Thread by @frodofied

On 29 April 2015 at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, @HillaryClinton delivered the first policy paper of her campaign for the Democratic nomination. It was called "Race and Criminal Justice" and it was not only impressive, it was brilliant. 1/

By that time I knew Hillary Clinton. I mean I had come to understand how she thought about policy & how she viewed this second run.

She was sending a clear signal that day that most ignored or were simply unwilling acknowledge.

This was why she was running for President. 2/

In that speech she said things that no other major politician had had the guts to say. As many pointed she said things that President Obama wasn't able to say.

It was a courageous way to start her campaign. For a woman accused of always playing it safe this was her hell no. 3/

"WE," she argued, "HAVE TO COME TO TERMS WITH SOME HARD TRUTHS ABOUT RACE AND JUSTICE IN AMERICA."

It was a pin drop moment. Clinton understood that by speaking those words she losing much of white America, and would probably not be able to get them back before the election. 4/

She also understood it would put her at odds w law enforcement groups all over the nation, particularly their unions.

Clinton completely understood that she was making her job to become the first woman to lead this nation harder.

And she still did it.

Those damn neo-libs. 5/

The timing & content of this speech are important for many reasons. The most important are that it shows that Clinton had always intended to make racial justice the centerpiece of her entire campaign.

But also it proves that she always intended to run a progressive campaign. 6/

This speech was before #BLM had made a point of taking her and others to task about their past choices and their future motivations.

And it was also before Bernie.

So, no, Sanders did not push Clinton left. On this and many other issues she was to the left of him. 7/

And she always had been.

And no pulling of a few words from a speech she gave in support of the awful '94 crime bill is going to change that.

Nor does it mitigate the fact that making a speech is one thing, but voting for it is entirely another.

Bernie voted for it. 8/

This is one of the areas we failed her.

The arguments and personal assaults against her character on this topic were given a life of their own.

The charges that Hillary Clinton was a neo-liberal racist only interested in the votes she could wring from blacks nauseated me. 9/

These charges, like so much that came out of the opposition to her candidacy, were completely irrational. Even the super-predator anchor they tried to sink her with was only effective when taken completely out of context and moment.

But they did it, and we let them. 10/

I was guilty because I under-estimated how gullible so many leftys are. I also underestimated the level of deeply ingrained sexism that permeated leftist political thought.

I also overestimated people's ability to see the truths that were right before their eyes.

11/

Oh, and that Clinton double-standard thing was a bitch too. While it had always been a thing it was now A THING.

And an obvious one at that people. It was a thing somehow employed right out in the open by many and nary a challenge flag was thrown. 12/

When I say some of this out loud now I sometimes laugh. That is something we don't do enough I think. Say this stuff out loud. Hearing it said is different to reading it or remembering it, or even of hearing parts of it said.

It's an exercise I recommend. 13/

Let me offer this summation of how shit went down. It might not be brief so feel free to tell this thread to feck off if you're already squirming in your chair-I get it.

For those remaining I'm going to try hard to lean heavy on facts, light on snark, so this might get dry. 14/

Leading up to April 2015 poll after poll showed that one of the most popular politicians in the country was favored to retain the White House for the party that had held it two terms.

By most polls, if the election had been held then it would have been a blowout. 15/

The former First Lady of Arkansas and the United States had been the first student to address the graduating class of her undergraduate Alma-mater Wellesley College and would later graduate first in her class at Yale Law.

The career that followed was no less impressive.

16/

This career began with The Children's Defense Fund, led by her friends and mentor Marian Wright Edelman which included undercover work to expose racism in Alabama schools. Later she became a full partner at one the nation's leading law firms. 17/

President Jimmy Carter handpicked her to head the Legal Defense Corp. She presided over the most successful & active era of the organization's history. Where, notably, she fought back strong RW opposition to her insistence that services be extended to gays & lesbians. In 1979.18/

In the years that followed she would become the First Lady of Arkansas and then the First Lady of the United States. In both capacities she continued her lifelong commitment to fighting for the rights of women and children.

