Mediaboss Marketing

Hillary Clinton says her newly launched political groupOnward Together takes its name from an old African proverb thats displayed prominently on the groups site: If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

But while Hillary may think shes enough of a liberal icon, schooled in diversity and adept at feeling the pain of disenfranchised minorities that shes allowed to pull freely from their historical wisdom,her followers dont feel the same way.

Using African sayings, is, of course, cultural appropriation, and Twitters social justice warriors were quick to pounce on Clintons faux worldliness.

But worse still, its not even clear the quote is actually an African proverb.

Both Clinton and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker have used the quote before, and actual experts on African history have stepped in to correct them. They note that while the conventional wisdom is that itoriginated somewhere on the continent, its not wholly accurate to call the quote a proverband its kind of weird to make assumptions about its history.

If someone starts an aphorism with theres an African saying, its probably a mythical quote misattributed to a whole continent, one social media user pointed out toNPR.

In other words, these types of quotes are a great way for progressives to depict precisely how in touch with their roots, and the marginalized and oppressed of the world they really are.

This particular quote may be a prime example. According to a history of the quote compiled byJezebel when Hillary Clinton used it the first time on the campaign trail, Clintons African proverb may have been made up by the whitest of all white men, Al Gore.

It appears in a few works of literature, but almost uniformly fiction books by white writers. Otherwise, it mysteriously appears on quote pagesbut mostly bysuccessful white businessmen, tech-types, and CEOs of socially conscious companies like TOMs (who, in turn, usually attribute it to being a mysterious, age-old African saying).

There are also an awful lot of artistic pull quotes with this particular proverb on it floating around Instagram and Tumblr, havens for educated, white social justice warriors.

Instead of making her look like shes off to represent the people, the quote makes Hillary Clinton looks a little like a fake.

View post:
Hillary Clinton in Trouble for Using Fake 'African Proverb' on Her New Website - Heat Street

Editor's note: The following column originally appeared in The Hill newspaper and on TheHill.com.

When will Republicans drop the partisan games and apologize toHillary Clinton?

If the election had been on October 27, I would be your president, Clinton declared at a forum in New York City earlier this month.

Those words led Republicans to mock Clinton for refusing to accept responsibility for running a bad campaign that ended in defeat.

But Clinton then got backing of a kind from the man who beat her, President Trump.

The president fired FBI director James Comey last week, ostensibly for violating policy when, despite clearing Clinton of any crime, he still went on national television last summer to condemn her as a careless public official.

At that July 2016 press conference, Comey defamed Clinton to the point that Republicans criticized him for not recommending that she be charged with a crime.

Comeys impact on the campaign grew larger when, just 11 days before the November election, he sent a letter to Congress announcing that the FBI was reopening the investigation into Clintons use of a private email address and server.

Nothing came of the last-minute investigation, just as no charges resulted from the first investigation. But with Trump campaign surrogates, including retired Gen. Michael Flynn, shouting lock her up, Republicans and a supplicant press made a big issue out of the controversy.

How times change.

Last week Trump agreed with a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein which flatly stated that it is not possible to defend the directors handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clintons e-mails.

That memo was released a week after Comey gave testimony to Congress in which he wrongly claimed hundreds and thousands of emails, had been forwarded by Clinton aide Huma Abedin to her husbands non-secure computer.

In fact, most of the Clinton emails found on the non-government computer occurred as a result of a backup of personal electronic devices, according to the FBI. And only two email chains of classified information had been mistakenly sent to the private computer.

Trump found it convenient to use Comeys errors to get rid of the leader of the agency investigating charges that his campaign had treasonous ties to Russia.

But whatever the reason, Trump stood with Clinton at least for a while. In an interview broadcast Saturday with my Fox News Channel colleague Jeanine Pirro, Trump reverted to his earlier insistence that Comeygave Clinton "a free pass like nobody's ever, ever gotten a free pass."

Clinton, meanwhile, is refuting Republican claims that Russian interference did not swing votes to Trump.

I was on the way to winning until the combination of Jim Comeys letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off and the evidence for that intervening event is, I think, compelling and persuasive, Clinton explained at the New York forum.

She specifically pointed to data coming from pollster Nate Silver. On his website FiveThirtyEight.com, Silver later noted that Comeys letter does not excuse every bad decision made by the Clinton campaign.

But Silver concluded: Hillary Clinton would probably be president if FBI Director James Comey had notsent a letter to Congresson Oct. 28.

Silvers breakdown shows that Comeys letter hurt Clintons chances of victory in swing states key to winning the Electoral College such as Wisconsin and Michigan. Clinton lost in each of those states by less than one percentage point.

