It’s nearly 2020 and Hillary Clinton remains stuck on Nov. 6, 2016. Her blame list for her election loss is long: James Comey, DNC, Russia, Wikileaks, Bernie Sanders, journalism, the Citizen’s United decision, content of the debate questions, media coverage, Obama, sexism, misogyny, weak women who let men tell them how to vote, low-information voters and so on.
She did mention in her book “What Happened” that calling millions of voters “deplorables,” saying she’d put all coal miners out of their jobs and her famous “damn emails” were to her detriment (Axios).
To this day Hillary keeps showing us that she still doesn’t get it; it is undeniable that Hillary Clinton is a summa cum laude graduate of her own School of It’s Not My Fault.
The last couple of weeks brought a “What Happened” to our 25th District. Former Rep. Katie Hill had her job just 10 months, stepping down after scandals broke of an affair with a young female campaign staffer, an affair with an employee, explicit photos, and revealing text messages between the woman and her ex-husband to be.
Hill admits she exercised poor judgment but that’s about it. Otherwise she and her supporters have their own list of blame.
Hill blames her ex-to-be Kenny Heslep. That’s probably an accurate and good start. After all, the texts that have been published between Hill, Heslep and the female campaigner would only be in possession of those three. It’s certainly unlikely either of the women released them. The accusation that Heslep was an abusive husband remains unproven. That allegation did not arise with disclosure of their divorce proceedings but did with the release of damning information.
Blame is also tossed to sexism. Surely no one believes that if such explicit information came out about a congressional male, there would not have been the same public reaction.
Naturally “Republican operatives” are called out. I don’t know about the “operative” part but one clear fact is that a “conservative” site called RedState broke the story; it’s as clear as daylight yet for some reason RedState’s disclosure is being bypassed by Hill’s troops while they seek to dig up and accuse other people they are destined to smear.
Katie Hill has a host of avid, forceful supporters. It’s surprising why they haven’t been as vocal as they were in the 2018 campaign, urging her to stay in her seat while the appropriate investigation proceeds.
Hill admits the affair with the campaign volunteer (photographs and texts support that) and while that’s a bad optic, it’s not illegal or against any substantive regulations; that is until the staffer was being paid as a consultant to the congresswoman’s office. The allegation of another affair with a paid employee is a matter for the House Ethics Committee. She denies that relationship. It’s hard to believe her trenchant advocates did not impel her to stay; she had presumed innocence. Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dictated the outcome.
Pelosi deemed Katie Hill her golden child, placing the inexperienced freshman to sit on some powerful and important committees. Pelosi was mum for several days into the scandal, then kicked Hill to the curb. Hill spoke on Oct. 27 of her resignation, giving no departure date. One can wonder what negotiations were had between the two parties. It’s conceivable that Hill was allowed to stay one last week for the impeachment vote with the quid pro quo she’d be allowed time on the House floor to make a speech. Pelosi used Hill up to the very end.
Katie Hill getting a divorce is a big yawn and not worth anyone’s thoughts. Her two-year “throuple” isn’t illegal and in the scheme of things a private matter, albeit distasteful. However, there is one aspect that should be troubling to constituents.
In some of the published texts Katie herself discusses abusing alcohol and consuming it to the point of missing scheduled flights to go to work. (https://www.redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2019/10/24/texts-reveal-concern-katie-hill-drinking-missing-flights/). Aside from the obvious, the extra financial burden to taxpayers for re-booking last minute flights is inexcusable.
Katie recently said she was surprised disclosures did not come out sooner. Is that to be translated as her knowing much of this could be uncovered? If so, voters were surely deceived. It’s a mystery as to what the DNC knew of any of this. They were openly rabid to get Hill in the seat and to turn the 25th “blue.” Did they simply roll the dice? In the end it has been all to the detriment of the 25th District.
Hill’s final speech was predictable. She spoke of letting people down but avoided specifics and stating the core problem while offering a lot of verbiage of why she was leaving: “double standard,” threatening contacts, misogyny, needing to keep attention on Trump’s impeachment and the “abuse of power over women.”
That cannot be. The 2018 election was all about the power of women.
It’s all quite Hillary-ish.
Betty Arenson is a Santa Clarita resident. “Right Here, Right Now” appears Saturdays and rotates among several local Republicans.