19/

In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed his wife to lead a task force whose goal was to overhaul the nation's broken Healthcare System and to provide a system of universal care. Clinton's deeply personal, long fought battle with this nation's far-right thus began in earnest. 20

While ultimately unsuccessful Clinton's experience and now extensive knowledge led to her fighting for the CHIPS health initiative. Her efforts were key to it's passage.

The importance of that program to the lives and well-being of poor children can hardly be overstated. 21/

(It would be wrong to not point out that the future of that program currently hangs in the balance due to the avarice, meanness and amorality of the @GOP)

1n 1995 Clinton travelled to Beijing where she addressed the UN's 4th World Conference on Women and famously declared: 22/

"Women's rights are human rights and human rights are women's rights."

It remains one of the most famous and referenced speeches of the decade.

After leaving the White Clinton became the first First Lady in history to run & win political office.
23/

She served two terms as New York's Jr. Senator.

In 2007 Hillary Clinton launched her first historic bid for the US Presidency. Her now legendary fight with Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination was the most closely watched and closest primaries in the nation's history. 24/

Now long after her stinging loss to Barack Obama, Clinton found herself alone w/ her former adversary, and now President Elect, as with the full authority of his new office, he asked her to put aside any animosity & join his administration as the 67th U.S. Secretary of State. 25/

Note: Foreign Policy is a very complicated monster that few seem to comprehend. Nor do many seemingly smart individuals understand the various Department Secretary roles nor the powers and limits on power those positions possess.

(Thread note 1/)

First, the cabinet positions of Secretary of State and Defence and their respective powers are often conflated. Secretaries of State are therefore often blamed or credited with actions and decisions that fall outside the constitutional limits of their power.

(Thread note 2/)

Some confusion, however, stems from one notable exception to the constitutional limitations of power. Henry Kissinger, powers often did extend beyond those prescribed. President Nixon allowed Kissinger much autonomy and as such Kissinger exerted an usual level on US foreign

policy that extended into areas usually controlled by the Secretary of Defense. No subsequent Secretary of State exerted such influence, nor have any seemed to have sought it.

The Secretary of State's total powers include:

Please note that the State Department, as a diplomatic body, exerts no control over the military. The military falls strictly under the purview of the Office of the President & the Department of Defence. This is why so much regarding the Benghazi investigations were ridiculous.

Secretary Clinton never had the authority to do most of the things she was accused of. And no one among the Joint Chiefs, US Military Comnand, or the Dept of Defence could have or would have given OR accepted such authority.

If military mistakes were made that's on Panetta and the President and not Foggy Bottom.

A final word about foreign policy and a cautionary plea to those on the left and right who assign blame and label people evil due to a fundamental lack of understanding of FP.

Traditionally the Department of State is peopled with career officials who work with and for the current sitting administration regardless of party.

These are the experts who advise the experts who advise the Secretary who advises the President.

This system works because it provides a certain measure of stability. If, US FP policy did a 180 degree change with every administration we would have been living in the nonsensical world we inhabit now always.

The ways each Secretary administrates can change wildly, yes.

But this rarely affects actual day to day policy for most regions. When Clinton took over state our reputation was in ruins. She had a lot on her plate. Each regional hotspot is called a file and these files are assigned to very senior officials at State. Europe, Asia, etc.

No one SOS can know the political minutiae and intrigues going on around the globe. They can only try to find the best people for each place that do and then trust that the advice they receive is sound. This is particularly true for the first 18 months of any adminstration.

The US does bad stuff all over the world. But so do other nations, and even when nation's aren't doing terrible things to other nations it's often because it's too busy doing terrible things to itself.

So, when someone comes to me and calls Hillary Clinton evil because she

supported a coup or movement at this or that place which might have resulted in real damage and atrocities and demands I renounce that baby killing death bringer I can do nothing but roll my damn eyes.

Any decision made by Clinton or any Secretary was made on the advice of many

others, most of whom are considered to be experts on the area and who have been working the file for years. Now, whether these people advise in good faith can't be known right away or ever. Some may have their own political ideas that color their advice to senior officials.

