The American Spectator

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Back to the Future

10.18.07 @ 12:01AM

RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE
Re: Quin Hillyer's Crooked Hillary:

Quin Hillyer has kicked it straight through the uprights again. All of Hillary Clinton's corrupt activities are going essentially unchallenged, and it is baffling. Once she is elected, there is no turning back. This is madness.
-- Cara Lyons Lege'
Frisco, Texas

Quin Hillyer's piece regarding skeletons in the Clinton closet is right on target. I would add one more scandal that really hasn't seen the light of day. It's told in the report of Special Counsel David M. Barrett.

Mr. Barrett's report deals with former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros's false statements to FBI investigators during his pre appointment background check. Equally important, it's also a report on abuses of the nation's taxing authority during the Clinton Administration. It details how the tax investigation of Cisneros was killed by transferring it out of channels to Washington where the Justice Department could write its epitaph. And there were additional problems relating to IRS records and tax returns. Interestingly, they arose at the same time the White House was requesting the FBI files on prominent Republicans. Think "Filegate." Margaret P. Richardson, IRS Commissioner at the time, was/is a close friend of Hillary Clinton and Cisneros.

In 2005, however, Democratic members of Congress effectively suppressed Barrett's report, resulting in a heavily redacted version being made public. They criticized the length of time required to complete the investigation -- this, despite the fact that Clinton attorneys were responsible for the major delays in issuing the report. Furthermore, their "concerns for privacy" were nothing more than political gambits. Moves to suppress the Barrett report were, in reality, the actions of justice-obstructing wolves dressed in the sheep's clothing of privacy concerns.

Consider the situation where a miner works all month in a bone-chilling Alaska stream panning for gold. By month's end he's accumulated a large leather poke stuffed with gold dust. Then, upon orders from Congress, he dumps the precious metal back into the river. Visualize a diamond miner spending a year digging far below the surface in a shaft where temperatures exceed 100 degrees. Congress gives him the "word" and he too, empties his bag of treasure -- right down the shaft. Then he dynamites the mine. "Throwing it back down the hole" is precisely what Democrats in Congress did with the Barrett report.

Someone in Congress, either a Democrat or a Republican, needs to reopen that mine, as there's more political treasure waiting to be found. After all, it's just a matter of knowing where to dig, whether one is seeking treasure -- or skeletons.
-- Stan Welli
Aurora, Illinois

Quin Hillyer replies:
Mr. Welli makes some great points. The suppression of the Barrett report was a travesty of justice. Where were the watchdog media on that, the ones who usually clamor for openness?

In the Clintons' pocket, that's where. Shame on them. And thanks to Mr. Welli.

RHODES CALLERS
Re: Shawn Macomber's Mugged by Unreality:

This incident brings us face-to-face with deranged paranoia fueled by irrational hatred. The fringe Left has never let the facts get in the way of fomenting contempt for their political enemies but these folks are really beginning to scare me. Now they assume that an unfortunate accident that befell one of their own had to be the result of some sinister conspiracy plot concocted by demented right-wingers? Anyone this delusional should be considered unstable and a threat to others. To think these people represent a well-financed and mobilized partisan voting bloc is indeed a chilling thought. Instead of being sedated and confined to rooms with padded walls, these individuals are free to enter voting booths to select leaders who share their paranoid vision for America. Even if were possible for them to exorcize the demon of conservatism, how would they contend with the problems in the world they wrought, one that contains only people like themselves? Who would they then blame for things that go wrong when supposedly there is no longer anyone left to hate or be suspicious of? If they truly believe that purging the world of all perceived threats to their ideology will lead to heaven on earth, they are crazier than I initially thought.
-- Rick Arand
Lee's Summit, Missouri

Shawn Macomber wrote a good article in "Mugged by Reality." I would only add two points to the liberal wish to matter: First, until this incident I did not even know who Randi Rhodes and Jon Elliott were -- although I think I have heard Rush mention Randi Rhodes before.

Second, when Air America went bankrupt, I did not know they remained on the air in New York. I guess being part of the vast right-wing conspiracy, I should be more aware of these little voices with great pretensions on the extreme left.
-- Jack A. Summers
Detroit, Michigan

Considering that a Hillary Clinton Administration would likely be drawn from a pool of such deranged, sick, hate-filled, devout believers, as presented by Shawn Macomber, "Mugged by Unreality" might become their de-facto motto.

Hillary would have to increase her reliance on her copy of the FBI files (remember them?) in an attempt to silence her critics through coercion and similar persuasion.

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