Unpredictable times

INEVITABLY, Donald Trump says the FBI’s exoneration of Hillary Clinton over the use of an insecure email system for top secret messages, is an establishment fix. He may be well be right but then the US political elite, still reeling from Trump’s seemingly unstoppable rise, simply cannot afford to lose Clinton as the presidential candidate who will ensure “business as usual” within the Washington beltway. Clinton’s use of the private email address was, according to her, a matter of convenience. She wanted to be able to work from a single device rather than have to work across several different phones or tablets. She also said that she did not knowingly write any security sensitive emails. The FBI investigation however confirmed that she had indeed sent several mails dealing with top secret or secret issues. Clinton was clearly in a good mood when she shared a platform on Tuesday with Barack Obama after news broke that the FBI had found no criminality in her behavior. But unfortunately the Feds’ investigation is not really the big problem. This extraordinary failure to follow security procedure by a seasoned politician who lived in the White House for eight years, demonstrates a very serious lack of judgment. Meanwhile her initial denial that there had been any classified mails, later adjusted to the protest that she did not knowingly send any classified material, underlines her unreliability when it comes to the facts. Clinton also looks to have walked away from the other major threat to her White House bid — the 2012 murder of US ambassador Chris Steven and three other Americans in the Benghazi consulate. As Secretary of State, Clinton had the power to tighten security for US diplomats in Libya. Indeed the very day before his murder, Steven had sent the last in a series of signals to Washington repeating his rising concerns. In the shock that followed the savage murder of the Americans, Clinton said nobly that the buck stopped with her and there should be a full investigation into the tragedy. But thereafter, she has managed to distance herself further and further from any responsibility. Indeed among the no-less than seven separate enquiries, the blame has been largely placed on Washington bureaucrats who failed to heed all the warnings of sharply increased risks. After the conventions, when the campaign proper begins, it can be expected that the Trump people will dredge Hillary’s past for more dirt. The bribery scandal surrounding failed Whitewater Development Corporation in which Bill and Hillary Clinton were partners has been played out. Trump by contrast has a colorful business past which is likely to face even greater scrutiny. Voters know that Clinton is all politician, as trustworthy as any political animal who has climbed the greasy pole almost to the top. Trump by contrast is all loud mouth. His initial assault on America’s self-imposed political correctness was startling and even refreshing but the racist bigotry that later emerged soiled and poisoned his campaign. The pundits are quietly predicting that since Trump has made himself unelectable for all but the most ignorant gun-crazed Rednecks, US voters will stick with what they know, will vote for the establishment, even if Clinton herself is not particularly appealing. But these are not predictable times. The pundits were also quietly forecasting that despite their misgivings about Brussels bureaucracy, the Brits would vote with the establishment and stay in the EU.