The guy, listening to that iconic song by Sublime, turned up the radio as he sang — “Early in the morning, risin' to the street, Light me up that cigarette and I strap shoes on my feet, Got to find a reason, a reason things went wrong, Got to find a reason why my money's all gone”. Smiling as he got ready for the day, because today was the day. An aspiring musician who needed that extra oomph to get his name out, he thought he had “the plan”. Making sure his phone was fully charged, he took a quick video, posted it to the internet and then walked into the bank, handing the teller a note. The teller, in turn, read the note and gave the guy 150k dollars. The guy took the money, walked outside, and immediately shot another video that he posted to the internet. 20 minutes later, the cops were able to arrest him, who when asked, said several interesting things, such as “the fact that he was polite and used "please" in the note, did not wear a mask and recorded the incident meant he was not guilty”, as well as saying he did it to gain followers and lolz. He also noted he was hoping to get a record contract from a major rapper once he got out of prison. One word — Millenials!
Now, if the idea of committing a crime to gain fame and “followers”, but more importantly, for lolz and a record contract, ie; a career move, sounds strange to you, then apparently, you are just old. Or, at least, older than 25. Or maybe just not a politician. It would seem that this is the new business model for youngsters these days. But, that aside, speaking of crime and internet and fame and money and politicians, one immediately thinks of Hillary Clinton. In fact, just enter those search terms in google images and see whose picture pops up. Shocking, right? Apparently, the internet does agree on something. And the other thing that the internet does agree upon is that the US President, Barack Obama, does have a great sense of humor. Be it from the time that he made fun of himself at a large press event, and by doing so made Donald Trump look stupid, to the more recent news that he publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton and then only an hour later, instructed the White House to announce to the public that the probe into the Clinton email scandal was criminal. One should remember back, as apparently, there is no love lost between the Obamas and the Clintons. And by viewing Obama’s youtube endorsement through this filter, it might just be possible to pick up on a hint of irony, touched with sarcasm.
The Daily Mail noted that — “Within an hour of Barack Obama's endorsement of Hillary Clinton, his spokesman acknowledged that she faces a 'criminal investigation'.”
Shortly thereafter, “Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Short crowed to reporters that 'the White House’s admission that the FBI is investigating Hillary Clinton’s email server as a "criminal" matter shreds her dishonest claim that it is a routine "security inquiry".” In fact, the DM goes on to note that — “Clinton has been dogged for more than a year by charges that she exposed state secrets to hackers and foreign governments by keeping all her email correspondence on a private homebrew server while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. Depending on evidentiary nuances, that could violate the U.S. Espionage Act and subject Clinton to 10 years in prison, even if she put classified documents in an 'unsecured' location through simple negligence.” In fact, the article goes on to note that — “More than 2,000 such documents have been identified in State Department reviews of emails that Clinton turned over in late 2014 – nearly two years after she was supposed to. She also deleted more than 32,000 messages, unilaterally deeming them 'personal' in nature.”
Speaking of personal in nature, and jokes and digs and politics, one of the funniest exchanges on twitter took place last night, as Donald Trump tweeted — “Obama just endorsed Crooked Hillary. He wants four more years of Obama — but nobody else does!” To which Hillary responded by saying — “Delete your account”. Responding to that, the Republican Party national chair said — “If anyone knows how to use the delete key, it’s you.” Adding to the one-2 punch, Trump asked — “How long did it take your staff of 823 people to think that up — and where are your 33,000 emails that you deleted?” And while Clinton has yet to respond, more than likely because she and her staff were off celebrating, giving each other high-fives over their clever and devastating retort to Trump, the internet was left shaking its collective head.
And what was the email that could bring down the house of Clinton, the billion dollar enterprise that has taken in hundreds of millions of dollars from some of the most brutal dictators and corrupt politicians around the world, purportedly in exchange for personal favors or a sympathetic ear inside DC? Flying robots that deal in death and destruction. That’s right. Drones. And not even drones in a declared war zone, because there aren’t any. Oops, that’s right, the US Congress hasn’t formally declared war in decades. They did declare a conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not a full blown war. And this email was about drones in Pakistan, which, of course, is not in Iraq, or Afghanistan.
The Wall Street Journal noted that — “At the center of a criminal probe involving Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information is a series of emails between American diplomats in Islamabad and their superiors in Washington about whether to oppose specific drone strikes in Pakistan.” It continued by noting — “They were written within the often-narrow time frame in which State Department officials had to decide whether or not to object to drone strikes before the CIA pulled the trigger.” Putting that another way, Hillary had the power to save possibly innocent lives, but did she? That, more than likely, will forever remain a mystery. Why? Well, the WSJ goes on to write that — “The CIA drone campaign, though widely reported in Pakistan, is treated as secret by the U.S. government.”
Just as an FYI — if you haven’t been following along – the NYT back in early January of this year wrote — “Whereas President George W. Bush authorized approximately 50 drone strikes that killed 296 terrorists and 195 civilians in Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia, Obama has authorized 506 strikes that have killed 3,040 terrorists and 391 civilians.” In fact, the article was headlined — “Obama’s Embrace of Drone Strikes Will Be a Lasting Legacy”. And speaking of legacy, will history also note that it took Obama, a Democrat Party insider, to erase the Clintons from the great conversation?
So, what do you think dear listeners — “Was Obama being sarcastic when he endorsed Clinton?”