And keep in mind while Comey was maligning Clinton, he never mentioned the FBIs investigation into the Trump campaign.

But Republicans still refuse to accept the reality that Russia, a hostile foreign power, played a major role in electing Trump.

Comeys sudden dismissal is now part of a fire that threatens to burn down the GOPs House majority next year.

The firing came one day after Sally Yates, the former acting Attorney General, told the Senate she warned the White House Counsel about former National Security Adviser Flynns ties to Russia weeks before he was fired.Yates, too, was fired by Trump.

How quickly will Capitol Hill Republicans abandon their Republican president in order to save themselves before they are fired by voters?

The flight is beginning.

"I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey's termination," said Senate Intelligence Committee ChairmanRichard Burr(R-N.C.).

Comeys removal at this particular time will raise questions," Senate Foreign Relations Committee ChairmanBob Corker(R-Tenn.) said.

Senate Armed Services Committee ChairmanJohn McCain, (R-Ariz.), who had previously called for an independent special prosecutor, expressed regret at Comeys firing.

All this comes at a time when a full 58 percent of Americans disapprove of Trumps job performance, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.

But it makes no sense to run slowly from an inferno. This conflagration is threatening to burn every Republican on the ballot in 2018.

The President's firing of Director Comey is a smoke signal. And where there's smoke, there's fire. And this is a bonfire, tweeted Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.).

How far will the fire have to spread before Republicans decide it is every GOP candidate for himself or herself whatever the consequences for Trump?

Juan Williams currently serves as a co-host of FOX News Channel's (FNC) "The Five" (weekdays, 9-10PM/ET) and also appears as a political analyst on "FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace" and "Special Report with Bret Baier."

See the rest here:
When will Republicans apologize to Hillary Clinton? - Fox News

Former first lady Laura Bush joined a push this week for the addition of a women's history museum on the National Mall.

Speaking at the annual Women Making History Awards gala on Tuesday night, Bush said being honored at the event highlighted the need to redouble our efforts to make sure theres a womens museum right here in our country, The Washington Post reported.

"It's really important to have a museum that focuses on women because half of the population is left out from American history," Bush said. "We need to figure out how we can encourage women to run for office and to run for president."

Bush was honored at the ceremony for advocacy work and contributions to inspiring women.

Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonTrump denies influencing FBI investigation Gowdy front-runner to be next Oversight chairman Poll: Majority believe Trump fired Comey to hinder Russia investigation MORE also paid tribute to Bush in a video featured at the event and reiterated a call for a museum in the nations capitol dedicated to women.

"I look forward to the day when both my granddaughter and grandson can visit the National Women's History Museum and come away feeling a little braver, walking a little taller, knowing they stand on the shoulders of generations of history makers and trailblazers."

The National Womens History Museum, which sponsored the gala, has spent two decades working to find a physical space on the mall.

The museum, which was founded in 1996, currently raises awareness and honors womens diverse experiences and achievements through its dynamic online museum, educational programs, scholarship and research, according to its website.

Once housed prominently among the other great museums of Washington, D.C., it will create better understanding and greater partnerships among men and women.

The website notes that the museum, which is currently privately funded, will plan to apply for affiliation with the Smithsonian once it has a physical building.

View original post here:
Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton push for women's history museum in DC - The Hill

Taking Selina out of the White House is a wise move on showrunner David Mandels part, though perhaps as disappointing to some viewers as it is to Selina herself. When Veep premiered in 2012, critics hailed it as a mordant satire that was, if anything, just a bit too broad and nihilistic to adequately reflect the complexity of American politics. Along with shows like House of Cards, its appeal lay in identifying the Washington archetypes of our time, however crudely sketched. Veep, Carina Chocano wrote in The New York Times, captured our post-Reagan, post-Clinton, post-Bush, 24-hour tabloid news and internet-haterade dystopia.

Like its creator Armando Iannuccis previous comedies The Thick of It and In the Loop, Veep painted a grim world where no one ever accomplished anything, where all power was illusory, where every promise of progress was used cynically to manipulate voters or (worse) was rendered impossible to execute by a hopeless political system. We all know the White House would work so much better if there wasnt a president, Ben Cafferty (Kevin Dunn), the White House chief of staff, wearily reminds Selina in season two. But there is, so we work around that.

