USA TODAY: Secretary without honor

[FourScore]

Secretary without honor
Phillip Jennings 6:46 p.m. EDT June 5, 2016
When I hear people say Clinton emails don't matter, I remember a young Marine captain who owned up to his career-ruining mistake.

Apologists for Hillary Clinton’s alleged criminal mishandling of classified documents say that it doesn’t matter, that she really did nothing wrong, or nothing significant. But the real question is not so much what she did as how she has responded to being found out.

Once during the mid-1960s when I was on active duty in the Marine Corps, I was the air liaison officer for a battalion of Marines aboard 11 ships in the Mediterranean. As the air officer and a senior captain, I had a rotating responsibility for the nuclear code book, kept in the safe in the operations room of the lead amphibious squadron command ship. I shared that duty with another captain, a squared away young man, liked by all he commanded and the son of a very high-ranking Marine.

On the day our ships were leaving the Mediterranean, we met the new amphibious squadron near Gibraltar and made preparations to transfer security codes and other sensitive material to the incoming Marine battalion. The young captain was on duty and went to the operations office to pick up the code book. He was alone in the office. He removed the code book and placed it on the desk while closing the safe. In a rushed moment, he stepped across the passageway to retrieve something he needed from his quarters. Seconds later, he stepped back into the operations office and found the operations sergeant having just entered, looking down at the code book.

Against all regulations, the code book had been out of the safe and unattended. It mattered not that it was unattended for only seconds, that the ship was 5 miles at sea, or that it was certain no one unauthorized had seen the code. The captain could have explained this to the operations sergeant. He could have told the sergeant that he “would take care of it.” He could have hinted that his high-ranking dad could smooth it over.

But the Marine Corps’ values are honor, courage and commitment. Honor is the bedrock of our character. The young captain could not ask the sergeant to betray his duty to report the infraction, no matter how small. Instead, the captain simply said, “Let’s go see the colonel...”

SNIP (Please read the article to find out what happened to the young officer. I must edit it for fair use.)

...Clinton is the antithesis of that young captain, someone with no honor, little courage and commitment only to her endless ambition. This has nothing to do with gender, party affiliation, ideology or policy. It is a question of character — not just hers, but ours. Electing Clinton would mean abandoning holding people accountable for grievous errors of integrity and responsibility. What we already know about her security infractions should disqualify her for any government position that deals in information critical to mission success, domestic or foreign. But beyond that, her responses to being found out — dismissing its importance, claiming ignorance, blaming others — indict her beyond anything the investigation can reveal. Those elements reveal her character. And the saddest thing is that so many in America seem not to care.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/06/05/hillary-clinton-email-scandal-consequences-integrity-honesty-column/85205018/

[upaloopa]

1. You want Trump to be President?

[AzDar]

11. YOU must. YOU are supporting the Candidate that LOSES to him...

[Lord Magus]

86. Hillary DOESN'T lose to him. Stop lying. -nt-

[840high]

41. Looks like you do.

[lancer78]

54. No

I don't want either to be President. I will vote on my principles like I did in 2012 (Did not like any candidate, so do not vote for any of them).

If we are forced to vote because "lesser of two evils", then we truly do not have a freedom of voting. It is why Sanders is doing so well. We had HRC shoved down our throats and when a viable alternative came along, many of us jumped on the chance to have our vote mean something,

[pinebox]

78. Ding done! THREAD WIN!

[AikidoSoul]

96. WONDERFUL THREAD...REC, AND LOVE TIMES 2,000,000

[hedgehog]

103. Better of two evils doesn't take into account that one of the evils

could literally destroy the United States

[tk2kewl]

66. that's all you got in response to this?

keep looking the other way, i guess it works for you

[Herman4747]

85. No. That's why I support Bernie.

[MFM008]

2. 11 days

........

[warrprayer]

4. Yes, 11 days

And this place will be a ghost town.

[Hortensis]

65. Not hardly. I stopped "ignoring" because we're

ONLY 11 DAYS!!! now away, but I could take out the rest and still have a nice community. THEN there are all the oldies who still observe briefly and are waiting for the time to return.

[Logical]

20. USA today stories will be allowed in 11 days, wow, you hill.....

Fans want to control the news now. Not a shock.

