BloggeRhythms

As a rule, attention is rarely given here to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. That’s because she’s primarily a biased political hack who seldom, if ever, says anything of importance. Her main focus seems to be dispensing worthless Democrat propaganda.

Yesterday, however, in regard to the FBI’s investigation of Bill Clinton’s wife, Schultz told Fox News: “Secretary Clinton isn’t even a target of this inquiry, investigation, whatever ‘I’ word you want to use.” 

The truth of the matter, though, is that the FBI confirmed in court documents earlier this year that the former secretary of state’s “use of a private e-mail server” is the focus of the investigation. “And when asked by Fox News earlier this week about Clinton’s repeated description of the probe as a mere security inquiry, FBI Director James Comey said he’s not familiar with that term.”  

At that time, “Comey told Fox News. We’re conducting an investigation. … That’s what we do.” 

The only reason for bringing the matter up today is that Schultz has now confirmed that she’s not only nothing but a hack, but also an abject moron who makes her party’s leadership look like intellectual ciphers. 

On the other side, Jonathan Martin @nytimes.com, writes that casino magnate Sheldon G. Adelson told Trump in a private meeting last week that “he was willing to contribute more to help elect him than he has to any previous campaign, a sum that could exceed $100 million, according to two Republicans with direct knowledge of Mr. Adelson’s commitment.” 

The Las Vegas based billionaire has decided that he will significantly scale back his giving to congressional Republicans and direct most of his contributions to groups dedicated to Mr. Trump’s campaign. As chief executive of Las Vegas Sands, Mr. Adelson “is among the world’s wealthiest individuals and has given hundreds of millions of dollars to Republican candidates and causes over the years.” 

What stuck out here is the interesting twist that up to now Trump’s relied on a mix of his own wealth and small-dollar contributions for financing. However, he now says he may “need $1 billion for the campaign but has only recently begun scheduling fund-raisers and hiring finance staff members.” 

And who did Trump turn to first? A hugely successful casino operator, the very business he himself went bankrupt in not once, but four times. Which means that if Trump had known what he was doing, he likely wouldn’t need Mr. Adelson, or anyone else, for campaign funding at all. Thus, perhaps Mr. Adelson ought to think again before signing any checks. 

Bringing us to today’s update on Bill Clinton's wife. 

Margaret Talev and Sahil Kapur @bloomberg.com, write that she’s “been in the national spotlight since her husband was elected president in 1992, has been under little pressure to respond to questions about the foundation, the FBI investigation or Benghazi in the Democratic nomination race. Her challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, has said explicitly that he's not interested in raising those issues. That suggests both campaigns read Democratic voter sentiment as set on Clinton's long public history and, barring a new revelation, the controversies won't change many minds. 

“But in making the case for his own candidacy, Sanders has argued that that Republicans won't be reticent about tackling the e-mail investigation or the Clinton foundation, and persistently highlights surveys showing him outperforming Clinton against Trump.” 

Interviewed for the article, “Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist and veteran of the presidential campaigns of John Edwards in 2008 and Howard Dean in 2004, said, "The Republicans will use all of it—Benghazi, emails, the Clinton foundation." 

“Still, he said, Clinton has a long history of rebounding from attacks. 

"Trump has his style and she has hers," he said. "I might handle it differently. But it's worked for her. She succeeded, became a senator, became secretary of state.'' 

Reading Trippi’s analysis regarding her successes triggered the thought, that yes it’s true Bill’s wife has held some important posts. But, the question of how she got them led to some research this morning.  

According to an article @slate.com, from Feb. 12 1999: “The Constitution says only that a senator must be 1) 30 years old; 2) a U.S. citizen for nine years; and 3) "an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen." The Supreme Court has ruled that the states must accept as an "inhabitant" anyone who has lived in the state for 30 days before the election. New York, though, is especially lax on the residency requirement. A candidate must only have a New York residence on the day of the election. For instance, Hillary could rent a hotel room on November 7, 2000 to qualify as a bona fide New Yorker. At that point she could move to D.C. 

“She also wasn’t the first to do it. New York actually has a tradition of electing out-of-stater’s. Bobby Kennedy won in 1964 and James Buckley--from Connecticut, and, yes, brother to William F--won in 1970. Way back in 1788, Massachusetts' delegate to the Constitutional Convention--a fellow named Rufus King--moved to New York and became Senator that very same year.” 

And when she decided to run, she was still the wife of the sitting POTUS at the time. Upon Bill's leaving office the Arkansas traveler’s moved to New York. Thus, with her husband's remaining power, she should have become anything in the world she wanted short of staying in the White House.

As far as her becoming Secretary of State is concerned, according to a politico.com piece on February 6, 2016: “In 2008, Obama (lacking any foreign policy experience) had asked Hillary to be his Secretary of State right after he was chosen to be the Democratic presidential nominee at the convention in 2008, where Bill Clinton endorsed him.

 

“The other reason Obama chose Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State was because he wanted her supporters to vote for him in the general election against McCain/Palin. And Obama also got Bill Clinton (who was still popular in the Democratic party) to campaign for him. So Hillary wasn’t chosen by Obama to be Secretary of State just because "she was all that". It was also to appease the Clinton camp and her supporters.” 

And as far as Trippi himself is concerned, it’s worth repeating that he’s “a Democratic strategist and veteran of the presidential campaigns of John Edwards in 2008 and Howard Dean in 2004.” 

In Edwards case, he admitted to an extended extramarital affair in August 2008 with Rielle Hunter to ABC News correspondent, Bob Woodruff. Edwards withdrew from the race on January 30, 2008. 

The other guy, Howard Dean, formally announced his intention to compete in the 2004 Democratic primaries to seek the Democratic  nomination for President on June 23, 2003. He dropped out of the race in February 2004 after poor contest showings in Wisconsin. Which means his “presidential campaign” lasted all of eight months.  

Therefore, one has to wonder how in the world someone like Trippi becomes an “expert” on political campaigning. Because, considering his miserable track record to date, listening to him would be similar to asking Obama how to run a successful health care program. 

It also brings up the recurring question again: Joe Biden, Mayor Bloomberg, Jerry Brown, and Starbuck’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, are you guys reading this?

    

That’s it for today folks.   

Adios