Tuesday, May 12, 2015

BloggeRhythms

Not much new in the news today, many of the top stories focusing on Tom Brady and New England’s win in the Super Bowl. And although most readers here have no real interest in my opinions about sports, the following item should amuse everyone. It was sent by a  long-time friend in Massachusetts, with her comment: “Hmmm”



In an appropriate follow-up to the preceding photo of criminals, is today’s update on Bill Clinton’s wife which includes several items.
 
To begin, New York Magazine reports. “After being the subject of a spate of negative newspaper accounts about potential conflicts of interest and management dysfunction this winter — long before Clinton Cash — the Clinton Foundation wound up on a ‘watchlist’ maintained by the Charity Navigator, the New Jersey-based nonprofit watchdog…. Navigator executives counter that the Foundation has demanded they extend the Clintons special treatment. They also allege the Foundation attempted to strong-arm them by calling a Navigator board member. ‘They felt they were of such importance that we should deviate from our normal process. They were irritated by that,’ says [former Navigator CEO, Ken Berger].”
 
FoxNews.com contributes another story on the same subject, reporting that, “During Hillary Clinton's tenure as the top U.S. diplomat, lawyers and other ethics officials in the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser gave near-blanket approval to at least 330 requests for Bill Clinton's appearance at speeches, dinners and events both in the U.S. and around the globe. More than 220 paid events earned the family nearly $50 million, according to a review of State Department documents and Hillary Clinton's financial disclosure forms by The Associated Press. 

“Now, as Hillary Clinton moves forward with her presidential campaign, the ease with which her husband was repeatedly cleared to address companies and governments around the world highlights potential ethical complications that are likely to intensify if she becomes the country's next president.”

The article goes on, “Taken together, the State Department and financial disclosure documents show the agency sped through Bill Clinton's steady stream of requests for events while rarely raising concerns about potential conflicts. At the same time, the agency's ethics office, which had primary responsibility for the decisions, was hobbled by "strained program operations," according to a 2012 report by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, the government's top ethics agency. 

“State Department ethics officials gave quick approval, for example, for the two Barclays appearances and events paid by other international banks under legal scrutiny. Bill Clinton's $200,000 appearance in Florida for British-based HSBC in 2011 was cleared despite an ongoing federal money-laundering investigation that led to a 2012 settlement with prosecutors.”

An example of the favor expected from the State Department can be seen in this demand for immediate action:  "This is overdue and our host needs a signed contract today," wrote Terry Krinvic, Clinton's director of scheduling, in a March 2, 2011, email to State Department officials.  A State Department official working on a speech request described herself in a February 2011 email as "totally stressed out, but will do it this afternoon." 

The article contains detailed information about Bill’s wife’s, stating that during her tenure “as the top U.S. diplomat, lawyers and other ethics officials in the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser gave near-blanket approval to at least 330 requests for Bill Clinton's appearance at speeches, dinners and events both in the U.S. and around the globe. More than 220 paid events earned the family nearly $50 million, according to a review of State Department documents and Hillary Clinton's financial disclosure forms by The Associated Press. 

Here’s a link to the specifics: State Department OK'd most Bill Clinton speech requests within days

So, although the real campaign hasn’t even begun yet, each day’s disclosures seem to be taking their toll, as illustrated in Chris Stirewalt’s column on FoxNews.com. 
 
“Familiarity breeds disgust Republicans close in on Hillary in N.H. - A new Bloomberg Politics/Saint Anselm New Hampshire Poll says Republican presidential hopefuls Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush now tie Clinton within the margin of error in hypothetical general election matchups.”
 
In conclusion, it looks like whoever the Republican presidential nominee winds up to be won’t even have to campaign for themselves. All that needs be done is to sit back, let the truths about the Clinton’ keep coming out, and gain landslide victory by default.
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

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