[Dem2]

21. Wingnut propaganda is what you want to promote?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512134558#post18

Some standards would be nice!

[Logical]

23. USA today is a real news source

[Dem2]

25. So you like promoting pig Republican warmongers who say Vietnam was a success in defeating Communism

hehe, love promoting the type that says "those godamned commie pinko liberals" eh?

Fine. Who needs standards when gutter politics will do?

[Logical]

27. Let us know which opinion pieces will be allowed

[Dem2]

31. You know you're not thinking when you take 2 seconds to defend using right-wing gutter warmongers

After what is said about Hillary, the hypocrisy is mind-numbing.

How can anybody respect anything you say now?

[Logical]

36. FFS, do you whine a lot. So NYT is right wing to you also?

[bahrbearian]

92. Right Wing War Mongers?

[Dem2]

93. That's now the Democratic presumptive nominee

Odd that - we have a warmonger running as a Dem.

[bahrbearian]

97. Its Odd that a Democratic Party would vote for a war monger , Clintons changed that too.

[merrily]

51. Only stuff from media matters, correct the record and other sources

controlled by Brock. Maybe Soros, too, but only if they're favorable to Hillary.
Otherwise, source shaming is on like Donkey Kong (whatever that means). Are we clear now? (Reply "Crystal" and you win a candy bar.)

[Kentonio]

58. Dont forget the unceasingly impartial BlueNationReview!

[Lord Magus]

87. Right-wing op-eds are not.

No matter where they're published.

[Logical]

88. Lol, you can be the DU editor then nt

[Bill USA]

104. you url shows the piece is in the OPINION section of the paper..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2150319

[Bill USA]

90. that's not news, it's pure Mccarthyism. Allegations based on zero evidence.

[Logical]

91. Lol, take it up with USA Today. Nt

[Bill USA]

94. if you are not able to recognize an opinion piece, you've got a serious intellectual disability.

It's an opinion piece and that's not opinion, it's fact. Ask someone who can help you , like an average kid in the third grade.

[Logical]

98. Yes, because no one else has issues with Hillary's irresponsible email mess except right wingers. nt

[Bill USA]

99. if you will notice, the url you put in OP shows the article is in the OPINION section of the paper.

here's the url: "http://www.usatoday.com/story/OPINION/2016/06/05/hillary-clinton-email-scandal-consequences-integrity-honesty-column/85205018/"


If you got the hard copy of the paper, at the top of the page it has the title: "OPINION" indicating that section of the paper is not composed of News articles, but of Opinion pieces.

Nothing wrong with opinions - just don't try to pass them off as news stories as you did.

It's fine to ask questions, but Repugnants are making conclusions before all the results are. I too have quoted informed opinion - those of Attorney's who have prosecuted and defended people charged with breaking laws governing handling of classified information who have said that without proving intent, it's very unlikely there will be a prosecution*. It is peddling disinformation when statements are made as if it's a foregone conclusion that HRC will be indicted - rather than saying it's somebody's judgement call re the outcome. So far, any emails represented as containing classified info were classified after the fact, not when HRC received them.


* The Hillary Clinton e-mail ‘scandal’ that isn’t

Does Hillary Clinton have a serious legal problem because she may have transmitted classified information on her private e-mail server? After talking with a half-dozen knowledgeable lawyers, I think this “scandal” is overstated. Using the server was a self-inflicted wound by Clinton, but it’s not something a prosecutor would take to court.

[font size="3"]“It’s common” that people end up using unclassified systems to transmit classified information, said Jeffrey Smith, a former CIA general counsel who’s now a partner at Arnold & Porter, where he often represents defendants suspected of misusing classified information.

“There are always these back channels,” Smith explained. “It’s inevitable, because the classified systems are often cumbersome and lots of people have access to the classified e-mails or cables.” People who need quick guidance about a sensitive matter often pick up the phone or send a message on an open system. They shouldn’t, but they do.[/font]

“It’s common knowledge that the classified communications system is impossible and isn’t used,” said one former high-level Justice Department official. Several former prosecutors said flatly that such sloppy, unauthorized practices, although technically violations of law, wouldn’t normally lead to criminal cases.

