Clinton, Inc. is Much Bigger and More Dangerous than Watergate

Sorry Carl Bernstein, as one who lived through the drama and dangers of Watergate, I can only wish that Sam Irvin were with us now.

The key difference between Watergate and the Clinton crimes is that Nixon had been re-elected after the Congressional investigation began but before any hard evidence had been disclosed (the existence of the tapes was not yet known). (Incidentally members of the Watergate committees -- including Hillary Clinton herself -- were not accused of violating the Hatch Act.)

Once Congress knew they had the smoking gun, members of Nixon’s own party went in a delegation to the White House to tell Nixon that he had to resign in order to avoid a constitutional crisis, since the military and the DOJ reported to a president who was about to be found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors for having broken into the offices of the DNC. Members of his own party knew that if the conviction occurred that a constitutional crisis would be inevitable. Many believe that a deal was worked out to install Gerald Ford as VP, with the understanding that he would pardon Nixon for all past and future offenses, in exchange for Nixon agreeing to resign and peacefully hand over the reins of government.

The likelihood that Hillary Clinton is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors is more apparent each day. The emails’ server identification marks prove their source (her own server) and that their content has not been tampered with. The smoking gun already exists despite the unfortunate previous claim by Comey that there were no grounds for prosecution. Many FBI agents have already resigned in protest of his ridiculous claim, after asserting clear legal grounds for a case Negligence, that no prosecutor would take this case. (Incidentally the penalty under that statute includes ineligibility for holding any Federal office.)
In 2016 we have the opposite of Watergate. The Democratic Party has chosen and continues to support Hillary Clinton for president when a clear basis for criminal prosecution exists. If she is elected, on what grounds would we secure a peaceful resignation once she controls the DOJ and the military?

Obama has already instructed the DOJ not to charge Hillary. The DOJ prohibited the FBI from issuing subpoenas, from obtaining warrants and from empaneling a grand jury in the review of Clinton’s emails – in other words they blocked the FBI from investigating Hillary Clinton’s criminal actions.

If Obama pardons her on the way in to take the reins of the greatest military power in the world, what hope is there for our democracy? If Obama doesn’t pardon her prospectively, or if he does,, we have the same constitutional crisis that would have occurred had not the leaders of the Republican Party taken the reins and gone to the White House to tell the President they would not support him.

Nothing in the rapacious quest for power by both Clintons through the Clinton Foundation could lead us to believe that Hillary Clinton would do anything except hold onto illegitimate power, even at pains of eroding the basis for our democracy.
In light of all of this the Clinton campaign’s insistence that somehow democracy is being undermined (as the FBI attempts to investigate her) does not suggest that she would subject herself to the rule of law. The bogus claim that what this really demonstrates is that Russia is trying to interfere with the election is totally irrelevant in evaluating the evidence of crimes in her emails.

There is no basis for believing that the content of the emails has been in any way tampered with or changed.
If one were to believe these foolish claims that Russia hacked Hillary’s server to interfere with our elections, the content of the emails stands on its own regardless of that possibility. Of course now the Clintons claim that the FBI (in addition to Russia) is undermining our democracy by investigating the content of those emails now found on a source completely independent of foreign interference. And 83% of Democrats say this is a mere distraction.

We have no reason to believe that the Democratic Party would act to defend democracy. They have conspired to undermine the election by sabotaging Bernie Sanders campaign, by planting questions in debates and placing an operative on CNN as if she were an independent commentator, by targeting likely Sanders voters and removing them from the voters roles in many states, by preventing the votes from being counted in the California primary (to this day more than 1 million votes remain uncounted) and now by using the Department of Justice to stifle further investigation of the Clinton foundation and the crimes of the Clinton campaign.

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lotlizard's picture

letter-to-the-editor, blog post, social media post, etc. Mahalo for bringing it to c99.

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k9disc's picture

such as this. There are many people I don't want to bring here. I'm afraid they'll spoil it, not get it, or turn off to the ideas because of the site's socialist/anarchist vibe.

I think something like Medium would allow for easier and more effective distribution because it doesn't come with the ideological baggage that an ideological blog brings. It would force people to read it before ideological triggers happen, as they certainly do here.

The only reason the econ sites can publish what they publish and get a wide variety of ideologies represented, both in print and readership, is because it's rooted in economics, and everyone at least understands the site's ideology. It's a fact.

