The Clinton campaign needs to take the accusations FBI Director James Comey levelled against Hillary Clinton off the table. That is, the Clinton campaign needs to provide a narrative to counter the one that Comey, Trump, and the right wing are pushing. Namely, that Hillary Clinton does not care about U.S. security requirements and is so careless she was willing to risk the lives of American servicemen for her on convenience. (See Hillary Needs Joe Biden to Refute James Comey’s Negative Opinions about Her.) Three points have become clear since Comey’s initial statement and subsequent appearances before Congress. First, Hillary Clinton did not send any emails correctly marked as classified (i.e., contrary to classification procedures, they were only marked with a “C” in the next and no header indicating classified material to follow); two or three emails were incorrectly marked as classified. Moreover, the two or three emails that were incorrectly marked as classified with a “C” in the text, were not classified and thus, should not have been marked as classified. Second, Clinton was following the recommendation of former Secretary of State Colin Powell to follow his practice and use private email for non-classified material. Although the State Department’s email system had improved enough by Secretary’s Clinton’s tenure so that private email was not required, Powell’s recommendation does explain, in part, why she used private email. Third, the experience State Department officials that sent Secretary Clinton emails that contained classified material did so after having chosen NOT to use the classified email system that all State Department officials, including Secretary Clinton, have access to and are supposed to use for classified material. Unless the Clinton campaign pushes an alternative narrative, Secretary Clinton will be handicapped if she chooses to hold a press conference because of the barrage of email questions she will face. Further, if a counter narrative is not pushed before the debates, Donald Trump will trumpet her email controversy as an all-purpose way of avoiding questions and a way of shifting attention from his own inadequacies. Just as the nine Benghazi reports clear Secretary Clinton and take that issue off the table, another email narrative is needed to take to take it off the table. |
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The Democratic National Convention (DNC) was more flexible, effective, and efficient than the Republican (RNC) Convention. It was more flexible because it touched on more themes, like American exceptionalism, that should play well with many voters. It was effective in validating Hillary Clinton, and it was efficient presenting several key themes: Americanism, patriotism, and the superficiality of the Republican theme of America is failing.
The lesson to take from a comparison between the two conventions is that first, Hillary’s team has a good sense of where the public is and have crafted compelling messages that can appeal to it. This shows that Hillary’s campaign has the ability to structure a winning campaign. The disarray of the RNC suggested no one was in charge; from the missteps following the convention, it is clear that no one was in charge.
In the last month long killers have been responsible for deaths in Orlando (49), Dallas (5), and Nice, France (84). While ISIS was not operationally responsible for these attacks, the Main Stream Media (MSM), with some corroboration from the authorities, have called them “ISIS inspired.” None of the attackers seemed to be particularly knowledgeable about ISIS, although the attackers in Orlando and Nice were from Muslim families and the Dallas attacker said he hated white people. What seems to especially raise concerns among authorities is the difficulty of identifying attackers who are not a part of any network and who cannot be infiltrated. By lumping these attacks together under the rubric of “lone wolf ISIS inspired terrorists” the MSM, including their paid consultants who provide color commentary, play into a more exciting narrative.
These attacks were certainly deadly, but not because they were “ISIS inspired” or carried out by “lone wolves.” The attack in Orlando, and possibly the Dallas attack, was deadly because of the availability of military style weapons. The attack in Nice was deadly because a vulnerable street was not secured with impenetrable barricades. Lone wolf attacks can be very deadly even though the attackers do not have help in planning and executing the attack, nor anyone to critique their operational plan. Nonetheless, attacks planned, resourced, and executed by trained terrorists are likely to be even deadlier. Since 9/11 there have been no such attacks in the U.S. due to the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement and the help provided by various civilian communities. From what we learned about the failed coup in Turkey, the military officers attempting it were so concerned about secrecy, they did not enlist help from most of the military, any of the political parties, or any of the other institutions that would be needed to pull off the coup. The need for secrecy is understandable, but if there are no allies that can be trusted to help out, then maybe a coup is a bad idea.
Now we hear that over 3,000 military officers and 2,445 judges have been arrested. The ability of 5,445 people to keep a secret on the one hand and yet fail to pull off the coup on the other hand is most surprising. Rumors have now started that the coup was staged by President Erdogan as a way of seizing more power in what has been a steady drive to accumulate power. There will be more to this story. |
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