The Front Page Cover
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
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Featuring:
The Hilly Clinton Paradox
Peggy Noonan
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"Rise up together as one voice"
"Be careful where you stand"
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FBI on Mass Shooting Report: Yeah, We Made It Up 
Last fall, we noted that the FBI used bogus stats in its pre-election mass shooting report. Researchers counted some mass shootings that weren't "mass" at all, and entirely omitted actual mass shootings that occurred early in the carefully selected timeframe. All of it was an effort to show an increasing trend of "gun violence" since 2000, we suspect in concert with Democrat campaign talking points about the necessity of gun control. The Wall Street Journal's Jason Riley picked up on a quiet announcement that, indeed, the researchers pretty much made it up: "[L]ate last week, J. Pete Blair and M. Hunter Martaindale, two academics at Texas State University who co-authored the FBI report, acknowledged that 'our data is imperfect.' They said that the news media 'got it wrong' last year when they 'mistakenly reported mass shootings were on the rise.' Mind you, the authors did not issue this mea culpa in the major news outlets that supposedly misreported the original findings. Instead, the authors published it in ACJS Today, an academic journal published by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. 'Because official data did not contain the information we needed, we had to develop our own,' wrote Messrs. Blair and Martaindale. 'This required choices between various options with various strengths and weaknesses.' You don't say." The truth is the number of mass shootings has remained essentially flat for the last 40 years, while violent crime has dropped significantly in the last decade as firearm ownership has grown. But that doesn't fit the leftist agenda. -The Patriot Post
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Damaging Overtime Pay Regulation in the Works
The Department of Labor is preparing to unveil a revision to America's overtime compensation rule called for by Barack nObama last year. Unfortunately, it's entirely the wrong prescription for even the best economy — let alone our still ailing one. Heritage Foundation research fellow James Sherk writes, "Reports indicate the Department plans to require overtime for any salaried employee making less than $45,000 to $52,000 a year." That's significantly higher than what the current law requires, and though it may not sound like a big deal the repercussions are far fetched— impacting everything from base salaries to scheduling and office flexibility. As Sherk explains, "Economists have studied how businesses respond to overtime requirements. They find that overtime doesn't affect workers' total pay or hours much. Instead, businesses offset new overtime costs with lower base wages." Moreover, he says, "[T]he overtime regulations will have a major unintended side effect: They will force entry- and mid-level salaried employees to track their hours." That means more micromanaging, and many employers will nix work-from-home options altogether to avoid lawsuits. Just like minimum wage laws, this new rule may seem like a good idea at first glance, but the results are economically damaging. -The Patriot Post
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Fly the EPA's Unfriendly Skies
This isn't simply the Environmental Protection Agency slapping more regulation on the American economy. The EPA released a report Wednesday claiming that jet engines endanger human health, opening the door for regulation. And no, we're not talking chemtrails here. But the EPA would not be issuing its own regulation. Instead, it would look to adopt regulation developed by the United Nation's International Civil Aviation Organization that would require some aircraft engines manufactured after 2020 to conform to "green" regulation. "The U.S. transportation sector is a significant contributor to total U.S. and global anthropogenic GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions," said the EPA's regulatory announcement. "Aircraft remain the single largest GHG-emitting transportation source not yet subject to GHG standards in the U.S." The announcement went on to say U.S. aircraft contribute to only 0.5% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Is it worth it for the U.S. to regulate an industry, control its innovation and adopt regulation from a global governing body to deal with just one fraction of the effort needed to supposedly prevent global temperatures from rising by 0.001 degree? There's a fallacy in ecofascism: They think humans are in control of nature. More... -The Patriot Post
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Muzzling Both Guns and Speech Given Barack nObama’s contempt for the Second Amendment — after all, an armed citizenry is the last line of defense against a tyrannical government — it’s little wonder that a proposed rule relating to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) governing the export of certain "defense articles" is raising concerns.
The rule, published in the June 3 issue of the Federal Register, proposes to regulate speech — including online speech — relating to firearms and to require government approval before individuals can share certain information publicly. Penalties for violations climb as high as $1 million or 20 years in jail.