~~
~~

[font size="3"]First, experts say, there’s no legal difference whether Clinton and her aides passed sensitive information using her private server or the official “state.gov” account that many now argue should have been used. Neither system is authorized for transmitting classified information. Second, prosecution of such violations is extremely rare. Lax security procedures are taken seriously, but they’re generally seen as administrative matters.[/font]

[font size="3"]Potential criminal violations arise when officials knowingly disseminate documents marked as classified to unauthorized officials or on unclassified systems, or otherwise misuse classified materials.[/font] That happened in two cases involving former CIA directors that are cited as parallels for the Clinton e-mail issue, but are quite different. John Deutch was pardoned in 2001 for using an unsecured CIA computer at his home to improperly access classified material; he reportedly had been prepared to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. David Petraeus pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in April for “knowingly” removing classified documents from authorized locations and retaining them at “unauthorized locations.” Neither case fits the fact pattern with the Clinton e-mails.
(more)

[MattP]

3. So now Bernie fans link to a right wing investment banker opinion piece

[k8conant]

7. Yeah, one would have thought

a right wing investment banker would support a supporter of right wing investment bankers!

[Herman4747]

75. +1000!!! EXCELLENT!! n/t

[KingFlorez]

5. ...

[Ash_F]

59. You know Scar was the bad guy in that movie right?

[KingFlorez]

71. Yes

[Tarc]

6. I find this coincidence rather amazing

This is posted at the DU at 11pm

Upon googling for "phillip jennings usa today" to find out more about the author, hit #6 is the Free Republic, where the very same article is linked at 10:56pm.

[still_one]

13. I wonder after the 16th how many will be frequenting that site from here

[Demsrule86]

16. Yeah...they had some fun

alert stalking Hillary voters and basically getting them tossed out in many cases. Now the primary nightmare is almost over.

[Dem2]

19. huh

that's odd timing.

[Logical]

22. Lol, the first fucking link is to USA today, quit making shit up

[Tarc]

26. Um, I didn't say that it wasn't

Re-hinge yourself and read.

hit #6 is the Free Republic

[pinebox]

79. Even a bigger coincidence! Hillary voted for the Patriot Act that Bush created!

Imagine that.

[Tarc]

80. Why, hello there, non-sequitur

[tularetom]

8. K 'n' R

[ReasonableToo]

9. not to worry. I'm sure the pardon letter is already drafted.

Media is no longer keeping Trump afloat and he is imploding. (according to schedule?) We'll get a song and dance about looking forward and it will be general enough to cover the money for arms sale approvals and buying super delegates and all the other "irregularities" of the Clinton Foundation. It will probably cover both Hill and Bill since the server was in their residence.

Clean slate.

Evidently, Mr. Daltrey, we WILL get fooled again. and again. and again.

[dchill]

10. K&R

Even a blind squirrel...

[Downwinder]

12. I still have my hand receipts for the authentication codes.

I was told if we ditched I had better have the codes with me.

[Hydra]

14. It's always interesting watching the commentary of Team Hill to these types of things

"It doesn't matter!"

Laws, policies, procedures, rules...what do we have if we don't have those? Blind faith?

[pdsimdars]

68. At least they're getting paid . . . right?

[Demsrule86]

15. Rightwing article by Republican also

posted at Free Republic...they love it! It is not appropriate for here though and in a few days...it won't be allowed.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3437243/posts

[floppyboo]

44. It seems it mattered to Hillary in 2007. Source: herself. Allowed after June14?

[Demsrule86]

62. Ah they all do it meme.

I will not defend something that happened in 2007...right now you are posting the same shit that is posted at Free Republica..think about that. In fact,some of what you said mirrors what they said. It is the same article written by a right wing shill...full of bull shit.

[floppyboo]

73. I thought about it

and that 'same shit' is a clip from a democratic conference. So I don't understand you. Also, I don't understand what you mean by some of what I said - all I said was in the reply title. Nothing there but a question from little ol me.

Anyways, did you have an answer? Will primary source materials still be allowed in your humble opinion?

[AtomicKitten]

17. The plot thickens.

http://www.smobserved.com/story/2016/06/05/news/fbi-hillary-clinton-to-face-criminal-indictment-for-email-abuse-very-soon/1334.html

[Tarc]

28. Still peddling the Frank Hugenard libel?

[felix_numinous]

35. Article was redacted?

The text is now unreadable.

I found that another online article on this subject was removed quickly.