Moreover, the State Departmemt only advises on FP it does not dictate. Ultimately that power rests with the Office of President.

So, use some sense and restraint when you discuss these matters.

Any coup in Honduras Clinton did or did not support in her first year in office

does not make her a baby killing death machine.

What happened was probably more this than crazy in some people's heads: Clinton comes in and is told the world is on fire in 62 places today. She then asks to be briefed on the five most important fires and assigns her deputies

to put out the rest in her name. For her fires she probably read brief, consulted for ten to fifteen minutes with those expected she trusts and then signs off on whichever advice she trusted the most. Now if you think that that cause A or B to happen afterwards it's fair to

ask what led to that decision, but you should also understand that those who actually do the things bear the most responsibility. To act as though Hillary Clinton personally pulled the trigger in her role as advised to the President or that she isn't as appalled as you are by

any subsequent violence is just plain dumb.

She made her decision based on the information provided to her. Advice that travelled through good knows how many layers of intrigue, politics and hope.

It's a big world.
Yes bad things happen.
Yes we often do some or cause some.

But it's utterly asinine to imagine Hillary Clinton was sitting at a desk rubbing her hands together salivating over how many Guatemalan babies she could rid the world of today.

Use common sense #FFS.

(End Thread Note)

Clinton accepted Obama's call to serve, of course, and was easily confirmed by her former Senate colleagues.

The incoming Obama administration entered Washington with verve and Clinton entered Foggy Bottom to a heroes welcome.

26/

After 8 yrs of Bush/Cheney it felt like daytime again in America. It would take 18 mos before the former rivals settled into something close to a comfortable friendship but for the moment Obama had to fix America & Clinton had to fix every relationship w/ our foreign allies. 27/

It's easy now to forget the extent of the damage that Bush handed off to Obama, but it was far reaching.

Clinton faced an uphill battle abroad. Our allies had much to resent America for. The Bush Admin, pioneers in the use of fake news, had used it to start a very real war. 28/

We then bullied our allies to enter that war with us.

It was expensive.
It was unpopular.
And it was all based on lies.

Bush left many problems, but Obama had chosen his foreign policy partner well. Clinton was a political rockstar who had established friendships globally. 30/

She used those friendships and her own celebrity to do in 12 mos what it would've taken another years to accomplish. She travelled constantly, shook every hand, went on every talk show and found herself, for the first time in 15 yrs in an unusual position, suddenly hip. 31/

For many, after three yrs of a complicit media aiding Russia & Republicans in doing everything possible to destroy her, it can be hard to recognize & remember that in '09 Clinton was popular at home. Many Americans admired the Clinton they saw close out the Democratic primary.32/

And even more had admired the dignity with which she had conceded and the sincerity with which she fought for Obama on the trail.

The fact is that from 2008 through 2014 Hillary was the popular girl.

Crazy right?

33/

As she was preparing to exit her very successful run at State she had higher approval ratings than her boss, or really anyone in DC, polls were calling her 2016's frontrunner, and #TextFromHillary was a social media phenomenon.

For Clinton, these were the glory days. 34/

By the time Clinton handed over the keys to Foggy Bottom to her old friend John Kerry it was a remarkably different, and altogether better, place than the one she had entered four years previously. Clinton, it should said had been a brilliant and careful administrator. 35/

While at State she had expanded partner benefits for diplomats to include #LGBTQ individuals and couples & much more.

Her boss had found the changes she had made at FB for gays so impressive that they were used as the blueprint for the remaining departments of government. 36/

Those changes, and many more besides were part of Clinton's legacy.

Every single administrative policy she directed during her time, including those regarding #LGBTQ foreign service officers has been overturned by the Trump administration. 37/

And every single program she had developed to help improve the lives of women and children globally were shut down and defunded less than 24 hrs after Trump was Inaugurated.

As he does with Obama, Trump seeks to erase Clinton's work and legacy.

38/