Archliberal Opinion Columnist Eugene Robinson: Hillary Should Stop Insulting Our Intelligence and Apologize For Deliberately Hiding Her Emails

Now he throws in a fair amount of sympathy for the Devil, but his conclusion is a tough one, especially from such a reliably Democrat hack.

It’s about basic respect -- for us and for the truth.

...

So I wish Hillary Clinton would be respectful enough to say, "I'm sorry. I was wrong." I wish she wouldn’t insult our intelligence by claiming she only did what other secretaries of state had done. None of her predecessors, after all, went to the trouble and expense of a private e-mail server.

I wish she would explain why, after turning over to the State Department the e-mails she deemed work-related, she had the server professionally wiped clean. The explanation that she didn’t want people prying into private matters such as "planning for [daughter] Chelsea's wedding . . . as well as yoga routines, family vacations, the other things you typically find in inboxes" is unconvincing. Does she have some secret yoga move she doesn't want the world to know about?

Hillary Clinton Secret Yoga Move?

Two words: Shud. Der.

Related: Leftwingers at the UK rag The Guardian are turning on Hillary, too.

This woman is calling for more than an apology; she says Hillary Clinton should withdraw from the race.

Reality must be looked in the eye. Clinton is a hugely divisive figure, including within her own party -- and not primarily because she is a woman....

Clinton's chief liability... is the baggage she carries of her own. This includes the matter of that private email account she is claimed to have used professionally while secretary of state, and her handling of the murder of the US ambassador in Libya. The latter suggests a reluctance to accept ultimate responsibility, which is not a good recommendation for a president. The former suggests confusion about where to draw the line between the personal and the professional -- a line more clearly drawn in US politics than here. Her explanations ---– most recently to reporters in Iowa, where she talked about "convenience" that turned out "to be not so convenient" -- remain unsatisfactory and high-handed.

Most unfair of all is the health question. In her last weeks as secretary of state, Clinton spent a few days in hospital being treated for a blood clot, the prognosis being a complete recovery. When she first mooted running again for the presidency, however, George Bush’s former attack-dog, Karl Rove, cited that incident to sow doubt about her health. He was criticised even by fellow Republicans at the time, but presidential campaigns are ruthless. If she wins the nomination, the health issue will not be off limits.

At the piece's end, she asks that Hillary withdraw with some dignity intact.

I question the premise of that last suggestion.

posted by Ace at 03:31 PM

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