Perhaps we could come up with some place, non-ideological, as a group, for crossposting. There certainly is important and accessible content here.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

riverlover's picture

I read some on Medium, posts are about all sorts of things, my impression is later someone editorial selects good ones and collates them by subject matter.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

k9disc's picture

Here are my contributions:
https://medium.com/@pawsitivevybe/latest

These are some non-ideological (non-frisbeedog pieces) pieces I've written that are of interest to a wider dog training and learning theory audience than I have via my site (populated with disc dogs) or my SoMe presence (disc dogs and hippie shit).

I don't know much about Medium's business practices, they are a part of twitter, but I like the interface and the non-ideological, "serious piece" platform feel it has, as an author and a reader.

I thought they were curated too.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Somehow blogs of various kinds have to come together to make a place for unbiased information. We can't proceed as a democracy unless we have such a place. It doesn't help that the corporate media spends billions to create the illusion that they are that place.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

divineorder's picture

http://www.commondreams.org/writers-guidelines

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Submissions should:

Offer a unique progressive perspective
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Be concise. Please keep submissions to 1000 words or less.
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Include a one- or two-line bio, a recent photo and your email address if you'd like us to include it.

Send to submissions@commondreams.org with the word "Submission" in the subject line.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

agree with lotlizard that your essay deserves a much wider readership.

In a generation, or two, we're seeing the erosion of ethical standards infect, and disable, the Democratic Party. It was the Republicans who forced Nixon out: They could have blocked impeachment and conviction but the majority of R's did the right thing. Today the majority of D's have done, and are doing, the wrong thing. We are not seeing more than a few scattered Democrats who hold to the ethical and moral standards held by D's from FDR through Carter.

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

Hillbilly Dem's picture

The Republicans on the Senate Watergate Committee were partisans. But they were Americans first. The haymaker question "What did the President know and when did he know it?", came from Sen. Howard Baker on the Republican side of the aisle, not from the Dems. In America 2016, would any of our solons put country over party? Meh.

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"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey

Is it just me, or have those two been coasting on Watergate for the last 40 years? I mean, when's the last time either of them really did anything worthwhile and didn't just go back insisting that their former glory meant we should pay attention to them now?

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Oldest Son Of A Sailor's picture

Except now we can add Clinton Sell Out to the list...

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"Do you realize the responsibility I carry?
I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House."

~John F. Kennedy~
Economic: -9.13, Social: -7.28,

for the good of the Republican Party. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11218323/Geor...
The Party, not the country.

The Presidential sequence for 35 years before Nixon had been: 20 years of Democrats FDR and Truman; 8 years when everyone liked World War II and NATO hero, Republican Ike; about 3 years of a Democratic President all but beatified, after his assassination; Democrat LBJ, elected in 1964 by a landslide of historic proportion; (MLK and RFK assassinated in 1968); then, Republican Nixon elected in 1968.

Republicans did not want to blow their chances of holding the Oval Office for another generation or more; and they knew Republican candidates for POTUS as popular as Ike was after WWII don't grow on trees.

But, America was so much older then; it's younger than that now.

From the latest Nobel Prize Winner for Literature:

My Back Pages
Bob Dylan
Crimson flames tied through my ears, rollin' high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon, " said I, proud 'neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now
Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth, "rip down all hate, " I screamed
Lies that life is black and white spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now
Girls' faces formed the forward path from phony jealousy
To memorizing politics of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists, unthought of, though somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now
A self-ordained professor's tongue too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty is just equality in school
"Equality, " I spoke the word as if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now
In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand at the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I'd become my enemy in the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats, mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now
Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now

A few million dollars' worth of talent on stage with the Nobel guy. Enjoy:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGEIMCWob3U]
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gulfgal98's picture

that this is a very well written essay laying out the dangers of what is happening to our democracy by allowing Clinton to skate and burying the facts under innuendo and accusations.

What has really happened as a result of this scandal is that President Obama in collusion with the Democratic party have effectively destroyed the very checks and balances that our governmental system should have if it is to operate as was intended. If justice is not allowed to be carried out in the case of Clinton's emails and the scandals surrounding the Clinton Foundation, then our system of government is completely dead.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Pricknick's picture

is already dead.
It works only for a few to the detriment of the many.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

hellinahandcart's picture

we let Reagan off, on the Iran-Contra international crime. It was a "constitutional crisis" of much greater magnitude than Watergate. But what did we do? Nothing, really. Held some hearings that grilled "Olie"-- then let him walk away, too.
You can bet that the sly "big dawg" Clinton noticed how asleep the electorate was, to let Reagan skate away after that.
People say that we created Trump. Well, we created Clinton, too.

