Hillary Stumbles On Path to Presidency

Inevitable.  Indomitable.  Invincible.  Those are were some of the words being used to describe the presumed presidential candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton.  She appears poised to announce a second run for the White House soon but one political pothole after another has cratered her once smooth path.  

Clinton's political image, already sullied by gaffes during last year's book tour, has been tarnished by a series of unseemly revelations in recent months.  While Clinton has never been pure as the driven snow, what makes these scandals different is the piling on by a usually servile media.

Normally reliable Clinton parasites such as The New York Times and The Washington Post have shone a spotlight on the ethically-challenged conduct of the former First Lady. This does not bode well for Clinton, who already has the highest negative ratings of any potential presidential candidate.

Her troubles began when details surfaced about foreign governments contributing hefty amounts to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary served as Secretary of State.  This was in conflict with the Clintons agreement to forgo donations from most governments during her term as the nation's chief diplomat.

The arrangement with the Obama Administration was crafted to avoid the appearance of undue influence-peddling by the Secretary of State. However, the Clintons managed to circumvent the compact by sneaking in a giant loophole that allowed some governments to continue making donations.

This extraordinary exemption negotiated by the Clintons permitted foreign entities to remain donors to the foundation at the same levels they had contributed prior to 2008.  Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, which all had issues pending before the U.S. government, slithered through this loophole.

Algeria, which was not on the exempt list, forked over $500,000 to the foundation after the agreement was concluded.  At the time, Algeria was lobbying the State Department on human rights issues, according to The Washington Post.  This constitutes a clear violation of the agreement.

In typical Clinton fashion, the presumptive candidate sent her minions to smear those making accusations against the foundation.  Clinton flacks fired off insulting and demeaning emails to guilty reporters and editors.  The Clintons circled the wagons, protecting the candidate in waiting.  

Just when Hillary thought the issue had been safely defused, a fresh scandal cropped up when it was revealed she had set up a private email account during her four years as Secretary of State.  This was a clear violation of the Obama Administration policy on transparency in communications.

Not only did Clinton have a private email account, but she also employed a private Internet domain on her own private server at her residence.  That means she had complete control over which emails were saved or deleted.  There was no one in the administration looking over her shoulder.

Under the policy instituted by President Obama, most federal employees are tethered to government-provided email addresses and their electronic communications are archived.  Hillary thumbed her nose at this requirement.  She presumed the rules did not apply to her.  She always has.

Caught red-handed, Clinton made a lame attempt to sweep the issue under the rug by vowing to release 55,000 pages of emails.  The numbers are meaningless.  The public will never know how many emails have been erased, deleted or withheld because only Hillary has access to the data trove.

In fact, Rep. Trey Gowdy, head of the House committee investigating Benghazi, reviewed her emails and found gaps of "months and months and months."  Clinton's emails were never turned over to past Benghazi's committees, a fact the media never reported until the current scandal erupted.

This kind of Clinton behavior is all too familiar to most Americans. Hillary and former President Bill Clinton have always operated on the theory that laws were meant for others.  They privately snicker at the gullibility of those who have given the Clintons passes on ethical and moral indiscretions.

Behind closed doors, some Democrats are beginning to question a Hillary candidacy.  They are concerned more scandals are looming. But don't expect this to derail a Clinton run.   The same hubris that has defined the Clintons will persuade her to campaign for the nation's highest office.