Specifically, the proposed rule rewrites key definitions in ITAR, including “technical data,” “public domain” and “export.” Currently under ITAR, any weapons-related information that is in the “public domain” can be shared without penalty. However, now that the age of technology has thrown a wrinkle into the meaning of “public domain,” the government feels the need to “clarify.” At first glance, the clarification sounds well and good, as the rule states, “Except as set forth in paragraph (b) of this section, unclassified information and software are in the public domain, and are thus not technical data or software subject to the ITAR, when they have been made available to the public without restrictions upon their further dissemination.” -The Patriot Post
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Al Jazeera Misogynistic, Deliberately Pushing Anti-U.S., Anti-Israel
(investigativeproject.org) ~ Shannon High-Bassalik is not a journalist who buries the lead. In a federal discrimination lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Thursday against her former employers at Al Jazeera America (AJA), High-Bassalik starts by saying the network quickly abandoned its stated mission of providing "unbiased, fact-based, in-depth stories of U.S. and international news."... Her experience shows a network "where truth and objectivity are set aside to cater to the Company's pro-Arabic prejudices," the lawsuit says. "As ratings failed to live up to the expectations of management, Al Jazeera openly decided to abandon all pretense of neutrality in favor of putting the Arabic viewpoint front and center, openly demanding that programs be aired that criticized countries such as America, Israel and Egypt." The government in Qatar bought the cable news out let to bring "the Arabic viewpoint to America," employees were told. Concerns about the reporting bias were turned away, often angrily. http://www.investigativeproject.org/4879/lawsuit-al-jazeera-america-misogynistic
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There goes the neighborhood…
(Tim Devaney) ~ The nObama administration is moving forward with regulations designed to help diversify America’s wealthier neighborhoods, drawing fire from critics who decry the proposal as executive overreach in search of an “unrealistic utopia.”... A final Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule due out this month is aimed at ending decades of deep-rooted segregation around the country. The regulations would use grant money as an incentive for communities to build affordable housing in more affluent areas while also taking steps to upgrade poorer areas with better schools, parks, libraries, grocery stores and transportation routes as part of a gentrification of those communities. http://www.1776coalition.com/featured-content/there-goes-the-neighborhood?advD=1434,74101
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ISIS terrorists using chaotic Libya as new ‘route to the West’
(Adam Housley) ~ Islamic State terrorists are said to be using Libya as an "entry point" into Europe, with intelligence sources on the ground in Africa telling Fox News at least 30 ISIS fighters who left from the country have been "picked up" by the Italians in recent weeks... The purported terrorists all claimed refugee status but American and European agents believe this is a clear indication that ISIS terrorists have come into Europe virtually untouched. "There is no way you can block it,” one told Fox News. “Libya is now an easy entry point into the E.U. and ultimately into the U.S. for ISIS. They are saying, this is the way to America." Here they come people and this presz is just setting on his butt and not calling them what they are really are. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/12/sources-isis-terrorists-using-chaotic-libya-west/
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nObamatrade Immigration Relax Standards for Turkey and Pakistan
(Mark Horne) ~ Turkey and Pakistan are part of the Trade In Services Agreement and will get easier immigration rules. What could go wrong?... As I wrote yesterday, the Wikileaks documents show that the TISA alters immigration rules according to Breitbart’s report. They give the president more authority over immigration. But I had missed some of the implications because I did not think about who was part of the agreements. The constant mention of the “Trans Pacific Partnership” kept me focused on countries on the Pacific Rim. But TISA includes countries that don’t touch the Pacific Ocean at all. http://politicaloutcast.com/2015/06/obamatrade-immigration-rules-relax-standards-for-turkey-and-pakistan/
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Explosive Three-Minute Video Could Be The Final Nail In Hilly’s Coffin
(B. Christopher Agee) ~ With former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s addition to the GOP field of 2016 presidential candidates, many saw her as an ideal campaign foil for Democrat frontrunner Hilly Clinton... Such projections have yet to be confirmed, though a campaign ad her team released this week takes aim directly at Clinton’s lack of recognizable achievements. The three-minute video features clips from several previous Fiorina speeches interspersed with news reports backing up her general message. Specifically, she challenged Clinton’s citation of her extensive travels as a relevant accomplishment. http://www.westernjournalism.com/watch-this-explosive-three-minute-video-could-be-the-final-nail-in-hillarys-coffin/
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State Department Has No Record of Clinton IT Security Training
