mind wasting my time. It's a day off work for me today. I just finished a big contract, so I'm taking a couple of days off.

I hope you don't mind my musings too much...

[GreatGazoo]

7. "Where was Bernie Sanders in 1993?"

[MineralMan]

11. Standing right behind Hillary, who was trying

to push healthcare reform. That's where. Why do you ask?

[Hortensis]

10. Well, don't engage? Just post truths, and

if they enrage, too bad? The hyperfervent ones ARE really bad already and it's going to get worse; but at least the truth will be out there.

“Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a god, but never without a belief in a devil.”
― Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

[MineralMan]

16. Yes, it may escalate further.

And then, the Republicans will drag it all out again. People are bound to grow weary of stale old right-wing smears from the Newt Gingrich days. They didn't stick the first time, and they're all desiccated and hard now. There's no life left in them. But, lacking anything else, I suppose they're all that's left to use now.

[Hortensis]

24. Desiccated. Good word for tired old

conversation bombs. Last weekend we were in a nice group on a patio when someone started in on some hoary old Hillary slur and wouldn't be turned, so people ended up going to refresh their drinks or something. I noticed specifically because this is a conservative area where I normally interject my thoughts only in the most restrained and brief way.

As you say, though, who hasn't heard it all at least 1,000 times for over a quarter century now? My guess is the GOP strategists have to be worried.

[Prism]

14. What 20 year old smears on DU have you personally witnessed?

Be specific.

Links help.

[MineralMan]

18. Well, just today, the Lincoln Bedroom overnight stays

were a thread topic. We read stuff from the Bill Clinton days all the time on DU. Maybe you've trashed some subjects or something. I have no idea.

[Prism]

19. That's not a smear

It's a description of the Clintons' penchant for pay to play that continues into the present.

I was hoping you were going to go with Whitewater or Vince Foster or something.

[MineralMan]

20. Ah, I see. Never mind, then...

[HumanityExperiment]

15. Who needs the 'old' when there's so much new that is available...

HRC is her own worst enemy...

Political expediency is and always will be her downfall, she lives it, embraces it, it is the defining aspect of her campaign

[One_Life_To_Give]

21. Context is important

Nobody should be wanting to rehash Whitewater. But given the track record I wouldn't give favorable odd's to the next 8 years being scandal free. There does seem to be a pattern of putting themselves into position to be attacked via Special Prosecutors etc. Have not seen anyone attack Obama in the same way so it must be avoidable.

[B2G]

22. If you're talking about Whitewater,

it's a very relevant discussion given that Comey is heading up the email investigation.


""Comey’s first brush with them came when Bill Clinton was president. Looking to get back into government after a stint in private practice, Comey signed on as deputy special counsel to the Senate Whitewater Committee. In 1996, after months of work, Comey came to some damning conclusions: Hillary Clinton was personally involved in mishandling documents and had ordered others to block investigators as they pursued their case. Worse, her behavior fit into a pattern of concealment: she and her husband had tried to hide their roles in two other matters under investigation by law enforcement. Taken together, the interference by White House officials, which included destruction of documents, amounted to “far more than just aggressive lawyering or political naiveté,” Comey and his fellow investigators concluded. It constituted “a highly improper pattern of deliberate misconduct.”

http://time.com/4276988/jim-comey-hillary-clinton/

[Bluenorthwest]

23. This cycle started with Camp Hillary having paroxyms about photos form 53 years ago.

They went out of their way to pretend their was some scandal in photos of Bernie protesting five decades ago. That might have been a bad choice for the 'last week was too long ago to matter crowd'.

This was earlier in the month, but of course the distant past in Camp Clinton. I have major issues with what your candidate says here in the current times., also issues with the fact that her supporters and this Party seem fine with this horrific ignorance:

[catnhatnh]

25. You want old? Here's an old one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_cattle_futures_controversy

Here's my favorite part since Hillary fans love talking math-"In a Fall 1994 paper for the Journal of Economics and Finance, economists from the University of North Florida and Auburn University investigated the odds of gaining a hundred-fold return in the cattle futures market during the period in question. Using a model that was stated to give the hypothetical investor the benefit of the doubt, they concluded that the odds of such a return happening were at best 1 in 31 trillion."

When you've been grifting for nearly 4 decades then yeah-some of the grabs have some age on them...

[mcar]

26. We even returned to the Mena Airport last week

Really sad to see on this Democratic board.

[MineralMan]

28. Yes, I saw that.

Sad business we've resorted to on a site designed to support Democrats running for office.

Depressing.

[mcar]

29. Vigorous discussion of issues would be nice

But I guess we've gone way past that point.

[IdaBriggs]

31. Support Democrats is kind of key. I have actually had an argument

about ABORTION on this board with someone who doesn't see a problem with a constitutional amendment restricting it because Hillary said so. As I am sure you are aware, that is in direct contradiction of the Democratic platform, so why is it even a discussion point?

[Blue_Adept]

30. Once I saw Resolution Trust come up, i'm pretty much ready to just trash this forum again

And knowing it's going to bleed out into everything else (LBN is becoming unreadable as well), I'm just figuring it's time to find a new source of news.

[AzDar]

32. You should probably be checked-out by a physician... hearing voices in your head is usually a sign

of a yet-to-be diagnosed disorder. All the best to you!