How Hillary Seemingly Gets Away with (Almost) Anything

We’ve all been in situations where we either did something we were not supposed to do (e.g., you “borrowed” your sister’s sweater without permission), or didn’t do something we were supposed to do, when we were supposed to do it (e.g., turn in a report on Monday). In the case of “doing something,” it usually implies that we were aware that our behavior was inappropriate before we did it. In the case of “not doing something,” we were still aware and complicit in our inaction.

In most cases, life goes along just fine for a while, particularly if you are good at hiding your behavior. That is, until somebody else notices and calls you on it. Your sister asks you where her sweater went, or your boss/teacher asks about the report that is now overdue. Now you have a choice: admit your wrongdoing, take responsibility, apologize, make amends, and get on with life – or – dodge the issue somehow. This is the proverbial fork in the road.

It may be difficult initially, but when you take responsibility for your actions (or inactions), it’s actually over more quickly, less people get hurt, you feel better about yourself, and you have the opportunity to get back on track in record time. Sometimes (not too often, but not never), you actually improve your situation by coming forward with the truth, thus showing good character and building trust. Unfortunately, there is this thing called “human nature,” that propels us to obfuscate, minimize, distract, and otherwise attempt to “get away with” just about any bad behavior. This is a very, very bad habit to get into.

If we had observant parents growing up, who took the time and effort to put us on the right path, we learned early in our lives that apologizing and “owning” our bad behavior, was the best thing to do. I remember to this day, a situation at George Washington Elementary school, when my Mother made me apologize to a teacher for telling “toilet humor” jokes in the Girl’s lavatory. By today’s standards, it would hardly rise to the attention of anyone in authority, but back in the day, when indoor plumbing was still being perfected, it was a big deal. I think I had made reference to “logs” floating in the punch bowl, or something else like that. It was considered vulgar, and not ladylike, so I was told to apologize for my poor choices. It was one of the best lessons that I ever learned. Everyone involved relaxed, and I wiped the slate clean.

Fast forward to today. Now we have people in the political limelight, that wouldn’t know what the truth is, if it walked up, introduced itself, and shook hands. They are so busy trying to look good, and please everyone, that they rarely give you a straight yes or no answer to any question. Yet they claim that they try to tell the truth. What does that mean, exactly?

When it comes to admitting bad behavior, that seems to be the last thing they want to do. Here is the pattern, in eight easy steps.

1. Ignore and avoid the topic. Never bring it up yourself. Wait for someone else to notice, and then avoid that person. Do this as long as possible.
2. When confronted, start with an indignant and/or dismissive rejection that any wrong-doing occurred, and suggest that person accusing you of the bad behavior has an ax to grind or is out to get you.
3. Be slow in responding to any follow-up questions, and try to ignore additional evidence as long as possible.
4. When irrefutable evidence is presented publically, reluctantly admit that while it certainly does appear that there is something wrong, it’s all a mistake or misunderstanding. You can easily fix it. Ask for time, and imply that you have everything well in hand.
5. When your accusers persist, blame them for their malice. It’s all a witch hunt; they are just picking on you, and so forth.
6. When that doesn’t work, suggest that perhaps something is wrong, and that it’s a mistake, and was not intended to do anyone harm, and that it doesn’t rise to the level of dishonesty that your opponents are suggesting.
7. While all this is going on, try to carry on as if nothing is amiss. Minimize, distract, and delay at every opportunity. If at all possible, find some bad behavior of somebody else, and point to that repeatedly.
8. Wait. And wait some more. Finally, if it just doesn’t go away, grudgingly admit your wrongdoing, but make sure it’s at a time when most everyone is so sick and tired of the subject, that they barely notice.

Sound familiar? It should. It’s the Clinton playbook. Starting with Bill, and continuing with Hillary. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a solid strategy for dealing with past mistakes and flaws of character. I am tempted to try it myself. But then again, my Mother is still alive, and I’d never get it past her.

If you are a solid Hillary supporter, and have read this far, you are probably indignant. Since I am both female and Caucasian, you are thwarted and can’t use the “gender” or “race” assassination cards. But you can’t wait to get to the comment section to call me a Clinton Hater. Which, by the way, is categorically untrue. Initially, I was encouraged to see and potentially support a female presidential candidate. Then, upon taking a critical look at her record and behavior, I just couldn’t bring myself to support her.

I challenge you to look over the Email Server and other issues again, and tell me if I am right. I also challenge you to read from a source of news that you don’t normally use. For example, if you always just read The Washington Post, branch out and try USA Today. Or if you always just read domestically produced news, try the BBC for a change. If nothing else, you may gain a fresh perspective.