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Sunday, August 7, 2016

A Catalog Of Hillary Clinton's Achievements

Intrepid Hillary Not Afraid Of The Man Behind The Curtain | made w/ Imgflip meme maker
The Borowitz Report: "Trump Blasts Media For Reporting What He Says"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-borowitz-report-trump-blasts-media.html

 What "The Clinton Foundation" Does And Why Hillary Should Point To It With Pride
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/what-clinton-foundation-does-and-why.html



 Greetings,

 I have been asked to catalog Hillary's accomplishments.

 To begin, I draw your attention to her State Children's Health Insurance Program (often called S-CHIP).

Later in Hillary's career, she successfully fought to secure 21 billion federal dollars for the restoration of New York City after 9/11.

These two achievements -- all by themselves -- are more significant than the entire careers of most Senators and Secretaries.

Quick!

Name two accomplishments of equal magnitude by a Republican Senator or a Republican Secretary of State.

Be honest now...

Did ANY Republican come to mind?

Or could you only recall the monotonous litany of 1.) lower taxes, 2.) stronger military, 3.) more personal responsibility, and 4.) liberating the invisible hand of the marketplace to make everything "great again?"

"Yuuuge!"

Red State Moocher Links

American conservatives are terrified of Hillary's pending election not because she doesn't get things done but because deep down they know she will get things done. And most conservatives, in their heart of hearts, prefer stasis (or "going back" to a presumed Golden Age) over any real change, especially when change is good for everyone not just "making America white again."

 "When You're Accustomed To Privilege ... Equality Feels Like Oppression" Heather McGhee | made w/ Imgflip meme maker

Before I proceed to Hillary's many other achievements, it is important to flesh out the two milestones mentioned above.

The Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), co-authored by Clinton and Orrin Hatch (to whom Hillary reached "across the aisle"), was monumental. As a result of this landmark legislation, nearly ten million kids at any given time in the last 23 years have had health insurance who would not have had it otherwise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Children%27s_Health_Insurance_Program

Nebraska Dwarf, Ryan Moore, Addresses DNC
(If you think Donald Trump capable of entering into lasting personal relationship with an afflicted person like Ryan Moore, you are lying to yourself. Trump is interested - exclusively - in the rich, powerful and good-looking. Everyone else - probably including you - is considered "a loser" and a fit recipient of verbal abuse.)

 At a time when congressional Republicans were balking at providing assistance for NYC reconstruction in the wake of 9/11 -- Hillary played a decisive role securing $21 billion dollars for  redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.[238][244]  Subsequently, Hillary led the charge to investigate the health issues faced by 9/11 first responders.[245]  

Senate GOP Blocks 9/11 First Responders Health Plan Bill


United States Senate Career Of Hillary Rodham Clinton

 Here is Politifact's review of other Clinton accomplishments during her senate tenure:

  • Hillary co-sponsored bills: There were 74 bills that became law which Clinton co-sponsored. For example, she was a co-sponsor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed in January 2009 by President Barack Obama. (The fact that Hillary co-sponsored these bills doesn’t tell us much about her role in their passage but since Bush made a big deal out of just 3 bills with her "name on them," it is worth noting the other 74 bill she co-sponsored.) https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/hillary_clinton/300022  

Hillary co-sponsored the original American Recovery and Reinvestment Act but in the end another version (known as H.R. 1) passed.

Since H.R. 1 -- aka "The Stimulus Package" -- is universally despised by American conservatives, the following links provide important analysis and contextualization.

"What The Stimulus Accomplished," New York Times Editorial Board


Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Has Been A Success

U.S. News & World Report


Another issue related to "economic recovery" following Bush-Cheney's financial meltdown was Hillary's vote for the separate-but-similar effort to bail out Detroit auto makers.
Two widely-admired Congressional affairs experts -- conservative Norman Ornstein, a scholar at American Enterprise Institute, and Sarah Binder, a political science professor at George Washington University and Brookings Institution scholar -- point out that the number of sponsored or co-sponsored bills signed-into-law is not a meaningful measure of effectiveness or productivity for U.S. senators.
"Offering amendments on the floor, holding hearings, contributing to oversight, helping to negotiate agreements, pushing federal agencies to be responsive to constituents back home -- all of these contribute to making a senator ‘effective,’ but none of these endeavors show up in a count of bills sponsored or passed or enacted," Binder said.
Similarly, Ornstein has pointed out that the names attached to "bills of any significance" are the committee chairs -- for example the Dodd-Frank 2010 banking reform bill that was shepherded to completion by Sen. Chris Dodd and U.S. Rep. Barney Frank was significantly crafted by other senators and representatives whose names do not appear on the bill.
Ornstein also cites a revealing particular: The Affordable Care Act "does not have Al Franken's name on it, but a really important provision, the medical-loss ratio, was his handiwork." 

