And, trust me, I'll get there soon enough.
Even lighter-level news junkies know that President Trump's former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Tom Price, resigned from that position last week after it came to light he was engaged in tens of thousands of dollars of private charter jet flights, on the taxpayer dime, rather than flying commercial.
More serious political junkies —
And now, the inspector general for the Department of Interior is investigating Secretary Ryan Zinke for a few questionable flights, one in particular.
And NOW, the Treasury's IG is investigating the flight pattern of Eli Miller, chief of staff to Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
Update: Energy Secretary Rick Perry and staff are now in the crosshairs. Maybe Tricky Ricky needs timely back pain meds, so much fly noncommercial for that reason?
OK, we're obviously on "I'll take 'unethical government air travel' for $500, Alex," territory.
And, for people who are nearly my age, if not older, and who are almost as much of political news junkies as me, perhaps your memory, and your sense of snarkiness, have both been stimulated ...
Back to the first of several Hillarygates in the Slickster Clinton White House.
I am, of course, talking about the White House travel office controversy.
The good old Travelgate.
Already long before her private email server, and her "interactions" vis-a-vis that server with former FBI head James Comey, she sounds just the same, per the Wiki link:
Hillary Clinton gradually came under scrutiny for allegedly having played a central role in the firings and making false statements about her involvement therein. In 2000, Independent Counsel Robert Ray issued his final report on Travelgate. He sought no charges against her, saying that while some of Clinton's statements were factually false, there was insufficient evidence that these statements were either knowingly false or that she understood that her statements led to the firings.
She hasn't changed a lick, has she?
That's pretty much exactly what Comey said when he initially closed his investigation a year ago, before Anthony Weiner's weiner got intermingled with "private" Clinton emails on Huma Abedin's cellphone. Remember his "extremely careless" statement, per Wiki's summation of THAT case?
(Speaking of, from last summer, about the time Comey had his initial wrap-up, the Guardian, no wingnut outlet by any means, did a round-up of all the Clinton "-gates." Some, like Gennifer Flowers, turned out to be unproven, if not unprovable, if simply not true. But, on the Bill Clinton "-gates," he had, er, left his pants down.)
(Speaking of, from last summer, about the time Comey had his initial wrap-up, the Guardian, no wingnut outlet by any means, did a round-up of all the Clinton "-gates." Some, like Gennifer Flowers, turned out to be unproven, if not unprovable, if simply not true. But, on the Bill Clinton "-gates," he had, er, left his pants down.)
And, oh the fun. Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and their possible grifting.
And the sadness. The beginnings of Vince Foster's eventually fatal tumble downhill.
And the pettiness. Like the Clintons appearing to throw first White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty under the bus.
And, the "big reveal." Yes, the phrase may be called sexist, but I've used it before. For the first time since they moved to DC, it was revealed that Hillary Clinton was the one who really wore the pants in the family. In turn, that's part of what animated her Tammy Wynette, I think. Standing by Bill was done in exchange for her relatively free hand on this, on Hillarycare and more.
And, as per the thread of this blog post, since it IS, ultimately, all about Hillary in the end, well, I've made it that way. Thank me later.
Hillary may have worn the pants, but Bill had the coat tails.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat, especially if those coat tails denote his general political skills.
ReplyDelete