(Lachlan Markay) ~ The State Department has no record of former Secretary Hilly Clinton or her two top aides receiving IT security training while Clinton led the department, the Washington Free Beacon has learned... In response to a Freedom of Information request filed by the nonprofit Competitive Enterprise Institute in March, State said it could not locate any record of Clinton, chief of staff Cheryl Mills, or deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin undergoing any sort of IT security training. “One former, senior executive branch personnel official contacted me to point out the requirement that appointees take this training, and that if Mses. Clinton, Abedin or Mills had deigned to follow the law, a record of this would exist,” explained CEI senior fellow Chris Horner, who filed the FOIA request. This is unbelievable. She does what she wants without any fair of reprisal. http://freebeacon.com/national-security/state-department-has-no-record-of-clinton-it-security-training/
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Climate Alarmists Screamed Just A Little Too Loud
(rickwells.us) ~ Every doom and gloom prediction made by the climatealarmists, given enough time, proves to have been nothing more than wild, unsubstantiated hysteria... In the seventies that threat was from cooling. Then, when the Earth didn’t cooperate with scamming in that direction, Al Gore and company simply changed the alarmist message toglobal warming. Once it became apparent that warming wasn’t going to work out either, the boogie man became climate change, where anything and everything that is a natural occurrence can be blamed on people. As recently as 2008, on ABC News, this video depicted life today. Of course, things are much worse in the video than they actually are, as once again planning doesn’t ensure catastrophic success. But they’ll deep the dire predictions coming, it’s there ticket to untoldwealth and power. http://rickwells.us/when-earth-attacks-climate-alarmists-screamed-too-loud-earth-still-wasnt-listening.
EPA boss threatens to come knocking on doors
(Daniel Chaitin) ~ Next time there is a knock at the front door, it just might be the head of the Environmental Protection Agency waiting to deliver a message... EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy dealt a warning Wednesday to Americans who do not place environmental stewardship above everything else. "If you are selling to somebody a product, and you can assure them that that product was produced in the most environmentally responsible way, I will guarantee you that they will value that product more highly," McCarthy said at the 2015 GreenGov symposium at George Washington University in Washington. "I can guarantee you because if they don't, I'm going to knock on their door and I'm going to tell them why they are mistaken," McCarthy said, pointing at the audience. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/epa-boss-threatens-to-come-knocking-on-doors/article/2566032
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Sen Sessions Warns The TPP Monster Is Coming Back And Soon
(rickwells.us) ~ America’s sentinel in the Senate, Jeff Sessions of Alabama had some urgent words of warning for us regarding the attack on America currently being waged by nObama and his Congressional accomplices, including the Republican leadership... They’re coming back and they’re bringing global government by trade agreement with them. Senator Sessions posted the following notice on his official Senate website on Friday: http://rickwells.us/no-time-to-relax-sen-sessions-warns-the-tpp-monster-is-coming-back-and-soon/
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This is What We Think Happened With nObamaTrade Today and...
(libertynews.com) ~ For starters, nObamaTrade is not dead. It wasn’t killed in the House today. Not at all. In fact, the TPA was passed. The TPA was previously thought to have been the most challenging part of the package... In order for the entire nObamaTrade package to work, the House had to pass both the TAA and the TPA. The TAA is legislation that spends big money compensating workers for lost jobs (Unemployment) and other social welfare programs (among other things). In short, the TAA is what Democrats get/want and the TPA is what Republicans get/want. But backstabber Boehner is backstabber Boehner. And if there is one thing backstabber Boehner is good at, it’s helping Democrats spend more of our money. backstabber Boehner wasn’t about to let Democrats hold TPA hostage over their desire to see more money spent. So immediately after TAA failed, backstabber Boehner called for a vote on TPA. backstabber Boehner knew he had the votes for TPA and he knew that as long as TPA was passed, he could fatten the deal on TAA and bring it back to Democrats next week for another vote. Which is exactly what he did. So now TAA is likely to come back for a vote on Tuesday with a heck of a lot more spending that will help get unions back in the corner of their Democrat allies. If backstabber Boehner can get Democrats to support TAA, the deal is done and nObamaTrade lives on. http://libertynews.com/2015/06/this-is-what-we-think-happened-with-obamatrade-today-and-why-we-think-it-will-be-worse-now/
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The Hilly Clinton Paradox
Peggy Noonan
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(peggynoonan.com) ~ On the matter of Hilly Clinton’s candidacy I find myself holding opposite and irreconcilable views: “That can’t possibly work,” and “She’s inevitable.”.