Frank Hugenard, a scientist, public speaker and freelance contributor, had his report removed by HuffPo editors and his account disabled without explanation. The piece was entitled, ““Hillary Clinton to be Indicted On Federal Racketeering Charges” and it quickly went viral before being removed.

Read more: http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/presidential-candidate-hillary-clinton-indicted-breaking-news/#ixzz4AlmZZCZC

[840high]

43. Thanks. Read the

comments at the end.

[AtomicKitten]

48. Bernie should have vetted her.

The GOP is going to annihilate her. As always, her acolytes will claim it's a rightwing conspiracy. The evidence has reached critical mass. The Bill Cosby Rule applies. With a plethora of accusations, you can be sure at least part of it is true. Ths figures in this graphic are sourced from filings. They are true. The GOP has their arsenal against Hillary. It is formidable and the damage her campaign sustains will be entirely self-inflicted. I'm going to pull up my lawn chair and watch the fireworks.

[Dem2]

18. Major WINGNUT alert!! This guy is pro-war - how in god's name can you use sources like this?

The Vietnam War was a tragic and dismal failure—at least that is what the mainstream media and history books would have you believe. Yet, Phillip Jennings sets the record straight in The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to the Vietnam War. In this latest “P.I.G.”, Jennings shatters culturally-accepted myths and busts politically incorrect lies that liberal pundits and leftist professors have been telling you for years. The Vietnam War was the most important—and successful—campaign to defeat Communism http://www.amazon.com/Politically-Incorrect-Guide-Vietnam-Guides/dp/1596985674/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389832268&sr=8-1&keywords=Politically+Incorrect+Guide+Vietnam+Guides

Shameless wingnut promotion to help your candidate?

[BillZBubb]

29. Uh, Her Majesty is as pro-war as any other neocon. But then you know that.

She must be a WINGNUT too!

[Dem2]

34. Hey, thanks for acknowledging the massive hypocrisy I'm pointing out here!

[Demsrule86]

63. Absoloutley disgusting source

They rail against Hillary for being too much of a hawk and then post stuff like this. This is posted at Free Republic. Seriously, are some of these people even Dems? I have to wonder.

[stevenleser]

24. Sure, leaving the nuclear codes applicable to the entire theatres arsenal is equivalent to

what Hillary did. And military culture is the same as civilian government culture.

Oh wait, no they are not.

Apples and oranges comparisons like this just don't work. And that's just the beginning of what's wrong with this analysis.

[BillZBubb]

32. There you go Steve--rationalization right out of the chute!

BTW, when did you decide Hillary was honest and trustworthy?

[stevenleser]

39. Well, then it's on you to show how the nuclear codes and Hillary's emails are the same

if you think it's rationalization, go for it. And my support of Hillary is discussed in the article that has been in my tag line for months now.

[BillZBubb]

42. Her Majesty signed an SF312. She swore to protect classified information just like the military.

Even more so because in her position she was an originator of classified information.

[Matt_in_STL]

77. You should go explain this on Fox News and Newsmax Now

Make sure this gets out to those who follow you there.

[stevenleser]

81. Or Bernie can. Go bother him if you don't like people appearing there

[Matt_in_STL]

82. He's not a contributor and hasn't collected a paycheck from Murdoch

Unlike you and Hillary. Funny how that works.

[stevenleser]

83. I've told you this several times now. At this point you are stalking me. I am not a contributor

and I have not received a paycheck from there.

[kimbutgar]

30. Divide and conquer us liberals right?

I see the purpose of this bogus story. And I am a Bernie supporter.

Shame on you.

[BillZBubb]

33. How do you know the story is bogus? Because it puts Hillary to shame?

[kimbutgar]

37. No because I'm tired of bullshit outrage about stuff all politicians do to advance their careers

My outrage meter has developed to the point I can detect bullshit propaganda stories.

[pdsimdars]

69. I think you better aim that bull shit meter at yourself.

I think you'll get a very high reading

[bkkyosemite]

38. Any story telling the TRUTH about HRC is bogus to them

[BillZBubb]

40. Exactly, cultists can't stand the truth, it is to be mocked, dismissed, disparaged and ignored.

[JudyM]

45. They outright deny the truth. It's astonishing they fancy themselves progressives...

[FourScore]

47. If you are a Bernie supporter, why does your profile say your favorite group is "Hillary Clinton".

Why don't you link to some of your pro-Bernie posts?

