Hillary (2)

OK, full disclosure: I do not like Hillary Clinton. Actually, I think the Clintons are sociopaths. Literally. Both of them.

Of course, I could be wrong. I am fully aware that most of what I believe is the result of deliberate propaganda. Just like most of what you believe.

That is why I look for stories that I can evaluate based on my own direct, personal knowledge. In that spirit, from all the wonderful Clinton stories over the years, I want to discuss just two.

The first is the cattle futures incident. I am sufficiently familiar with markets to know that there is only one way to turn $1,000 into $100,000 over ten months of trading cattle futures, which is illegally. I do not know why someone wanted to transfer $100,000 under the table to the wife of the governor of Arkansas; I just know that is what happened. This is not propaganda. This is not partisanship. This is mathematics.

You can argue the late 70s was a long time ago. Certainly, the relevant statutes of limitations have long since expired. But she never admitted any wrongdoing. That makes this an ongoing lie, which makes it current and therefore relevant.

The second story, naturally, is the Email server. I know quite a lot about Email servers. For example, I could code one. And the operating system on which it runs. And design the hardware. Anyway, I know there is only one reason a sitting cabinet official routes all of her electronic communications through a server in her basement, which is to keep them away from people with legal authority to view them (e.g. law enforcement or the Judicial branch). And I know that any claim to the contrary — such as “it was a matter of convenience” — is a lie.

I really do love this story because my personal knowledge in this area is orders of magnitude greater than any journalist’s. So whenever I read an article about Hillary’s email server, I do not learn anything about Hillary’s email server; I learn something about the author of the article. For example, when I read someone calling it a “personal Email account” rather than a “personal Email server”, or comparing it to Colin Powell’s AOL account or whatever, I know I am reading a partisan hack making a lame attempt to deceive stupid people. (Or just a really stupid journalist. It can be hard to tell the difference.)

The Hillary campaign says her arrangement was allowed by the rules at the time. That might or might not be true; with the Clintons, you never know. But assuming it is true, that is only because the rules at the time did not contemplate something so ridiculous as a sitting cabinet official routing all of her electronic communications through a server in her basement.

Which brings us to the felonies. Classified data is another area where I actually know something. Dating myself a bit, once upon a time I internalized the Orange Book and several of its interpretations. I know all about mandatory access controls and covert channel analysis and formal verification methods… In short, I am very familiar with the difference between the kind of system that processes classified information and the kind of system you get when you ask some pathetic I.T. monkey to set up an Exchange server in your basement.

I am not a lawyer. But I do know that there is only one way for top secret codeword information to migrate from an authorized to an unauthorized system, which is illegally. Based on facts already published, I know that someone, somewhere committed a felony. I do not know exactly who, or exactly which felony, because there is more than one possibility. (My own suspicions would start with Huma Danger, née Abedin.) But I am 100% certain that someone committed a crime.

I do not expect anyone to be held accountable, of course, since in our system we are all very much unequal under the law. These crimes will never approach indictment. The generous explanation is that there is a difference between proving some felony occurred and convincing a jury that a specific person committed a specific felony. The realistic explanation is that the Obama administration does not prosecute its friends.

She will be the nominee and most likely President. Tens of millions in financial sector donations buys a lot of hack journalism, and the fix is in. More on that in another installment, perhaps. Although I might need to get drunk first.