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I think, who asked a forbidden question to North about the planned mass incarceration sites for protesters that the Reagan regime had developed, or so it was said, and the Dems fell all over themselves shutting the Congressman up. Apparently - or so it seemed - there was a deal where certain subjects of illegal behavior were off limits.

Yes, promising Iran a better deal not to free the hostages before election day was treason if true, and Reagan's top "national security" person, Casey - OSS/CIA - was said to be the one who set it up.

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

Nailed it, thanks. This needs to be recognized - it's now or never.

Let justice be done and the government fall where it may, in whatever prison can hold the conspirators. It must be swept clean now if the world is to survive even the next few years/decades.

Never vote for evil!

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Creosote.'s picture

The strength of your analysis has a home here with me. Against the daily feeling of being starved to death for actuality I want to just state that we are immensely fortunate to find your company and that of so many confreres here at caucus99percent.

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Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

That's how I look at this new email uproar, which IMO the Dems and Hillary are playing disastrously to their disadvantage. It will be so ludicrous if they get what they are asking for - quick results and more information if that info turns out to the death blow to the campaign and her Presidency

In my mind, they should have played the whole thing down - "New emails? Yawn. Just another nothingburger and the Republican mouthbreathers are hyperventilating about nothing. ". That would have tamped it down intelligently and all the surrogates could have gone on TeeVee and told all the pundits - "You have no basis to have any opinion because you don't know anything, since even Comey says he doesn't know anything."

Instead, hilariously, they have turned on the one guy who kept her out of an orange jumpsuit in the first place , to the detriment of his own reputation and that of the FBI. "What have you done for me lately, James Comey?" seems to be the attitude of the Clintonites as they gnaw off the hand that fed them. Their own screaming and foaming about influencing elections and Hatch Acts etc. only leads a person to the conclusion that they suspect that the shit may really hit the fan this time. Additionally, they are providing additional motivation for the Comey to actually reveal something that would justify to anyone why he informed Congress - i.e. "you expected them to sit on that?" which would transfer all the hub-bub and focus being placed on him and transfer it to HRC.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

I don't believe that Comey would have sent that letter and obtained a search warrant without the knowledge that those emails are important. We shall find out if I am correct in due course.

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issued upon the showing of probable cause. This means a judicial officer has determined that probable cause exists to issue a carefully worded warrant detailing what is to be searched for and where the search is to be conducted. (Or in the case of a person, why that person is wanted and why that person is thought to be in a certain locale.)

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

lunachickie's picture

Jeebus, the 'Nets are leaking the words "pedo sex ring" along with the words "Lolita Express" again. Dear FSM, the things I've read in the last hour sicken me. Sparing you the links, cuz none of it is "confirmed", though this FOX News link comes real close. I don't believe I've ever seen them do so much tap-dancing about something so salacious....

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snoopydawg's picture

Anyone else who had sex or let's call it what it is, rape this many underaged girls would have been in prison much longer than 13 months.
And the reason why he got such a sweet deal is because he wouldn't name an co conspirators.
I have read this article on site other than Fox so don't down play the source.
This is beyond sickening.

On Sept. 24, 2007, in a deal shrouded in secrecy that left alleged victims shocked at its leniency, Epstein agreed to a 30-month sentence, including 18 months of jail time and 12 months of house arrest and the agreement to pay dozens of young girls under a federal statute providing for compensation to victims of child sexual abuse.

In exchange, the U.S. Attorney’s Office promised not to pursue any federal charges against Epstein or his co-conspirators.

Florida attorney Brad Edwards, who represented some of Epstein’s alleged victims, is suing the federal government over the secret non-prosecution agreement in hopes of having it overturned. Edwards claimed in court records that the government and Epstein concealed the deal from the victims “to prevent them from voicing any objection, and to avoid the firestorm of controversy that would have arisen if it had become known that the Government was immunizing a politically-connected billionaire and all of his co-conspirators from prosecution of hundreds of federal sex crimes against minor girls.”

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.

Merely the fact of identified-as-official State Department emails found on the laptop of an unqualified person already under FBI investigation would do it for any of us, I expect.

