Hillary Clinton, broadly cast as "untrustworthy," is more honest than anyone else running for president. https://t.co/fWr3RP2hAS
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 20, 2016
Interesting piece from ex-NYTimesperson Jill Abramson, in the Guardian — “This may shock you: Hillary Clinton is fundamentally honest”:
… I would be “dead rich”, to adapt an infamous Clinton phrase, if I could bill for all the hours I’ve spent covering just about every “scandal” that has enveloped the Clintons. As an editor I’ve launched investigations into her business dealings, her fundraising, her foundation and her marriage. As a reporter my stories stretch back to Whitewater. I’m not a favorite in Hillaryland. That makes what I want to say next surprising.
Hillary Clinton is fundamentally honest and trustworthy.
The yardsticks I use for measuring a politician’s honesty are pretty simple. Ever since I was an investigative reporter covering the nexus of money and politics, I’ve looked for connections between money (including campaign donations, loans, Super Pac funds, speaking fees, foundation ties) and official actions. I’m on the lookout for lies, scrutinizing statements candidates make in the heat of an election…
Clinton distrusts the press more than any politician I have covered. In her view, journalists breach the perimeter and echo scurrilous claims about her circulated by unreliable rightwing foes. I attended a private gathering in South Carolina a month after Bill Clinton was elected in 1992. Only a few reporters were invited and we sat together at a luncheon where Hillary Clinton spoke. She glared down at us, launching into a diatribe about how the press had invaded the Clintons’ private life. The distrust continues.
These are not new thoughts, but they are fundamental to understanding her. Tough as she can seem, she doesn’t have rhino hide, and during her husband’s first term in the White House, according to Her Way, a critical (and excellent) investigative biography of Clinton by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta, she became very depressed during the Whitewater imbroglio. A few friends and aides have told me that the email controversy has upset her as badly…
Still, Clinton has mainly been constant on issues and changing positions over time is not dishonest.
It’s fair to expect more transparency. But it’s a double standard to insist on her purity.
Transparent is not, of course, synonymous with honest. Donald Trump’s as transparent as the yuuugest, classiest plate glass, but he’s very far from honest (and extremely close to incoherent, which doesn’t improve the clarity of his proposals).
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Apart from continuing to fight the good fight (sometimes, it seems, with those who should be our allies), what’s on the agenda for the day?
Clinton: "It has become harder and harder for moderate, reasonable voices to be heard." Full comment: pic.twitter.com/3vokY0CVv0
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) March 24, 2016
Tuesday Morning Open Thread: I’m With HRC, <em>Honestly</em>Post + Comments (258)