Authors: Dick Morris,Eileen McGann
Tags: #POL040010 Political Science / American Government / Executive Branch
Oh my God
, Dick thought.
That would make a great story, having the FBI go around the country interviewing the friends, neighbors, business associates, and families of all our supporters and contributors. That would be great. Smile and nod your head
, he said to himself.
Don't challenge her when she's on her soapbox.
The next morning dawned bright and clear, and Dick found himself in the Oval Office meeting with the president. Dick told him of Hillary's thunderstorm the night before and prepared to make his case against her request. Dick never got the chance. “Don't worry,” the president said. “She's on a tear on this. We're not going to do any of that shit.”
Thank God he's president and not her
, Dick thought. Now she might be.
Here are some other stories of her paranoia and its destructive impact:
But there is no better example of the Greek tragedy than Hillary's e-mail scandalâa totally unnecessary precaution that ended up causing so many more problems for her than it prevented. Why doesn't this woman ever learn?
Back during the Bush 41 presidency, we all laughed when the president had no idea what a supermarket bar code was. The rest of the country saw them every day, but Bush lived inside the White House cocoon and had actually never seen one. It was completely alien to him. It was just as funny to see Hillary having difficulty negotiating her way through a subway turnstile in New York City with her Metro Card, when she was pretending that she was just like other New Yorkers. But these amusing episodes raise an important question: Do we really want a president who has no idea what is going on in the real world? Because that's what we'll be getting if Hillary is elected.
She doesn't have a clue about the world outside of work and campaigning; it doesn't exist. For at least the past two and a half decades, she's relied on taxpayer-paid employees to take care of her every whim 24/7. She's a high-maintenance lady who has always required umpteen assistants to get her through the day, providing
for everything from childcare for Chelsea to personal shopping. Nothing was ever too mundane to assign to government workers.
Hillary lives in a protected bubble, immune to the daily challenges that most of us encounter, unable to perform the simplest tasks on her own, and completely unfamiliar with the routine encounters of the “everyday Americans” she claims to represent. She lives a life of privilege and entitlement, but that very lifestyle makes her singularly isolated and unqualified to represent the voters who make up the other 99.9% of the economy and have nothing in common with her. She doesn't know them and she cannot empathize with them. After she left the White House, her circle of attendants followed her to the Senate, and then to the State Department. After that, her personal entourage moved on with her to the tax-exempt Clinton Foundation and/or her campaign, where they still loyallyâand royallyâserve her. If she's elected, they'll follow her back to the White House. Part of their job has been to keep the real world and the real people at bay. And, they've succeeded. Hillary is isolated from the real world and doesn't get how the rest of the world lives. In a recent debate, for example, Hillary was told a story by a worried woman whose family health care premiums had increased significantly under Obamacare, causing a serious hardship for her family. Hillary, still covered by government paid health insurance, suggested that the woman shop harder and keep checking the exchange for better rates.
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That was her response. No criticism of Obamacare, no empathy for the woman's situation. Just shop better. Is there anyone besides Hillary who thinks that's the solution? Shop harder?
Hillary does not have the routine experiences that the rest of us do. Unlike most people, she hasn't driven a car for the last twenty-four years. She doesn't need to. Her lifetime Secret Service protection includes a car and driver and, of course, insurance and maintenance. No need to stand in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles like the rest of us. As frustrating as that experience may be, it's an equalizer. Everyone is the same. Take a number and wait. But Hillary
doesn't ever have to wait. It's always taken care of for her by the innumerable civil servants and paid employees at her beck and call.
And we, the taxpayers, foot much of the bill. By the way, Bill has the same perk, so they have two free, perfectly maintained, chauffeured cars available to the family. Their twin black extra-large SUVs came in handy when Chelsea came home from the hospital after giving birth to Hillary's granddaughter, Charlotte. After the family photo op outside the hospital, Bill herded everyone to the awaiting government-paid, chauffeur-driven SUVs, and they all piled in and headed home. And of course the Clintons don't have to worry about burglar alarms and security at their DC and Chappaqua homes. Again, the Secret Service handles that, and we pay for it. And there's no issue of lost keys: the 24/7 guards make locking the doors unnecessary.
Hillary doesn't even shop for food or clothes. Her e-mails show that Huma Abedin, her longtime personal assistant in the White House, the Senate, the State Department, and her campaign, coordinates her wardrobe needs with a personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman, the elite New York City department store. She also deals directly with expensive designers including the late Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Lauren. No need to cope with crowds in stores, or even shop online. It's all taken care of by the staff and, once again, we often paid for it. Hillary doesn't have to worry about what she should wear to each campaign event. Huma tells her what to wear. In one e-mail, she told her to wear a dark color, “maybe your new dark green suit.”
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As for food, the State Department executive chief chef, hired by Hillary and paid by the taxpayers, often shopped and prepared food for her personal use. Hillary questioned whether she had actually paid the chef for his wonderful personal services, but no response was ever disclosed. Keep in mind that over 30,000 e-mails that Hillary unilaterally decided were personal were destroyed. So lots of what was personal but transpired at the State Department is not
available. But we have enough to see how much of her personal business was executed by the government employees.