Ornstein again: "Effectiveness can be a behind-the-scenes role; adding a crucial amendment or working inside to get the language exactly right. By any reasonable standard, including the private comments of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle when Hillary was in the Senate, she was very effective.""
When evaluating what senators and representatives "get done," it is also helpful to consider Ornstein's view of Republican obstructionism during Clinton's Senate career and beyond.

Conservative Norm Ornstein and Liberal Thomas Mann
"Let's Just Say It. The Republicans Are The Problem"
***

Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State

 In Wikipedia's assessment of Hillary's term as Secretary of State -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton#U.S._Secretary_of_State -- note her ongoing efforts to protect women's and children's rights and dignity all over the world. "Women's rights" have little cachet with Republicans but the GOP's pervasive alienation of women will be a Big Part of what "does them in" this November - and beyond.

Melania Trump's Softcore Porn Photos
The New York Post Just Covered Melania Trump's X-Rated Photo Shoot

Nude Photos Of Melania Trump Raise Questions: "Did She Come To The United States Legally?"

Trump Family Fortune Began With Booze And Prostitution


As Secretary of State, Hillary also championed "a free and open internet," the first time a senior American official clearly defined the Internet as a key component of The American Way of Life and American foreign policy as well. 

 Clinton's groundbreaking insistence on "a free and open internet"  may not seem like much to her critics but "words have meaning" and words must be spoken before concepts and practices can be enacted and normalized. 

 Consider.

 For eleven years, "The Declaration of Independence" was "just words"... until the Constitution was finally ratified on September 17, 1789.

 In contemporary politics, conservatives are keenly aware of the importance of "words" as illustrated by their volcanic insistence that Obama use the words "Islamic Terrorism." 

 Making the verbal declaration that "a free-and-open internet" is a prerequisite for free speech and participatory governance is a Big Deal. 

 The same Wikipedia link mentioned above - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton#U.S._Secretary_of_State - also spotlights Hillary's participation in the so-called "re-set" with Russia, a policy that worked well with president Dmitry Medvedev, but soured when Trump's pal Vladimir Putin took control. (What other bad actors does Trump "pal around" with? And will we ever know?)

New Clinton Ad Asks "What's Donald Trump's Relationship With Vladimir Putin?"

Former CIA Head: Putin "Recruited Mr. Trump As An Unwitting Agent Of The Russian Federation"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/former-cia-head-putin-recruited-mr.html

VIDEO: Pulitzer Prize Winner Reveals Evidence Of Trump's Extensive Mafia Ties


 Imagine conservatives' reaction if Hillary were similarly assessed by a former CIA head or had well-documented ties to mafiaosi.

 Such scandals would become "New Benghazis," dogging Clinton 'til the day she dies. 

Teflon Trump on the other hand... Not only does he "pal around with Putin," he denies it, then gets caught in the factual lie of his denial, and still skates - typically because he's proclaimed some new factual monstrosity than refocuses the press before there's time to "Benghazi" the sob.

 Watch Salman Rushdie detail the 5-part process by which Devious Donald does damage control: http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/07/real-time-with-bill-maher-convention.html

Trump Is Famous For "Telling The Truth" But Legally Binds Wives And Employees To Total Secrecy


 As Secretary of State, Hillary also launched ground-breaking initiatives with Turkey and Pakistan and devised the "Iranian sanctions" that forced Tehran's curtailment of nuclear weapons development. Although rarely focused by The Press - right or left - it is a fact that Iran's ongoing development of nuclear weapon capability was interrupted through Hillary's diplomatic efforts. Rhetoric aside, it may eventually prove that Iran's nuclear development has been permanently derailed. 

 Although the eventual deal with Iran was not what conservative idealists would like to see --- it never is! --- retired Air Force general friend, AWC (whose service began in western China during WWII and who went on to a highly-regarded career in military intelligence) says that "the Iran accord was the best possible agreement we could have gotten given the overall political situation" - including the fact (and these are my words) that "Iran won the Iraq war." (Go Brownie!)

Pax on both houses: Iran Won The Iraq War 1

Pax on both houses: Iran Won The Iraq War 2

Pax on both houses: Iran Won The Iraq War. Here's What That Loss ...

Pax on both houses: Iran Won The Iraq War: How "The Cakewalk" Has ...

Pax on both houses: 2011 Email: "Iran Won The Iraq War" And ...