Her candidacy can’t work because of the deep, daily cascade of scandals that would disqualify anyone else. State Department emails on private servers, stonewalling Congress; the family foundation that appears to function in part as a high-class slush fund and that, this week we learned, paid a significant salary to that beacon of philanthropic spirit Sidney Blumenthal, a political operative and conspiracist whose nickname in the Clinton White House was “G.K.,” for “Grassy Knoll.” Also this week these headlines: “Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals from Hilly Clinton’s State Department,” and “FIFA Donated Thousands to Clinton Foundation.” FIFA of course is the international soccer organization under criminal investigation for bribes and kickbacks.
Her candidacy can’t work because of the deep, daily cascade of scandals that would disqualify anyone else. State Department emails on private servers, stonewalling Congress; the family foundation that appears to function in part as a high-class slush fund and that, this week we learned, paid a significant salary to that beacon of philanthropic spirit Sidney Blumenthal, a political operative and conspiracist whose nickname in the Clinton White House was “G.K.,” for “Grassy Knoll.” Also this week these headlines: “Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weapons Deals from Hilly Clinton’s State Department,” and “FIFA Donated Thousands to Clinton Foundation.” FIFA of course is the international soccer organization under criminal investigation for bribes and kickbacks.
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It is simply unbelievable that a person whose way of operating is so famously and chronically sketchy can be chosen as president. Her policy judgments throughout her career will come under question. She is good at politics in terms of how she perceives the game and generally makes decisions within it—good enough to be an almost certain presidential nominee. Yet she is charmless on the stump and seems always to be hiding something in interviews. In speeches she continues to do strange things, such as speaking with a Southern accent this week in South Carolina.
It is simply unbelievable that a person whose way of operating is so famously and chronically sketchy can be chosen as president. Her policy judgments throughout her career will come under question. She is good at politics in terms of how she perceives the game and generally makes decisions within it—good enough to be an almost certain presidential nominee. Yet she is charmless on the stump and seems always to be hiding something in interviews. In speeches she continues to do strange things, such as speaking with a Southern accent this week in South Carolina.
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Why does she do that? Is she trolling the press? They know she hates them. A friend who is a veteran journalist recently explained why. In the late 1980s and early ’90s Hilly knew the boomer press was on the Clintons’ side ideologically and culturally—they were Democrats, and often friends. But she was surprised over the years to learn that didn’t mean they were on the team. They reported the couple’s scandals, wrote critical articles and books. She felt, and feels, betrayed. She thought they were friends, and thought that meant fealty. It’s not a plus to have a distanced, unfriendly relationship with journalists. (Republicans, on the other hand, can generally operate without such personal bitterness. They never had the illusion the press was on their side.)
Why does she do that? Is she trolling the press? They know she hates them. A friend who is a veteran journalist recently explained why. In the late 1980s and early ’90s Hilly knew the boomer press was on the Clintons’ side ideologically and culturally—they were Democrats, and often friends. But she was surprised over the years to learn that didn’t mean they were on the team. They reported the couple’s scandals, wrote critical articles and books. She felt, and feels, betrayed. She thought they were friends, and thought that meant fealty. It’s not a plus to have a distanced, unfriendly relationship with journalists. (Republicans, on the other hand, can generally operate without such personal bitterness. They never had the illusion the press was on their side.)
