Hillary Clinton, the entitled and the corrupt

Correction, April 4, 2016: In this post, I cite a U.S. Uncut article which, among other things, suggests that Bernie Sanders has won the Nevada primary caucuses after all.[1] That conclusion appears, at best, premature. The Washington Post reports merely that Sanders narrowed the margin of Hillary Clinton’s victory, which apparently now stands at 18-17. The Post also confirms that there was considerable controversy over the delegate selection rules but does not mention police having been called or offer any detail whatsoever.[2] In the original post, I was careful to note that Cahill’s report was unconfirmed; I have added language to this version incorporating the Post account.


On Twitter, David Sirota has unleashed a barrage of tweets that deserves not to be lost. Sirota’s been tweeting about Hillary Clinton’s relationship with the oil and gas industry a lot over at least the last couple days,[3] the tweets I’ve gathered aren’t entirely consecutive, and my screenshot tool doesn’t enable me to get them all at once anyway. I’ve rather inexpertly stitched them together in figure 1:

Some tweets from David Sirota, April 2-3, 2016. Screenshots stitched together by author, fair use.
Fig. 1. Some tweets from David Sirota, April 2-3, 2016. Screenshots stitched together by author, fair use.

Sirota’s rant and many of the stories that he cites are all inspired by Hillary Clinton’s response to an activist questioning her about fossil fuel industry contributions. The activist in question is affiliated with Greenpeace, not the Bernie Sanders campaign, but Clinton nonetheless blamed Sanders for “lying” about her.[4]

Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign doubled down on defense, stating that she “has not taken a dollar from oil and gas industry PACs or corporations. The simple fact is that the Sanders campaign is misleading voters with their attacks.”

As the Huffington Post reported last year, Clinton’s biggest campaign bundlers are fossil fuel lobbyists. Reporters Kate Sheppard and Paul Blumenthal wrote in July that “fossil fuel interests have pumped $3.25 million into the largest super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election cycle. The Clinton campaign has received donations from industry lobbyists including ExxonMobil’s Theresa Fariello.”

And as Greenpeace campaign director Molly Dorozenski pointed out on Thursday, Clinton is “conflating Greenpeace with the Sanders campaign, but we are an independent organization…. Earlier this year, we asked both Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders to sign our pledge to #fixdemocracy, and while Sanders signed, Clinton did not.”[5]

It is Clinton who is lying here, not Sanders, his campaign, Greenpeace, or the activist. And in his rant, Sirota points to, among other things, what appears to be a quid pro quo with the industry. He’s also pointing out that Democratic Party loyalists are angrily refusing to acknowledge even that all this stinks to high heaven of corruption.

This is not the only example, by far, and the corruption appears to extend to the Democratic National Committee which has so blatantly attempted to tilt the scales in the primary contest for the 2016 presidential nomination in Clinton’s favor[6] that even the Wall Street Journal has taken notice.[7]

Tom Cahill, writing for U.S. Uncut, reports that the Clinton campaign attempted to manipulate the process for recognizing delegates in Nevada as the count started to turn against Clinton. Cahill claims that despite this manipulation, the outcome means that Sanders, rather than Clinton, has now won the Nevada caucuses;[8] however, a story in the Washington Post says only that Clinton’s margin of victory has been reduced.[9] In Cahill’s report, police were even called as “[Clark County Democratic Party (CCDP)] officials attempted to act on the orders received from Marc Elias [a Clinton campaign attorney] to remove [credential committee chair Christine] Kramar as chair by calling an executive session.” The Clinton campaign was apparently trying to change the rules at the last minute to recognize alternates as delegates and, standing her ground, Kramar “reminded the Clinton campaign and CCDP officials of the party bylaws.”[10]

