Clinton Gives More Than Enough Reasons to Disfavor Candidacy
#1. Do we really want an oligarchy?
The United States was founded upon the selection of rulers by popular sovereignty rather than ascension through bloodlines. Do we really want the first female President to be the wife of a former President? There is no doubt that Mrs. Clinton will play up her husband’s accomplishments while he was President in order to suggest that she will be able to replicate his successes. Legitimate candidates should not have to rely on their spouses or relatives to display why they are fit to serve.
#2. She’s Hopelessly Out of Touch
This was best put on display when Clinton stated in July 2014 that she and her husband were “dead broke” upon leaving the White House in 2001. However, in 1999, the couple bought a 5-bedroom home in Chappaqua, NY for nearly $2 million. In December 2000, they bought a 7-bedroom house near Embassy Row in Washington, DC for almost $3 million. There is nothing wrong with the Clintons using the money that they have earned to purchase such luxury; however, there is a major issue in Mrs. Clinton being unable to recognize her own good fortune.
#3. A Life Spent As A Washington Insider
After becoming First Lady on January 20, 1993, Clinton would go on to become Senator from New York and then Secretary of State, compiling 20 consecutive years working in the inner-circle of Washington, DC. Even those three roles were not her first experiences in the nation’s capital. In fact, one of her first jobs after graduating from Yale Law School was serving on the impeachment inquiry staff during the Watergate trial. It was only after she failed the Washington, DC bar exam that she made the final decision to marry Bill Clinton and move to Arkansas.
#4. A Chronic Liar
Before there was Brian Williams, there was Hillary Clinton.
Clinton infamously claimed in 2008 that she landed under “sniper fire” in Bosnia, which was refuted by video evidence of the incident. However, that is not the first time that Clinton has been caught telling untruths. In 1995, she claimed that she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach Mount Everest’s summit. However, he did not do so until 6 years after Clinton was born, making it unlikely that her mother would be familiar with him at the time.
Additionally, Jerry Zeifman, counsel and chief of staff of the House Judiciary Committee, claims that during her work on Watergate, Clinton wrote a fraudulent legal brief and confiscated public documents in order to prevent from Nixon from being impeached so that Ted Kennedy would have a chance to win the presidency in 1976.
#5. She changes positions when it’s politically expedient
Hillary Clinton stated in 2000, “I think a marriage is as a marriage has always been, between a man and a woman.” Clinton retained this position during her 2008 campaign and until 2013, when she said that gay Americans are “full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship, that includes marriage.” While it’s understandable that Clinton could have had a change of heart, it is not the first time that she has changed her position when political winds have shifted. She favored the Cuban embargo in 2000, before opposing it in 2014, and voted for the Iraq War in 2002 before campaigning against it (and refusing to admit her vote) in 2008. In one particularly memorable moment in a 2007 debate, she spoke in favor of giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, changed her position 2 minutes later, and then changed her position back the next day.
#6. She’s Economically Illiterate
Clinton has indicated that she agrees with the Alan Arenholt quote that she featured in her 1996 book It Takes a Village that “The unfettered free market has been the most radically disruptive force in American life in the last generation.” While there can be some argument as to what “disruptive” is to imply, Clinton’s other statements bring some light to the subject. Late in 2014, Clinton told a crowd, “Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs.” Her healthcare proposals during her time as First Lady were much more expansive than ObamaCare, and she has on many occasions spoken in favor of a universal system.
#7. A Democrat Who Voted For War
For as big of a liberal as Clinton is on domestic issues, she has proven herself to be just as neo-conservative on foreign policy. Clinton voted in favor of the Iraq War. Additionally, she stated that she would have assisted anti-Assad forces in Syria, and her desire to intervene in Libya is what led to the arming of members of Al Qaeda. She has also stated that she would use nuclear weapons to (in her words) “obliterate” Iran if they were to attack Israel with nuclear weapons.
#8. Anti-Civil Liberties
Clinton voted for the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001. As Secretary of State, she justified NSA spying by stating that it helps to protect the US from terrorist attacks. She said she was “puzzled” and found it “odd” that Edward Snowden fled the country, and implied that she thought that he was attempting to assist China and Russia with his revelations about the NSA program. She also opposed the release of documents by WikiLeaks in 2010 and has in the past supported making flag-burning illegal. In 2005, she introduced the Flag Protection Act, which would have called for a $100,000 fine and 1-year sentence in jail for the offense.
#9. Scandal-Ridden
In her decades in the limelight, Mrs. Clinton has found herself involved in a number of scandals. In the infamous Whitewater Controversy, she and her husband were found to be involved in some suspect real estate investments during their time in a failed business venture. Mrs. Clinton was also implicated in the Travelgate scandal, which alleged that the Clintons had fired White House Travel Staff employees so that some of the Clintons’ friends could take their places. While President Clinton was exonerated of any wrongdoing, Mrs. Clinton was found to have played a central role in the firings and made false statements about the matter. Mrs. Clinton was also involved in the Filegate scandal, which alleged that she had requested and read top-secret FBI background checks for political purposes.
#10. Benghazi
There is perhaps no bigger scandal than the one which occurred during Mrs. Clinton’s time as Secretary of State. On September 11, 2012, Islamic radicals attacked the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya, killing Ambassador Christopher Stevens and Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith. Stevens was the first US Ambassador killed on duty since 1979. Hours later, a second assault killed two CIA contractors. Requests for more security had been made by the American representatives in Libya to the Clinton State Department for months prior, but they were ignored.