Pax on both houses: Given That Iran Won The Iraq War, The New ...

Pax on both houses: The End of The Iraq War (Phase 1)

Pax on both houses: Iran Increasingly Crucial To The Baghdad ...


It is informative to recall that Ronald Reagan considered Saddam Hussein a key American ally and that Uncle Sam's central purpose in the Middle East was to contain Iran, a goal so transcendentally important that it persuaded Reagan to supply Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons.

George Will Documents Reagan's Collusion With Saddam's Use Of Chemical Weapons

United States Support For Iraq During The Iraq-Iran War

To appreciate the shattered Middle East inherited by Hillary, it is necessary to understand how Bush-Cheney's Iraq War -- an ill-informed, ego-driven War of Choice - unraveled the region and created the chaotic space in which ISIS was born.

"Bush's Toxic Legacy In Iraq"

Hans Blix' Fruitless Search For WMD And Bush/Cheney's Rush To War In Iraq

Cheney's Lucid 1994 Rationale For NOT Invading Iraq. Conservatives "Must" See This

"The Fall Of Iraq. Jawdropping Video Footage Of Cheney, Albright, Gen Clarke & Others"

The Iraq War And Benghazi In Context: Iraq Was Catastrophic; Benghazi Was A Peccadillo


While touching on the bête noire of Benghazi, I will take a moment to examine Hillary's other "albatross," her "private server emails."

 FBI Chief Comey (A Republican First Appointed By A Republican President) Says There Is Reasonable Doubt Whether Hillary Saw Any "Classified" Notation
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/fbi-chief-comey-says-there-is.html

Lest we forget, Hillary was a crucial participant in The Situation Room where the people (pictured below) made the risky decision to attack the compound believed to be Osama bin Laden's hideout. President Obama has been forthright that Hillary's counsel was indispensable to his decision to attack. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/bin-laden-raid-expected-to-be-centerpiece-of-hillary-clintons-memoir/2014/06/02/6dfe474e-e123-11e3-9743-bb9b59cde7b9_story.html

Why didn't Bush "get" bin Laden? 

 In Dubyah's own words "I don't know where bin Laden is... I really don't spend much time on him." 

 If you don't believe Bush said that, watch the video: http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/09/bush-i-dont-know-where-bin-laden-is-i.html

If Hillary had said "I don't know where bin Laden is... I really don't spend much time on him" Republicans would smash-face her in perpetuity. The "scandal" would trivialize Benghazi.

The following biopic provides additional insight into Hillary's sprawling array of accomplishments. http://www.tvguide.com/news/hillary-clinton-shonda-rhimes-movie-morgan-freeman-dnc-democratic-national-convention/

As for Hillary's lying, there have been several demonstrable whoppers - over four decades of public service.

Trump, on the other hand, tells "an entire lifetime of Hillary whoppers" in each news cycle.


Trump Versus Clinton: The Pinocchio Count So Far," By Greg Kessler, Piniocchio's Inventor
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/trump-versus-clinton-pinocchio-count-so.html

 Currently, Trump is doubling down on his laughable claim that the Iranian government has a video of $400,000,000.00 being offloaded on pallets in Tehran. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/08/04/trump-continues-to-claim-with-no-evidence-that-iran-released-a-video-of-a-cash-transfer-from-the-u-s/

But much more meaningful than Trump's persistent falsehood concerning a non-existent video is Ted Cruz' evaluation of Trump as an "utterly amoral" "pathological liar" who "doesn't know the difference between truth and lying. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth." Click the following link and see the video entitled Ted Cruz: Donald Trump Is "A Pathological Liar." You will either find yourself laughing at Donald's psycopathy or become furious that Cruz told the truth. http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/05/03/ted-cruz-donald-trump-pathological-liar-sot-ath.cnn

 "This man," says Cruz, "doesn't know the difference between truth and lies." Cruz goes on to say - and I paraphrase - "Trump can tell one lie in the morning, another contradictory lie at noon and in the evening a third lie that contradicts the first two. But if you hook him to a polygraph Trump would pass every time because he has no moral compass to make him feel shame, guilt of remore."


In comparison to Trump's non-stop torrent of lies, Hillary's lying about "the origin of her name" -- and her lie about "coming under sniper fire" -- are trivial. Taken in the context of 40 years' public service, Hillary's lies are also infrequent.

Whatever Hillary's faults (and I see no egregious fault except her approval of Bush-Cheney's Whimsy War in Iraq) Hillary has endured 30 years of relentless Republican hatred and in that crucible has learned to keep cool.