Cahill’s report, for which I have only found partial and very limited confirmation as well as a contradiction,[11] follows a report of election fraud by the Arizona Secretary of State in that state’s primary.[12] Voter suppression is alleged in an election where far too few voting precincts were set up, leading to long lines with waits that lasted up to five hours, and where many voters had been recorded as registered with the wrong party, meaning they could only cast provisional ballots that might not be counted at all. Apparently, the suppression targeted Sanders voters and the Associated Press did not wait until voting was done before projecting Clinton as having won. Re-registrations may also be occurring in the state of New York, where the primary has not yet been held.[13]

Then, of course, there’s the matter of Clinton’s work on behalf of Wall Street, which she defended by invoking the 9/11 attacks.[14] Wall Street remains a major contributor to her campaign.[15]

Clinton supporters should make no mistake. They’re supporting scum for the highest office in the land. I cannot recall in my lifetime a presidential candidate who so visibly and thoroughly reeked of corruption during the campaign as this one. And despite this, Democrats are supposed to support her regardless, apparently because she’s a woman[16] and therefore entitled to the presidency.[17]

  1. [1]Tom Cahill, “Bernie Sanders Wins the Nevada Caucus After All,” U.S. Uncut, April 3, 2016, http://usuncut.com/politics/bernie-wins-nevada-democratic-caucus/
  2. [2]John Wagner, “A scrappy Sanders campaign narrows the Nevada delegate count six weeks after the caucuses,” Washington Post, April 3, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/03/a-scrappy-sanders-campaign-narrows-the-nevada-delegate-count-six-weeks-after-the-caucuses/
  3. [3]David Sirota, Twitter, https://twitter.com/davidsirota
  4. [4]Nadia Prupis, “Greenpeace, Sanders Hold Ground Against Clinton in Fossil Fuel Feud,” Common Dreams, April 1, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/04/01/greenpeace-sanders-hold-ground-against-clinton-fossil-fuel-feud
  5. [5]Nadia Prupis, “Greenpeace, Sanders Hold Ground Against Clinton in Fossil Fuel Feud,” Common Dreams, April 1, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/04/01/greenpeace-sanders-hold-ground-against-clinton-fossil-fuel-feud
  6. [6]Ryan Cooper, “Hillary Clinton and the awful risk of winning ugly,” Week, December 21, 2015, http://theweek.com/articles/595141/hillary-clinton-awful-risk-winning-ugly; Christian Drake, “New Information Shows DNC Violated Its Own Rules When It Shut Down Sanders Campaign Data Access,” Addicting Info, December 19, 2015, http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/12/19/new-information-shows-dnc-violated-its-own-rules-when-it-shut-down-sanders-campaign-data-access/; Jonathan Easley, “Dem rivalry takes nasty turn,” Hill, December 19, 2015, http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/263784-dem-rivalry-take-nasty-turn; Ben Kamisar, “Sanders sues Democratic Party,” Hill, December 18, 2015, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party; Lauren McCauley, “Thumb on the Scale? DNC Backs Off Bernie But Questions of Neutrality Linger,” Common Dreams, December 19, 2015, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/12/19/thumb-scale-dnc-backs-bernie-questions-neutrality-linger; Michael Sainato, “The Countless Failings of the DNC,” Observer, March 27, 2016, http://observer.com/2016/03/the-countless-failings-of-the-dnc/; Greg Sargent, “The DNC needs to restore Bernie Sanders’ access to voter data — fast,” Washington Post, December 18, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/12/18/the-dnc-needs-to-restore-bernie-sanders-access-to-voter-data-fast/; Megan R. Wilson, “DNC rolls back restrictions on lobbyist donations,” Hill, February 12, 2016, http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/269266-dnc-rolls-back-restrictions-on-lobbyist-donations; Caitlin Yilek, “Ex-Obama adviser: DNC ‘putting finger on scale’ for Hillary,” Hill, December 18, 2015, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263792-ex-obama-adviser-on-sanders-scandal-dnc-putting-finger-o
