Hate on Hillary, but she's right about Trump
By Joan Vennochi GLOBE COLUMNIST SEPTEMBER 11, 2017
Someday, Hillary Clinton will be remembered with respect as a smart, driven, and remarkably resilient woman who made history — but not as much as she wanted to make.
That time hasn’t come. She’s still a polarizing loser, who can’t get any more love in defeat than she did as the winner of the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election.
So don’t love her. But don’t settle for a less than full reckoning of what happened to her either. Like all candidates, she made mistakes. But she also lost because of Russian interference; because of how James Comey handled the FBI investigation into her use of a private e-mail server; and because a dishonest and unscrupulous opponent, bolstered by a click-hungry media, painted a picture of “Crooked Hillary” that played on the fears and biases of an angry electorate.
Clinton’s “Sunday Morning” interview with anchor Jane Pauley reinforces her dilemma. No matter what she says about her own responsibility for the devastating loss to Donald Trump, nuggets like this get all the attention: She was so confident of victory, she and Bill Clinton bought a second home in Chappaqua, N.Y., in September 2016, to accommodate a White House staff during presidential retreats. Instead, it’s where she retreated to write her memoir, “What Happened.”
Clinton, of course, gets no credit for candor for disclosing this painful testament to presumption and hubris, just scorn for counting her Electoral College chickens before they were hatched. Meanwhile, unchained bluster, among other unsavory characteristics, propelled Trump to the White House. And narcissism rooted in disturbing ignorance continues to define his presidency. But pointing out that double standard when it comes to judging them isn’t going to change anyone’s mind about Clinton.
Her book was mocked before its official release, naturally by Trump. Just hours after returning to Washington from Hurricane Harvey-ravaged Texas, the president retweeted a meme showing the cover of Clinton’s book and, next to it, a book with the same design, with the words “I Happened” over his picture.
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http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/09/11/hillary-clinton-isn-getting-her-due/6SfWinmusawtreAJVpSDPK/story.html
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