Donald, on the other hand, is a loose cannon hot-head who does not "feel right" unless he's losing his cool, lashing out at someone, or stewing in the self-generated juice where he plans small-minded vengeance on his "enemies" rather than getting on with real work.


"A Man You Can Bait With A Tweet Is Not A Man We Can Trust With Nuclear Weapons" Donald Always Takes The Bait. Hillary Has Never Taken The B | made w/ Imgflip meme maker

 There has been much ado about Hillary's supposed "mistakes," "malice" and "cover-up" in Benghazi.

But despite years of inquisition by Representative Trey Gowdy's Republican-controlled committee, that herculean effort came up with nothing "actionable," nothing that justified indictment or even censure. Can we do the math?

On the other hand, consider what Benghazi "looks like" when properly situated in the overarching context of The Middle East. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-iraq-war-and-benghazi-in-context.html
***

On "the positive side of the ledger," Hillary shines where Donald only burns - a peevish, vindictive man, all heat, no light.
Thin Skinned And Ready To Lash Out | made w/ Imgflip meme maker
Alan: It's not that billionaire Trump - isolated in Xanadu - "speaks for me" as disillusioned white people often say.
It's that Donald knows how to dig into white folk's bellies, yank on their guts and stir the magma that informs their small, spiteful lives.
The chaotic eruption of their anger -- through The Mad Man's mouth -- inflames them with a surrogate climax of rage and retribution, making them feel like they have a champion.
In fact, they have "a tiger by the tail," who will -- as whim and self-interest counsel -- turn on them, or abandon them like seduced women after a one-night stand.
Donald's supposed "speaking for them" has nothing to do with fact-checkable thought: whenever convenient, disillusioned white people hold Knowledge and Science in contempt.
Accomplished cynic that he is, Donald plays his puppets for the hyper-emotional suckers they are.

Fortuntely for the nation, Hillary is an accomplished, knowledgeable policy wonk who knows how government works and who knows how to get things done.

As mundane as her modus operandi may sound, it encompasses the real nuts and bolts of effective government, unlike the counterproductive and ultimately self-destructive posturing of "too pure" conservatives.

Compendium Of Best Pax Posts On "Too Pure Principles" And The Collapse Of Conservatism


 Unlike Obama who is correctly faulted for not developing a good working relationship with Congress, Hillary "plays well with others" and during her decade as a senator from my home state of New York developed remarkable ability to build collaborative relationships, even with Republicans. This may not sound like much but Hillary's ability to work with Republicans - all by itself - makes her a more competent politician than Mr. Bluster.

By way of counterpoint, Donald knows next to nothing about government --- I would not be surprised if he has NOT read the Constitution --- and is so self-absorbed by narcissism and megalomania that he sees no reason to come-to-terms with the existing structure-and-form of government but instead invents his own "reality" as he goes along.

 Devious Donald calls his inexperience and ignorance "being an outsider."

In fact, it is a fast track to chaos.

 50 GOP Officials Warn That Donald Trump Would Put Nation's Security "At Risk"
(Note that these Republican officials are NOT warning that Hillary Clinton will put the nation's security "at risk"... because she won't. Please note that NO Democratic official calls Hillary a "security risk." NOT ONE. But 50 -- yes, fifty! -- Republican officials allege Trump's riskiness without a single echo on the left side of the aisle. American conservatives have become so inured to unrelenting revelations of Donald's monstrosity that the non-stop bilge pumps have become as invisible as the air they breathe.)

 Trump has virtually no knowledge of government, history or foreign affairs and in his invincible ignorance believes he can fill his own self-generated void with spur-of-the-moment mutterings --- unedited and uninformed -- just as they pop into his ADHD head.

And since The Puffy Plutocrat has been running this ruse his whole life, Devious Donald has gotten very good at making "nothing" look like "something"... At least for a while. Then he goes bankrupt or stiffs his blue collar workers. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-banner-day-for-bullshit-15-hours-of.html

Given how little Trump knows about government, policy and foreign affairs, I predict Trump will do his best to bail out of the presidential debates because he knows Hillary's vast knowledge and experience will make him look like the uninformed dunce he is. And if Donald's past is predictive, an uninformed dunce he will remain. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/politifact-finds-that-only-1-of-things.html

If Donald does not quit his presidential campaign, so much demonstrable dirt will come to light that many of his supporters, originally exuberant when Donald promised-them-EVERYTHING, will realize they were taken for a "ride" -- a "joy ride" while it lasted -- but on November 8th Donald will get less than 40% of the popular vote and quite likely less than McGovern's 37.5% en route to losing every state but one.