Hillary's usual response to criticismâ“Everybody does it”âjust doesn't work. Can you imagine Colin Powell e-mailing staff on a Sunday night to ask what time a TV show starts? Or James Baker asking his staff to arrange for some new suits or print out instructions for his new hair cut? Or Secretary of Defense Robert Gates taking directions from his staff on what color tie to wear? No, this is not the usual behavior of a high-level public official. It's the behavior of a pampered, self-involved, and probably lonesome person who knows no boundaries.
And it is pervasive. Hillary doesn't do grocery stores. Minor personal needs are taken care of by her staff (presumably her housekeeper takes care of larger food needs). When Hillary wanted skim milk, for example, she e-mailed one of her assistants on a Sunday night, asking her to buy it. She also asked her to remind her to bring more tea cups to the office. Her hair-dos even need some help from the office. She asked an employee to print out directions for how to make a “fish-tail bun.” It's nice to have minions at your beck and callâespecially when you don't have to pay for them.
The government employees also do heavy duty helping Hillary with her TV and entertainment needs. It seems that she couldn't figure out how to find a guide to television stations to look for her favorite shows. One Sunday night, she actually asked a State Department employee to tell her what time
The Good Wife
and
Parks and Recreation
came on. And she e-mailed another high-level employee to ask where she could watch
Homeland
. He tried to find the answer for her, but she didn't know the name of her cable provider. Do you get the picture?
There's always someone available to carry her bags. When she was carrying a lot of “stuff,” in the limo ride from her home to the office, she e-mailed her staff to come down to the car and meet her. And then there's the weather. Rather than look out the window, she e-mailed her staff to ask, “What's the weather for today?” Staff were frequently asked to make sure she woke up at a certain time in
the morning. That's what they're there for, aren't they? No need for alarms or wake-up calls.
Then there was her frequent need for technical assistance. We know from her e-mails that she isn't familiar with computers, faxing, Wi-Fi, and so on. And we know from our personal experience that she doesn't know how to type and doesn't use a computer at allâjust an iPad and a phone. It's hard to believe, but according to her e-mails, she seriously had no idea what Wi-Fi was, whether she had it, or even how to check whether she did. Is she kidding? She repeatedly asked her staff for help with her fax machineâto no avail. She could not master it, despite repeated attempts to walk her through the process. And she did not have the ability to print any documentsâpersonal or professionalâso she directed staff to do so. And of course she often asked staff to bring her “berry” charger to her, wherever she was. So transportation, security, food, clothing, tech assistance, directions on TV shows, wake-up calls, and other mundane errands are all covered by free staff. It's a good life.
Her staff even kept tabs on where Bill Clinton was each night. Her daily schedule prepared by the State Department ended with “RON,” meaning “rest of night.” According to the schedules published in her e-mails, they were rarely togetherâusually reading:
RON | HRC | Washington |
WJC | Chappaqua |
The schedule would close with the weather report.
Hillary's years in the White House had prepared her for life outside the building. For special occasions like dinner parties at her home, for example, her 24 place settings of china is just perfect. Her pattern, Spode Stafford Flowers, is one of the most expensive china dinnerware patterns available and now retails for about $600 a place setting. But, of course, Hillary and Bill never paid for it. The china was a gift from many donors who were solicited on her behalf
by her White House decorator to donate the place settings Hillary wanted. She had actually chosen thousands of dollars of high-end tableware and decorative objects items that she wanted and made a list. Like most brides today, she was registered at a store so that friends would know what she wanted. Hers was Borsheim's Fine Jewelry and Gifts.
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It worked out quite well.
Except for the fact that she wasn't a bride. As they left the White House, the Clintons disclosed that they had received $190,000 worth of gifts, including $17,000 in silver flatware, $21,000 in china, $52,021 worth of furniture, $71,650 in artwork, and three carpets worth $12,282. Also included was $60,000 in glass sculptures by renowned artist Dale Chihuly.
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So their two multimillion-dollar houses were all set. And all of it was given as a reward for their public service. Don't you wish you had a benefactor like that? Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton live lives of privilege and luxury surrounded by solicitous staff who tend to their every need. But there's one key difference: Trump earned his own money to pay for his comfort. Hillary got hers as a government perk, a by-product of her so-called public service. And, unlike Hillary, Trump is always out and about with people. At Mar-a'Largo, Trump's Florida mansion and club, he is seen every weekend night during the season. Rather than hide away, like Hillary, he talks and listens to the guests, introduces his family, and enjoys himself. He plays golf, drives his car, and mingles with people. So, in every way imaginable, Hillary doesn't have a clue about life in the real world. She's the wrong choice for president.
Aside from terrorism, most Americans cite the economy as our major national problem. And Hillary doesn't know much of anything about economics. In her long political career, she has grappled with any number of problems and issues: education reform, utility regulation, child care, equality for women, health care, human
trafficking, terrorism, foreign affairs, and human rights. But she has never spoken out about any economic issue.
Not only is her record devoid of advocacy on the economy, she never introduced a bill in the Senate related to it or used her position as secretary of state to address it. She could have taken the lead in berating China for its currency manipulation or to warn its leaders against the gigantic financial bubble they have created that may yet plunge us into a global depression. But she didn't. She chose instead to lecture them on human rights and abortion. She might have shined at meetings of global leaders by taking the lead in pushing policies to counter the emerging worldwide recession and unemployment. But she didn't.