Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Not all the Nuts are in the Nuthouse:  “Unattributable”

by Charles W. Fairbanks

In one fell swoop, the admittedly boozy bloggers at “Unattributable” have taken a potshot at Free Republic, the Men for Palin AND at the Men for Palin web guru.  Do we relish irony?  I hope so!  Are we ignorant?  Blissfully so!  But neither our ignorance nor our sense of irony has a darn thing to do with whether Bill creates conflicts of interest for Hillary.  And without saying it, “Unattributable is implying that the Candidate of Change is actually shares this conflict with both Presidents Bush.

Who says all the nuts are in the nuthouse?  The mere existence of the bloggers at “Unattributable” proves that they are not.  The liquored libs at “Unattributable” honored MFP and their web guru (Villagewerx) today.  Who are “Unattributable”?  Well, they are Constance and Prudence Dogood.  While the gender of their noms de plum and much of the website’s nomenclature would suggest that two women were behind the website, any Nicholas Cage fan or U.S. History 101 student might conclude otherwise.

The gossipy pair pay homage to their literary ancestor, Silence Dogood.  Anybody who paid attention in history class or who has seen “National Treasure” knows that Constance Dogood was the screen name for that colonial blogger, Ben Franklin.  So these two may well be men.

But I digress.

The thesis of the article that TheTruthSquad posted on Free Republic was that Bill Clinton’s financial dealings would create a conflict of interest for a Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Not a novel idea, that one.  Senator Obama himself raised the issue during presidential debates, and according to news reports, his advisors are concerned about the issue now.  The issue is spreading like prairie fire across the news media and the internet.

Who knows the Clintons better than anyone?  No, not Dick Morris!  Jim Carville, of course.  Carville chimed in:  “These are issues that I’m sure are being discussed, and they will have to be worked out, and it’s legitimate to ask these questions . . . “ (CNN, November 18, 2008) Unlike Morris, Carville has not defected, and is no GOP shill; this must be an issue within The Party of the Chosen One.

The foreign media seems to be more concerned than the MSM.  The Economic Times of India reports:  “Two officials with Obama’s transition team said they were investigating Bill Clinton’s finances and post-presidential dealings. As part of the early vetting process, the team is looking for any negative information that could throw the prospect of Hillary as Secretary of State into jeopardy.” (Economic TImes, India, November 18, 2008)

But, hey, President-elect Obama has a new kind of intelligence.  He can come up with new solutions.  According to “The Scotsman”:  “ . . . party insiders say they expect an accommodation will be reached, under which Mr Clinton agrees to accept no more cash from donors without prior approval, if his wife is given the coveted post. He may also remove himself from the fundraising side of his charitable Clinton Global Initiative organisation.” (Scotsman, November 18, 2008) Oh, I get it.  Any foreign agent who wanted to get West Wing attention would suggest a donation to the Clinton Foundation.  That proposed donation would have to be vetted in the West Wing.  Bingo!  The conflict of interest goes straight to the top!

So, here it is, at last:  Real change!  Wait, hold the phone, “Unattributable” points out that the Bill and Hillary conflicts-of-interest are nothing new.  President George H.W. Bush (number 41) raised money for his library from similar sources in the Middle East.  Hey “Unattributable” do we understand you correctly:  The candidate who wanted voters to vote against a third Bush Administration is taking on the same baggage that helped drive Bush foreign policy?

I may be a knuckle-dragging conservative who bitterly clings to my guns and my Bible, but I have asked one of my smart liberal friends, and she said that that was mighty ironic.