Moderate Republican For Trump: Only Trump Can Restore GOP Sanity... 
By A Landslide Loss

 It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

One only needs to realize that the realities of government impose certain limits, make certain demands, require certain skills and knowledge sets.

And Donald does not have them.

He does not have any of them.

To say that Trump is completely "unsuited to office" is to let him off easy, like punishing Willie Horton with a pencil-whack on the knuckles.

 Trump made a big splash in the primaries because he knew how to play to conservatives' undying hope in the eschatological arrival of a new Messiah.

Against this background Devious Donald was able to fan the flames of messianic expectation.

 But now, with the primaries over, the (supposed) billionaire cannot bring himself to confront Clinton -- a knowledgeable, capable candidate -- and so he continues to fight with his fellow Republicans just as he did in the "winnable" primaries.

It is tragic for American conservatives that "squabbling with other Republicans" is the only thing this essentially destructive man knows how to do.

Donald's real opponent (unlike the Republicans with whom he shadow boxes) is so much smarter than Trump that once the mano a mano starts, Hillary will run circles around him.

Let The Games Begin! Hillary Eviscerates Trump With San Diego Foreign Policy Speech

Inexplicably, Despicable Donald has picked recent fights with Ryan, McCain, Ayotte and Priebus, recalling the old chestnut: "With friends like him, who needs enemies?"

The problem is that Trump is an undisciplined, ungovernable man who doesn't understand government.

G.K. Chesterton: "The Anarchy of The Rich"


 At bedrock, Donald is a half-assed businessman with a long trail of failure, broken promises, broken relationships, unpaid workers and downright rip-offs.


Compendium Of Pax Posts About Trump "University" Scam


 Yes, the self-professed "King of Debt" knows how to scavenge the ruins in ways that are personally profitable but Trump has nothing-of-substance "up his sleave."

Not even the bullying and blustering that enabled him to dominate the Republican primaries will be serviceable when he engages single combat with feisty, battle-tested, cool-headed Hillary.

I look forward to the spectacle of Clinton cleaning his clock the minute Mr. Bluster musters enough courage to "get in the ring with her" --- or perhaps I should say if he musters enough courage to get in the ring.

Truth be told, it looks like Donald is already testing the waters to see how he might quit, or, alternatively, explain his loss in November.

"The election was rigged!"
"Expect No Remedy" "I AM The Rigged System." | made w/ Imgflip meme maker

 Hillary will dissect Donald in full view of the American people and her meticulous examination of his anatomical parts will be so deft that even conservatives will see that "the emperor has no clothes."

To Expose Our Children To Donald Trump Is Not Just Child Abuse, But Egregious Child Abuse

New Clinton Ad Asks "What's Donald Trump's Relationship With Vladimir Putin?"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/new-clinton-ad-asks-whats-donald-trumps.html

New Hillary Ad Praises Donald Trump For The Global Reach Of His Business Empire
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/08/new-hillary-ad-praises-donald-trump-for.html

Compendium Of Pax Posts About Donald Trump, Updated July 31, 2016
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/06/compendium-of-pax-posts-about-donald.html


Although none of us are without fault -- and the Clintons have their fair share -- mostly they have been unfairly denigrated by the Republican Noise Machine.

Here's how that works...

MAKES RIGHT-WING FABRICATIONS SEEM LIKE BRAINSTORMS TO THE DIMWITTED | made w/ Imgflip meme maker

Reprise: "Mediocre Philosophy Sells: It Makes The Half Literate... Feel Smart
On November 8th, there will be a sea change in American politics.

 The Noise Machine will no longer play a decisive role. It might remain a vestigial feature on the American political horizon, but very soon" thirty years of sound and fury" will recede to hushed insignificance as white privilege becomes a thing of the past.

How We Perceive Truth Is A Curious Thing... Loaded With All Kinds Of Baggage

"The Death Of Epistemolgy"

So, tell me...

 Now that you've had 20 minutes to "think on these things," have you recalled any notable accomplishments by Republican senators or Secretaries of State?

I didn't think so.

George McGovern: "The Case For Liberalism, A Defense Of The Future Against The Past"
A final note...

 Although I am a registered Democrat (who does not always vote for the Democratic presidential candidate) I will end this missive by mentioning that three of my five favorite presidents were Republican:

Abraham Lincoln

Teddy Roosevelt

Dwight Eisenhower

Franklin Delano Roosevelt 

Barack Hussein Obama

Nor am I opposed to everything Trump advocates. (Even a broken clock is right twice a day...)

Spot-On Truth-Teller Donald Trump: The Most Important Thing Said At The Republican Debate












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