Any randomly selected State Department exchange has the potential to have classified information in it and is vetted prior to public release - and if containing such, should not be collected in the possession of one known to freely transmit pubic releases to any woman appearing to (FSM knows why) be interested or at least tolerant.

Or be in the possession of one stating to the FBI, while under investigation by that agency, that she's incapable of remembering basic security protocol, despite it being essential to both her previous job heading the now-corrupted State Department and to the job of the US Presidency she's now running for.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Quite the tell, isn't it.

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Shahryar's picture

boy oh boy....and we thought Nixon had an enemies list!

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The Clinton campaign reaction, demonizing Comey, was nuts. She could've gone out there all bright-eyed and transparent and said that as always we continue to cooperate, but these are just the same ole emails. Instead, they look paranoid and vengeful, and drag all their supporters along too.

I can't believe the outrage they're pouring on Comey. This is the guy who sped to Ashcroft's hospital room to stop warrantless wiretapping under W., for heaven's sake.

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Emmet

but he had help from Bubba, Lynch and Comey. Since then, one FBI agent after another has been handing in his or her resignation. That's how humiliating Comey's "decision" and "rationale" was. Supposedly, Comey was also restricted in the kind of investigation he was permitted to conduct, but I don't know if that's been proven.

In any case, no Democrat's administration should have been involved in exonerating the 2016 Democratic anointee for POTUS. A special prosecutor should have been appointed.

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katchen's picture

Maybe Comey wrote Friday's memo in order to force the DOJ's hand? He knew about the new e-mails since early October, but only got a warrant the Monday after he sent the memo. In other words, the DOJ was probably blocking the FBI from obtaining a warrant (let alone convening a grand jury), yet magically a warrant appeared immediately after Comey wrote to Congress. Once the public knew about the 650,000 e-mails, the DOJ had no choice but to issue a warrant, lest the fact that they've been stonewalling this investigation be exposed.

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Sure sounds like it, doesn't it? Comey was at pains to make it evident that anyone else would be charged for doing what he carefully explained she did to violate the most basic State Department security protocols.

I think he's doing his best and is being downright heroic in patriotically standing against the manifestation in his/America's government of an international monster he realizes must be vanquished before it consumes the world.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

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Yaldabaoth, Saklas I'm calling you. Samael. You're not alone. I said, you're not alone, in your darkness. You're not alone, baby. You're not alone. "Original Sinsuality" Tori Amos

sojourns's picture

This really should be in print as an op-ed or letter to the editor. As a letter to television networks. Nationwide.

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

econoclast's picture

msdidi,

thank you for an exceptionally cogent rundown about the core point of this current comey/clinton weapon of mass distraction
you hit the nail on the head: "that Russia is trying to interfere with the election is totally irrelevant in evaluating the evidence of crimes in her emails"

i also have lived through watergate and beyond, paying attention all the way
i can attest to the facts cited in your post, and everything is a fact except for that which immediately follows your "i believe ...", with which i agree, but about which i speculate

one fact i'd like to pursue with help is this: "preventing the votes from being counted in the California primary (to this day more than 1 million votes remain uncounted)"
i'd ask for someone to help with a source for the currency of the uncounted votes
i checked snopes, but their useful report is dated back in june:
http://www.snopes.com/uncounted-california-ballots/
for example what happened to the 285,000 uncounted ballots in san diego county?
we know that ballots were shredded, but how many of the total uncounted? all?
(to those who didn't know or have forgotten, bernie "lost" california by 438,000 votes, so just the uncounted of san diego county alone is significant)
and what is the count today of "uncounted"?
anyone know this?

daily i read c99 and other sites
one of the best is consortium news, whose founder, robert perry, posted this today that complements yours:
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/11/01/taking-a-page-from-joe-mccarthy/
perry has been an informed drumbeat about the "new cold war" led by such as the ny times ("all the snooze that's fit to spin")
and there is a current article in mother jones by david corn, who i respect, that is loaded with innuendo on this russia distraction:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/veteran-spy-gave-fbi-info-al...

again, excellent work
i look 4word to your future posts

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Thanks for bringing up these points!

The blatancy of the cheating committed to prevent Bernie from gaining the Dem nomination that he won makes it easy to prove and must be pursued, even after the jackals are brought down. If they aren't now, we may not live long enough to worry about democracy, with the to-be-cheated-in-at-all-cost Mad Bomber going nuclear and all... and two of the other 3 candidates OK with the TPP corporate coup to give a spurious claim of 'legality' to those running this horror show.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.