  7. [7]Wall Street Journal, “Bernie Sanders Gets No Respect,” March 27, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-gets-no-respect-1459117222
  8. [8]Tom Cahill, “Bernie Sanders Wins the Nevada Caucus After All,” U.S. Uncut, April 3, 2016, http://usuncut.com/politics/bernie-wins-nevada-democratic-caucus/
  9. [9]John Wagner, “A scrappy Sanders campaign narrows the Nevada delegate count six weeks after the caucuses,” Washington Post, April 3, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/03/a-scrappy-sanders-campaign-narrows-the-nevada-delegate-count-six-weeks-after-the-caucuses/
  10. [10]Tom Cahill, “Bernie Sanders Wins the Nevada Caucus After All,” U.S. Uncut, April 3, 2016, http://usuncut.com/politics/bernie-wins-nevada-democratic-caucus/
  11. [11]John Wagner, “A scrappy Sanders campaign narrows the Nevada delegate count six weeks after the caucuses,” Washington Post, April 3, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/03/a-scrappy-sanders-campaign-narrows-the-nevada-delegate-count-six-weeks-after-the-caucuses/
  12. [12]Emma Niles, “Arizona Secretary of State Confirms Election Fraud During Primary Vote,” Truthdig, April 1, 2016, http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/arizona_secretary_of_state_confirms_fraud_during_primary_vote_20160401
  13. [13]Stephanie Dube Dwilson, “Was There Election Fraud in Arizona? 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know,” Heavy, March 23, 2016, http://heavy.com/news/2016/03/arizona-election-voter-fraud-bernie-sanders-azelectionfraud-provisional-ballot-maricopa-registration-long-lines/
  14. [14]James Downie, “Hillary Clinton’s unbelievable defense of Wall Street contributions,” Washington Post, November 15, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/11/15/hillary-clintons-unbelievable-defense-of-wall-st-contributions/; New York Times, “Hillary Clinton Botches Wall Street Questions,” November 15, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/16/opinion/hillary-clinton-botches-wall-street-questions.html; Janell Ross, “Hillary Clinton invoked 9/11 to defend her ties to Wall Street. What?” Washington Post, November 15, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/15/hillary-clinton-invoked-911-to-defend-her-ties-to-wall-street-what/
  15. [15]Nicholas Confessore and Amy Chozick, “Wall Street Offers Clinton a Thorny Embrace,” New York Times, July 7, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/08wallst.html; Nick Confessore and Jason Horowitz, “Hillary Clinton’s Paid Speeches to Wall Street Animate Her Opponents,” New York Times, January 21, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/us/politics/in-race-defined-by-income-gap-hillary-clintons-wall-street-ties-incite-rivals.html; Matea Gold, Tom Hamburger, and Anu Narayanswamy, “Clinton blasts Wall Street, but still draws millions in contributions,” Washington Post, February 4, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-blasts-wall-street-but-still-draws-millions-in-contributions/2016/02/04/05e1be00-c9c2-11e5-ae11-57b6aeab993f_story.html; Patrick Healy, “Wall St. Ties Linger as Image Issue for Hillary Clinton,” New York Times, November 21, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/us/politics/wall-st-ties-linger-as-image-issue-for-hillary-clinton.html
  16. [16]Jill Abramson, “‘Hillary, can you excite us?’: The trouble with Clinton and young women,” Guardian, January 24, 2016, http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2016/jan/24/hillary-clinton-young-women-voters-jill-abramson; Dana Bolger, “Dear New York Times: The Real Reason Young Feminists Reject Hillary,” Feministing, December 17, 2015, http://feministing.com/2015/12/17/dear-new-york-times-the-real-reason-young-feminists-reject-hillary/;  Amy Chozick, “’90s Scandals Threaten to Erode Hillary Clinton’s Strength With Women,” New York Times, January 20, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/us/politics/90s-scandals-threaten-to-erode-hillary-clintons-strength-with-women.html; Amy Chozick and Yamiche Alcindor, “Moms and Daughters Debate Gender Factor in Hillary Clinton’s Bid,” New York Times, December 12, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/us/politics/moms-and-daughters-debate-gender-factor-in-hillary-clintons-bid.html; chrisgeary2016 [pseud.], “bell hooks, black feminist, can no longer be a Hillary supporter,” Daily Kos, March 12, 2016, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/3/12/1500212/-bell-hooks-black-feminist-can-no-longer-be-a-Hillary-supporter; Maureen Dowd, “When Hillary Clinton Killed Feminism,” New York Times, February 13, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/opinion/sunday/when-hillary-clinton-killed-feminism.html; Liza Featherstone, “Hillary Clinton’s Faux Feminism,” Truthout, February 28, 2016, http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/35006-hillary-clinton-s-faux-feminism; Alana Goodman, “The Hillary Tapes,” Washington Free Beacon, June 15, 2014, http://freebeacon.com/politics/the-hillary-tapes/; Evan Halper, “Why young feminists are choosing Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton,” Los Angeles Times, February 3, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-millennial-women-20160203-story.html; Zoë Heller, “Hillary & Women,” review of Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works, by Jay Newton-Small, and My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency, by Doug Henwood, New York Review of Books, April 7, 2016, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/04/07/hillary-women/; Kristina Keneally, “I can’t get excited about Hillary Clinton’s campaign – it lacks a raison d’être,” Guardian, February 2, 2016, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/03/i-cant-get-excited-about-hillary-clintons-campaign-it-lacks-a-raison-detre; Silpa Kovvali, “Bill, Hillary and the women: Should millennials care about Bill Clinton’s sex scandals?” Salon, January 8, 2016, http://www.salon.com/2016/01/08/bill_hillary_and_the_women_should_millennials_care_about_bill_clintons_sex_scandals/; Alan Rappeport, “Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright Scold Young Women Backing Bernie Sanders,” New York Times, February 7, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/us/politics/gloria-steinem-madeleine-albright-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders.html; Gail Sheehy, “The Women Who Should Love Hillary Clinton,” New York Times, January 29, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/opinion/campaign-stops/why-dont-boomer-women-like-hillary-clinton.html; Donna Smith, “An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton from One Progressive Woman,” Common Dreams, January 23, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/01/23/open-letter-hillary-clinton-one-progressive-woman; Karen Tumulty and Frances Stead Sellers, “For Hillary Clinton, old news or new troubles?” Washington Post, January 6, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-bill-clinton-scandal-machine-revs-up-and-takes-aim-at-his-wife/2016/01/06/a08cf550-b4be-11e5-a76a-0b5145e8679a_story.html; Jessica Valenti, “Hillary Clinton supporters: it is OK to care about gender on the ballot,” Guardian, January 15, 2016, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/15/go-ahead-and-vote-for-hillary-clinton-because-she-is-a-woman
  17. [17]Bill Curry, “It should be over for Hillary: Party elites and MSNBC can’t prop her up after Bernie’s Michigan miracle,” Salon, March 9, 2016, http://www.salon.com/2016/03/09/it_should_be_over_for_hillary_party_elites_and_msnbc_cant_prop_her_up_after_bernies_michigan_miracle/; Maureen Dowd, “When Hillary Clinton Killed Feminism,” New York Times, February 13, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/opinion/sunday/when-hillary-clinton-killed-feminism.html; Todd S. Purdum, “Hillary’s Double Game,” Politico, November 14, 2015, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/11/hillarys-double-game-213357; Jennifer Rubin, “Biden already appears to be sinking Clinton,” Washington Post, August 27, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/08/27/biden-already-appears-to-be-sinking-clinton/; Jennifer Rubin, “Hillary Clinton, blind to her own greed, makes another blunder,” Washington Post, February 4, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2016/02/04/hillary-clinton-blind-to-her-own-greed-makes-another-blunder/

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