A Return To Letter Writing

Negotiations with Iran have long been a polarizing subject from all colors on the political spectrum. This has always seemed a little odd to me given the United States’ tenuous relationship with the country, the vile policies of their leadership, and their attempts to vilify and desire to destroy Israel. To this end, I would support the current nuclear negotiations with Iran if they would simply reverse every position that they have doggedly held on to for so long.

This was the driving force behind Netanyahu’s speech to Congress as Israel can’t afford, nor can the United States, to see Iran develop a nuclear arsenal. To think that this radical country would stick to any agreement let alone one so ill-conceived is naive at best. Believing that they will only use the development and technology for peaceful purposes is like saying Hillary only deleted private emails. It just doesn’t add up.

It was for this reason that Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) penned a letter to the Islamic Republic and why 46 other Senators joined him by signing the letter (the full text of the letter can be found on The Wall Street Journal blog). Contrary to many of the reports from “unbiased” news outlets, this was not an attack on the president nor was it a threat. The letter was a means to demonstrate the significant public opposition to the current negotiations. The current 10 year plan is one that won’t work, one that should not be supported, and if signed, one that should be overturned as quickly as possible to limit the fallout.

With that said, the means by with this message was presented may not have been the best decision. But, again, this is not a means to offend or undermine, it is a way to ensure that the opposition is heard loud and clear. Frankly, it is one of the more transparent actions that I can remember seeing come out of Washington. There was no doubt as to who signed the letter.

The subsequent twisting of the words and assumption of motive is what the public should be up in arms about. That and the idea that there are too many who are placing their trust in the untrustworthy, crossing their fingers, and hoping that there is some semblance honest in the empty promises of a murderous republic. That is simply a stance that I cannot support, Israel does not support, many in the military and intelligence communities do not support, and at least 47 politicians in Washington do not support.

Did You Get My Emails?

Blackberry included. Order yours today!

Every once in a while I will run into issues with my work and lodge email accounts. It happens to everyone. Most of the time it is a quick fix or I am able to step away from the screen for a few minutes while the computer reboots. This is the simplest solution and usually it works. However, there have been times when I have lost access for a day or two (usually on the antiquated lodge system) which is frustrating but there are ways to work around it as I have most of the contacts loaded into my personal email and so I am able to maintain productivity even without direct access. So long as I CC the main account, I don’t have any problems keeping accurate records.

While I can’t say for certain, this seems to be the generally accepted practice in the business world. It might even be acceptable at government agencies but, again, I can’t say for certain. This is what has made the recent news from the former Secretary of State so baffling. Every person that I know in the corporate world would have been fired for using their personal email without backing it up to the company server/email. It is simply a matter of accountability and maintaining an accurate record of all communications/records. Heck, there is even an entire legal subset of specialists focusing on e-discovery for just this reason. A former client, Evidox, comes to mind in this instance.

Maintaining an accurate communications record is what allows a company, or in this instance a government department, to ensure transparency. That idea sounds familiar doesn’t it? While the President may not have noticed the odd address, hdr22@clintonemail.com, and found out about this whole debacle “like the rest of us: through news reports this past week” it still calls into question the bar that has been set in this administration. And this hasn’t been the first time that the concept of transparency has been questioned.

While it may not have solved the problem or answered all the questions, turning over the entirety of her email archive would have at least been a step in the right direction. After all, as was reported in The Christian Science Monitor, “Once the controversy became known, Clinton tweeted: “I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible.””

However, this is not going to be the case as the records are incomplete to say the least as emails have been deleted and physical prints provided rather than electronic copies making the search-ability of the existing correspondences cumbersome and laborious at best. From the same article:  

The problem is, that review could take weeks or months. Those e-mails total 55,000 pages, and as Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post wrote the other day, “Those are the e-mails that Clintonworld decided should be turned over…. not exactly the classic definition of transparency.”

So now we wait to see what is there and what no longer exists in the records provided… I’m pretty sure she deleted the limited emails from her husband (now his would be an interesting account to look at). I guess we will never know all the details of her workout routines, whether or not she is secret pen pals with Monica Lewinsky, if she really approved of her daughter’s groom, or if she originally thought that Benghazi was a Japanese art form rather than a giant situation best described as FUBAR. I’m pretty sure all of those emails are long gone.

Keep Your Debts To Yourself!

Well, with her new book being released, it should be no surprise that Hillary Clinton was in the news again this week. Something else that should not be surprising is that fact that, once again, she is backpedaling to ‘clarify’ the statements that she gave to Diane Sawyer. One thing that you have to keep in mind when this happens is the fact that it is more than likely that all of the questions that she was asked were vetted and responses rehearsed for weeks prior to the two women sitting down for their conversation.

I am sure you have either watched, read, or listened to Mrs. Clinton expounding upon her hardships upon leaving the White House in January 2001 with particular focus on the financial ‘struggles’ that the Clintons’ faced reentering private life. As was reported by CNN, “Mrs. Clinton said she and former President Bill Clinton were "dead broke" and "struggled to piece together the resources" for mortgages in pricey Washington and the New York suburbs and their daughter Chelsea's tuition at prestigious Stanford University.” Yeah, even CNN is calling BS on this one.



Be careful what you say, your face might freeze that way!

I know, it must have been hard struggling to find some means of gainful employment so they could keep paying their mortgages, resolve their debts, and scrape together the pennies to cover Chelsea’s college tuition. Obviously, she had no other choice but to take advantage of the bountiful ‘limited’ opportunities at hand. She didn’t really want to but she had to force herself to make millions of dollars in speaking fees. How else was she going to pay off her millions in debt, keep current on her mortgages, and pay for her daughter’s schooling? It’s not like she could simply move to another state and swipe a Senate seat.

Maybe if Chelsea were in college now Hillary may not have had to work so hard to pay for her college tuition. It seems as though this administration wants everyone to have a college degree that they don’t have to pay for, at least not at full price. Now, I agree that higher education has become outrageously expensive and I am always for getting a discount but I am offended that we, as taxpayers, are going to have to pay for that discount. Where did you think that money was going to come from? If you are going to offer money for education we should, at the very least, give the funds to people that have earned that money and funnel the additional funds into the GI Bill. Oh wait, that's right, you already screwed up the VA.

I don’t know about you but I already have plenty of personal debt that I am trying to pay down without taking on someone else’s burden. I struggle every month to find that little extra so that we can make progress. Slowly we are inching closer and closer solvency but every time a new tax (which is what this whole scheme will end up being) that is a little less each month that I can apply toward solvency. So stop telling me how hard you had it trying to make payments on your numerous homes and the struggles you faced when you were forced to earn millions talking to the mindless throngs of sheep. And, most importantly, stop spending my money on things that don’t make any darn sense and are an insult to financial responsibility.