While this sensibility proved a rich seam for satire in the Obama years, White House politics as usual have now yielded to something altogether more chaotic. With the real-world targets of Veeps first five seasons ushered off the stage, the show reckons with the disappointed personal ambitions of those who surrounded Meyer. Her staffers are all dramatically worse off than they were when we saw them last, forced to weather the kind of disorder and humiliation that generates the most riveting character drama. Amy (Anna Chlumsky) is managing a gubernatorial campaign for her Nevadan fianc, for whom she exhibits almost as much open contempt as she does for his constituents; Dan (Reid Scott) is co-hosting a CBS morning show, limited to terrorizing his rivals through puff pieces instead of attack ads; Ben is hired, then quickly ousted, by the millennials at Uber. But there is good news for the Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons) fans out there: Jonah, who began the series as a powerless underling, is now a freshman congressmanthe sole political survivor of the Meyer era.

In the year since she left office, Selina herself has spent some time at the spa (a Meyerism for a psychiatric facility), launched an obligatory foundation, and started work on her memoir. Only her body man, Gary (Tony Hale), and former Ryan staffer Richard Splett (Sam Richardson) remain by her sidethe two Fools left to care for their exiled Lear. They do their best, which doesnt count for much, because all Selina really wants is to be president again. Before the season premiere is over, she announces her plans for another run, then scraps them just as quickly. One thing seems certain as we embark on Veeps sixth season: Selina Meyer will remain, at least for now, a private citizen.

Which leaves us to confront what is, by now, the only reason for watching the show: not to spy on the imagined (and authentically filthy) inner workings of our nations capital, but to follow the characters and relationships we already know so well. In this shift, Veep reminds us that it has always been about the human fears and anxieties and desires that are the smallest but most recognizable unit of any political system. Relieved of its original, insidery focus, Veep feels not like it has drifted away from its center, but as though it has stripped away everything but its core.

Read this article:
Selina Meyer, Hillary Clinton, and Life After Political Defeat - New Republic

As the Justice Department puts it, former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been tasked to oversee the previously-confirmed FBI investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters.

No effort should be spared in getting to the bottom of what actually occurred, and whether Russia presently seeks to interfere with our political process.

Unlike the inferences that have been made about President Trump and his campaign, many of which rely on rumor, innuendo, conspiracy theories and deliberate falsehoods, the Clintons extensive relationship with Russian interests has been documented and reported by some of the nations leading journalists.

For instance, an article in the April 23, 2015 New York Times by Jo Becker and Mike McIntire is titled, Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal. The headline says it all.

While these reporters produced a very detailed and important story, they lacked subpoena power and the investigative resources of the FBI.

In his statement announcing Muellers appointment, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein stated, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command.

It is this very chain of command that has prevented a review of potential criminality by the Clintons and their associates, and may well have compromised the security of the United States.

As originally reported in the October 24, 2016 Wall Street Journal, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, now acting FBI director, has significant political and financial ties to the Clintons through his wife.

The actions of then-FBI Director James Comey, then McCabes boss, provide even more reasons to question the impartiality of the FBI.

Comey sought to exonerate Hillary Clinton on the possible mishandling of classified material during the heat of a presidential campaign. I can think of no other similar instance in the history of the FBI where it provided such a service to a political candidate.

Although he was not a prosecutor, and it was not his decision, Comey suggested that to prosecute Hillary Clinton would be to unfairly single her out. From his statement at the time:

All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice. We do not see those things here.

In other words, context is important. Yet Comey totally ignored the context of the emails. The Clintons appear to have operated an aggressive shakedown operation of domestic and foreign interests, including Russian, many of which are unsavory and criminal. Concealing the true nature of the operation was at least part of the motivation for maintaining a private email server, which Comey surely realized but chose not to investigate.

Of course, further up the chain of command was Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who was also compromised. Her infamous tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton not only underscored her poor judgment, but more consequentially, her bias and lack of independence.

Before he was even sworn in as president, Donald TrumpDonald TrumpRNC chair: Comey would have reported it if Trump crossed a line Johnny Depp: I'd take over 'SNL's' Trump impersonation Warren: I would 'absolutely' support impeachment if Comey memo is true MORE announced on November 22, 2016 that his administration would not prosecute Hillary Clinton, making it a political decision rather than a law enforcement decision, which it should have been, based on evidence and a full review by the new attorney general.

The Clintons have been extraordinarily lucky, benefitting from political decisions by both Democrats and Republicans. In addition, various media accounts describe Mueller and Comey as friends, and there is also the danger that Mueller will extend to Comey some form of professional courtesy from one former FBI director to another.

Mueller has an opportunity to rise above all this and conduct an independent, thorough and fair investigation of Russian influence in our elections. To be taken seriously, it must include the Russian relationship with the Clintons.

Peter Flaherty is president of the National Legal and Policy Center.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

See the original post here:
Mueller shouldn't forget to investigate Clinton's Russia ties during Trump probe - The Hill (blog)