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Here is why Mrs. Clinton is inevitable:
Here is why Mrs. Clinton is inevitable:
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In five of the past six presidential elections, the Democrats have won the popular vote. They enjoy certain locked-in advantages. The party itself is united and wholly organized around the idea of winning. (There is, however, a sense that its best talents have been exhausted in the two nObama terms, and its rising talents haven’t had the chance to learn what losers know.) Mrs. Clinton has 100% name ID, has one opponent in an old socialist to whom she can be publicly kind, and is connected to a former president whose presidency is looked back on with a sort of encrusted nostalgia—good economy, relative peace, colorful and singular messes. She has lasted long enough to go from wide-shouldered yuppie with angry blond hair to cooing grandmother. Soon they’ll be calling her “Mami.”
In five of the past six presidential elections, the Democrats have won the popular vote. They enjoy certain locked-in advantages. The party itself is united and wholly organized around the idea of winning. (There is, however, a sense that its best talents have been exhausted in the two nObama terms, and its rising talents haven’t had the chance to learn what losers know.) Mrs. Clinton has 100% name ID, has one opponent in an old socialist to whom she can be publicly kind, and is connected to a former president whose presidency is looked back on with a sort of encrusted nostalgia—good economy, relative peace, colorful and singular messes. She has lasted long enough to go from wide-shouldered yuppie with angry blond hair to cooing grandmother. Soon they’ll be calling her “Mami.”
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The polls show that even at this low point in her campaign, with the daily scandal cascade, she continues to beat all GOP comers. This week’s Quinnipiac survey shows her leading the closest Republican challengers, Rand Paul (46% to 42%) and Marco Rubio (45% to 41%). Republicans take comfort that this world-famous, unopposed icon is under 50%. I’m not so sure.
The polls show that even at this low point in her campaign, with the daily scandal cascade, she continues to beat all GOP comers. This week’s Quinnipiac survey shows her leading the closest Republican challengers, Rand Paul (46% to 42%) and Marco Rubio (45% to 41%). Republicans take comfort that this world-famous, unopposed icon is under 50%. I’m not so sure.
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But this is interesting. Somehow the polls recently have failed to spot rising conservative tides—in Britain in May, in Israel in March and in the U.S. last November. Maybe pollsters are all watching MSNBC and the BBC and operating within a constantly reinforcing thought-loop. Maybe they suffer from epistemic closure.
But this is interesting. Somehow the polls recently have failed to spot rising conservative tides—in Britain in May, in Israel in March and in the U.S. last November. Maybe pollsters are all watching MSNBC and the BBC and operating within a constantly reinforcing thought-loop. Maybe they suffer from epistemic closure.
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Most interestingly—and this is what political scientists call “the part that makes you want to shoot yourself”—Quinnipiac reports a majority of voters do not feel Mrs. Clinton is “honest and trustworthy.” They made that judgment by a margin of 52% to 39%. That means a good portion of those who support Mrs Clinton do not believe she can be trusted to tell them the truth. The nice way to think of that is: “Americans sure are over the heroic conception of the presidency!” Another nice way: “Americans shrewdly pick presidents based not on personal virtues but on other qualities, such as experience and ideological predisposition.”
Most interestingly—and this is what political scientists call “the part that makes you want to shoot yourself”—Quinnipiac reports a majority of voters do not feel Mrs. Clinton is “honest and trustworthy.” They made that judgment by a margin of 52% to 39%. That means a good portion of those who support Mrs Clinton do not believe she can be trusted to tell them the truth. The nice way to think of that is: “Americans sure are over the heroic conception of the presidency!” Another nice way: “Americans shrewdly pick presidents based not on personal virtues but on other qualities, such as experience and ideological predisposition.”
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A less nice way is: “Wow, you’d vote for someone even you don’t believe? You might want to trust a president when the nukes begin to fall. What’s wrong with you?”
A less nice way is: “Wow, you’d vote for someone even you don’t believe? You might want to trust a president when the nukes begin to fall. What’s wrong with you?”
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On the GOP side, elite opinion has started talking about how two dozen candidates are careening around in a big messy jumble. They say it will wind up like 2012, “a clown-car Indy 500 with cars hitting the wall and guys in wigs littering the track,” as someone noted then.
