Stephen Lendman
“Slick Willie”—the male part of the criminal duo. As usual, the Right hates him for all the wrong reasons. There are plenty of good reasons to despise him. (Image by DonkeyHotey.flickr)
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hey’re one of America’s notable crime families – Bill as president, Hillary as first lady, senator, secretary of state and now presidential aspirant.
Bill’s rap sheet includes:
- eight years as Wall Street’s man in Washington – facilitating casino capitalism more than ever before;
- NAFTA and the World Trade Organization – anti-democratic job and environmental-destroying coup d’etas;
- compromising vitally needed welfare aid;
- marketplace medicine managed competition Hillarycare – Obamacare’s precursor.
- responsibility with Bush I for ethnic Rwandan massacres;
- Iraq sanctions causing mass starvation, disease and 5,000 monthly Iraqi children deaths, according to former humanitarian relief coordinator Denis Halliday;
- Balkan wars and raping Yugoslavia;
- telecommunications deregulation facilitating unprecedented media consolidation;
- repeal of Glass-Steagall; and
- the Commodity Futures Modernization Act ending regulatory oversight over derivatives and leveraging;
- Hillary partnered in her husband’s crimes. She shamelessly self-promoted throughout her Washington years and since leaving government.
She’s unabashedly hawkish. Earlier articles called her a war goddess. In 1999, she urged Bill to bomb Belgrade. “What do we have NATO for if not to defend our way of life,” she blustered.
Straightaway post 9/11, she urged waging war on terror. She supported Bush and Obama’s worst crimes. She endorses nuclear weapons use. She calls them peacekeeping deterrents.
As a 2008 presidential aspirant, she told AIPAC convention participants America “stands with Israel now and forever.”
“I have a bedrock commitment to Israel’s security.” She repeatedly lies claiming Iran and Hamas call for Israel’s destruction. She threatened tens of millions of Iranians. She said as president, she’d “totally obliterate them (if they) consider(ed) launching an attack on Israel…” She wanted Gaddafi toppled. She urged genocidal war to eliminate him. She publicly gloated saying “(w)e came. We saw. He died.”
Ah…life is good. Who needs principles when you have the whore media to cover it all up?
She pushed for war on Syria to oust Assad. She represents the worst of America’s dark side. She favors police state harshness, corporate empowerment and permanent was. She deplores peace and stability. As president, she’ll likely wage greater war on humanity than Obama. She compares Russia to Nazi Germany. She lies claiming Putin’s aims are revanchist.
Earlier she said “his mission is to restore Russian greatness. When he looks at Ukraine, he sees a place that he believes is by its very nature part of Mother Russia.” She called him “a KGB agent. By definition, he doesn’t have a soul.”
“By definition,” she obsessively seeks unlimited wealth and power. In 2001, she, husband Bill and Chelsea founded the Clinton Foundation – a profit-making enterprise masquerading as an NGO. Promoting Big Lies about “improving global health, increasing opportunity for women and girls, reducing childhood obesity and preventable diseases, (and) creating economic opportunity and growth…” Ludicrously claiming it “keeps score by the lives that are saved or improved.” It’s an enterprise used to advance Hillary’s ambitions. The Wall Street Journal discussed it. On March 19, it headlined “Clinton Charity Tapped Foreign Friends.”
If anything, Hillary had more people fooled about her true nature than Bill. Ah those never-learning liberals!. They are now rallying behind a power-hungry, unprincipled corporatist whore. (Image by DonkeyHotey, flickr)
It “agreed not to seek donations from other governments, but (millions of dollars) kept flowing from individuals with connections to them.” A foundation disclosure explained. “Some donors have direct ties to foreign governments,” said the Journal.
They include a Saudi royal family member and a corrupt Ukrainian oligarch/former Kiev parliamentarian. “Others are individuals with close connections to foreign governments that stem from their business activities,” said the Journal.
Over a dozen foreign influence peddlers were large foundation donors – after Clinton became Secretary of State in 2009. Records show they contributed up to $68 million. Some donors directly funded foundation projects valued at around $60 million.
When Clinton left State, foreign government money was accepted. A large donation came “from a conglomerate run by a member of China’s National People’s Congress,” said the Journal. Foundation spokesman Craig Minassian fended off criticism saying:
“Like other global charities and nongovernmental organizations, the Clinton Foundation receives support from individuals all over the world because our programs are improving the lives of millions of people around the globe.”
From 1999 – 2014, foreign donations by country and amount included:
Ukraine: $10 million
England: $8.4 million
Saudi Arabia: $7.3 million
Germany: $6.7 million
Ireland: $6.5 million
India: $5.0 million
Canada: $4.5 million
Argentina: $2.0 million
United Arab Emirates: $1.4 million
China: $1.3 million
Greece: $1.1 million
Nigeria: $1.0 million
Bosnia: $1.0 million
France: $0.8 million
Sri Lanka: $0.7 million
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s a presidential aspirant, critics claim a potentially serious conflict of interest accepting millions of dollars from foreign governments she’d have direct dealings with if elected.
Federal law prohibits governments, corporations, individuals and groups from contributing to US political campaigns. Funding Clinton’s foundation buys influence. Precise amounts contributed aren’t known, said the Journal – because disclosure information excludes dates and reports dollar amounts in ranges.
“The Journal tracked donations through foundation disclosures, watchdog reports and other media accounts,” it said. From 2009 – 2013, Kiev-based Viktor Pinchuk Foundation contributed at least $8.6 million. His wife is former Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma’s daughter. He began contributing to Clinton “charities” in 2006. In 2008, he committed $29 million to the Clinton Global Initiative over a five-year period.
Funds were “to modernize Ukraine” – to train future Ukrainian leaders. To influence US policy. To promote coup d’etat change. Several Pinchuk alumni are Nazi parliamentarians. Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal made generous contributions. His chief of staff didn’t respond to Journal emails seeking information.
The Journal discussed other prominent donors – including anti-Chavez Venezuelan Venevision media mogul Gustavo Cisneros. Inquiries for more information on his donations went unanswered.
Millions donated to foundations, organizations or other initiatives run by political opportunists automatically raise red flags. Bill and Hillary Clinton capitalized hugely on their time in office. They’re both independently wealthy. They’re paid huge sums for public appearances, addresses, book deals and other opportunities afforded political celebrities.
Who said crime doesn’t pay?
[box] Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. [/box]
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