I was not surprised, but I was underwhelmed, when I read a headline last Saturday that the N.Y. Times was endorsing Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. Headlines in most of the other newspapers that day were filled with the breaking news about 22 emails on Hillary's private email server that were classified "Top Secret." According to the State Department that she once presided over, some of the emails were so super secret that they will never be published because they contained information about international clandestine activities. They deserved the secret classification because they contained subject matter like the names of CIA spies or undisclosed information about the North Korea nuclear program. Strangely, and almost inexplicably, Hillary alleges that nothing in these 22 emails is secret and all of them should be released. Evidently, The Times believes her because endorsing her was front page news and her emails were relegated to an also ran story.
The fawning endorsement highlighted her vast experience. Newsflash: What experience? I always ask her supporters the same question these days. Name three things she accomplished as Secretary of State. The Times must have anticipated my question. Laughably, The Times then cited her lifelong fight for women. I wonder if it really meant her lifelong fight with women like Anita Broderick, Paula Jones and others who had unwanted forcible encounters with husband Bill, whom the Times described as a man "deeply flawed." Imagine that, it made only one comment about Slick Willie, calling him "deeply flawed" and never mentioned him again in the entire piece. It made no mention of the fact that Hillary along with Betsey Wright fought these women tooth and nail and spread vicious rumors about them as they coined the term "Bimbo Eruptions."
Then the Times cited tough sanctions on Iran that she endorsed making the tough nuclear deal possible. The Times must be kidding. There are no tough sanctions in the Iran deal and what few sanctions exist I believed were the brainchild of John Kerry. Its Editorial Board went on to compliment her for several things that all of the GOP candidates oppose such as "She will give undocumented immigrants a chance at legitimacy," meaning she will take Obama's executive order granting amnesty to illegals a step further. The Editors also cited her "being a strong advocate of sensible and effective measures to combat the plague of firearms." In other words they champion gun control and are cheering her on, and they touted her great understanding of Dodd-Frank, which nearly every Republican has promised to repeal. They cited her great knowledge about and her commitment to reproductive rights along with her work to repeal the Hyde Amendment that restricts federal money being spent for abortions.
It concluded its endorsement with the following summary as to why she is the right choice for Democrats: "Her vision is radically different from the one that leading Republican candidates offer." To that I shout "You can say that again!"
Conspiracy or Coincidence
Two small boats with all the advanced equipment the U.S. Navy owns were forced to surrender to Iranian forces on Jan. 12, which was coincidentally the day of Obama's State of the Union Address. Our sailors not only surrendered but they apologized to Iran for violating its territorial waters. I hate to ask the question, but I must -- Is there a double agent working in the White House or in the Defense Department? It's a valid question considering about two years ago a drone was brought down over Iran, intact, with not a scratch on it. How did that happen?
Why do these things happen in and around Iran? Does this mean that Iran has been able to copy our most sophisticated drone technology and navel communications equipment? This is almost too hard to write off as a coincidence. How was Iran able to force down the drone? How did it force the two boats to get into its waters? Has it developed some secret device to cripple our GPS systems?
I opine, you decide.
-- Willie Williams is a Siloam Springs resident. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 02/03/2016