On the GOP side, elite opinion has started talking about how two dozen candidates are careening around in a big messy jumble. They say it will wind up like 2012, “a clown-car Indy 500 with cars hitting the wall and guys in wigs littering the track,” as someone noted then.
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But that’s not how I see it this time. It is an impressive and largely accomplished field. Almost all in it might be reasonable presidents—oh, how nObama has lowered the bar!—maybe half would probably be good, and a quarter very good. Soon John Kasich, with one of the best résumés of any candidate ever—18 years in the House, six of them as Budget Committee chairman, and two terms as governor of Ohio, re-elected by an astounding 31 points—will likely declare. I don’t know if he knows where the base is, but he seems to know where America is.
But that’s not how I see it this time. It is an impressive and largely accomplished field. Almost all in it might be reasonable presidents—oh, how nObama has lowered the bar!—maybe half would probably be good, and a quarter very good. Soon John Kasich, with one of the best résumés of any candidate ever—18 years in the House, six of them as Budget Committee chairman, and two terms as governor of Ohio, re-elected by an astounding 31 points—will likely declare. I don’t know if he knows where the base is, but he seems to know where America is.
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And they are all talking serious issues. A few weeks ago it was Mr. Rubio at the Council on Foreign Relations. This week on “Morning Joe,” Mr. Paul tackled who and what caused ISIS. Some see the question as the pointless picking at a scab, but it may help get us back to essential questions: What assumptions should govern our choices in the Mideast, what have we learned, how do we separate the crucial from the important?
And they are all talking serious issues. A few weeks ago it was Mr. Rubio at the Council on Foreign Relations. This week on “Morning Joe,” Mr. Paul tackled who and what caused ISIS. Some see the question as the pointless picking at a scab, but it may help get us back to essential questions: What assumptions should govern our choices in the Mideast, what have we learned, how do we separate the crucial from the important?
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It would be nice if Mrs. Clinton spoke on such matters. Instead she continues her listening tour. She’s been on many of them over the years; it’s how she likes to campaign. But what is she listening for? What is she trying to hear? She’s been in politics 40 years; she knows what she thinks. It’s not really a listening tour; it’s a say-nothing-and-nod-empathetically tour. It would be nice if attendees—if they could get past the vetting—would start saying surprising things to which she could nod. “The French Revolution was bad!” Empathetic nod. “Why worry about stupid Christians who don’t have the brains to move out of the Mideast?” Empathetic nod, finger on chin, eyes narrowed in the Thinking Look. “Broad amnesty would worsen chronic unemployment and is in that sense a way of giving up, and on our own people, many of whom were blasted out of manufacturing jobs by globalist hacks in Washington—but it will keep wages down, give you a feeling of creamy moral goodness and nail down the Hispanic vote, so all good, right?” Relatable nod, followed by blinking get-me-out-of-here look.
It would be nice if Mrs. Clinton spoke on such matters. Instead she continues her listening tour. She’s been on many of them over the years; it’s how she likes to campaign. But what is she listening for? What is she trying to hear? She’s been in politics 40 years; she knows what she thinks. It’s not really a listening tour; it’s a say-nothing-and-nod-empathetically tour. It would be nice if attendees—if they could get past the vetting—would start saying surprising things to which she could nod. “The French Revolution was bad!” Empathetic nod. “Why worry about stupid Christians who don’t have the brains to move out of the Mideast?” Empathetic nod, finger on chin, eyes narrowed in the Thinking Look. “Broad amnesty would worsen chronic unemployment and is in that sense a way of giving up, and on our own people, many of whom were blasted out of manufacturing jobs by globalist hacks in Washington—but it will keep wages down, give you a feeling of creamy moral goodness and nail down the Hispanic vote, so all good, right?” Relatable nod, followed by blinking get-me-out-of-here look.
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They could force her to be forthcoming by finding out what she’d nod to.
They could force her to be forthcoming by finding out what she’d nod to.
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('' YOUR OPINION IS IMPORTANT TO ME WHAT DO YOU THINK ? '')
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