You probably don't have much of a problem with Hillary's honesty problem, do you?

[pdsimdars]

70. They all lie just like their leader. They say whatever they think you should hear.

[djean111]

57. Wow. A Bernie supporter whose favorite group is the Hillary Clinton group.

Shame on YOU.

[dlwickham]

46. another day another right wing hit piece

glad to see consistency from the bern bros

[senz]

49. Excellent OP. Clinton cannot place any principle or authority above her own ambition.

Thanks, FourScore.

[hopemountain]

50. for shame, hillary clinton!

for shame!

[highprincipleswork]

52. I do not want Trump to be President, but I hate to say that I agree with this. And what is worse, so

many in the Democratic Party seem not to care, which means they apparently do not believe in honor either.

I am sad that the Democratic Party has become a political party lacking in the kind of moral integrity and political principles that truly made it a defender of the less advantaged and less powerful and just the average lot of the rest of us.

I believe that high principles work. They win elections better than anything else, and low principles drive people away and lose elections.

Either in the long run or the short term, high principles work and low principles lose. They lose in the very following of them.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

60. "...which means they apparently do not believe in honor either. "

"The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I will go from the exalted to the the profane in one stream of thought...This whole thread is an excuse to take a rhetorical shit on Hillary Clinton.

[Demsrule86]

64. Yeah well this is posted on Free Republic

and they agree with it too...I have to say...you should give back your liberal card...too much agreement with righties.

[Chicago1980]

55. The same guy...

[youtube]

[/youtube]


And this...

https://www.facebook.com/phillip.jennings.7


And this...


The Kirkland, Washington one (http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/phillip-jennings.asp?cycle=08)

[ucrdem]

56. Is this one of the guys who just happened to be in John Kerry's swiftboat?

[sufrommich]

61. Over 60 recs for an editorial written by a Trump supporter.

I wish I would have kept a list of all the right wingers who have been embraced and all the liberals who have been trashed in the name of St.Bernie the Pure.

[Babel_17]

72. We've already seen important talking heads refuse to twist logic to help Clinton

Now we have the FOIA case winding its way, and an upcoming release of an FBI investigation. Conventional wisdom regarding Secretary Clinton's trustworthiness and honesty is at a real risk for taking another serious hit. And it's already at an amazingly bad level. It's roughly as bad as Trump's afaik.

Published June 1, 2016:

From May 24 - 30, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,561 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The survey includes 678 Democrats with a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points.

38. Regardless of how you intend to vote, who do you think - is more honest and trustworthy: Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?

https://www.qu.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2352

Clinton 39%
Trump 44
DK/NA 17

Our party's candidate should be doing much better in that metric, imo. Being seen as better than Trump in that should be a minimum requirement.

[Herman4747]

76. YES, BEING SEEN AS MORE HONEST THAN TRUMP...

...SHOULD BE A MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.

Hillary, alas, may fail to meet this requirement.

[libdem4life]

84. If not indictment, then definitely impeachment. The Republicans have

been eagerly awaiting her...and I think she revels in it, as well. That's what she does best...fight. That was then. Now, hubris aside, the Foundation will be the downfall, IMO.

An extra glass ceiling cracked...impeached spouses.

[Bill USA]

89. pure McCarthyist BS, charges without any basis. article is an example of abject iniquity.

[lmbradford]

95. Hurry up FBI

I care about classified info. I have a daughter in the Air Force. There is a reason military and vets love Bernie.

[arely staircase]

100. Phillip Jennings is right wing nut.

The Vietnam War was a tragic and dismal failure—at least that is what the mainstream media and history books would have you believe. Yet, Phillip Jennings sets the record straight in The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to the Vietnam War. In this latest “P.I.G.”, Jennings shatters culturally-accepted myths and busts politically incorrect lies that liberal pundits and leftist professors have been telling you for years. The Vietnam War was the most important—and successful—campaign to defeat Communism. Without the sacrifices made and the courage displayed by our military, the world might be a different place. The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to the Vietnam War reveals the truth about the battles, players, and policies of one of the most

[still_one]

101. The 16th can't come soon enough

[arely staircase]

102. No shit. It will be a fun day.nt