Why Hillary’s ‘Dead Broke’ Comment Matters

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Jim Geraghty:

From the Tuesday edition of the Morning Jolt:

Why Hillary’s ‘Dead Broke’ Comment Matters

Hillary’s “Dead Broke” comment is the 2016 presidential cycle’s early version of her “Tuzla Dash,” – when she claimed that during a visit to Bosnia as First Lady, “I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.” Of course, there is no record indicating any danger to her.

Hillary Clinton misremembers events so they fit into her own personal heroic narrative, not as they actually were. Lots of people do this, particularly politicians, but this is a dangerous habit for a leader to have. If they cannot assess and interpret past events clearly, how much faith can we have in their ability to assess and interpret what’s in front of them now? Or in the future?

In case you missed it . . .

Hillary Clinton said she and husband, Bill, were “dead broke” when they left the White House in 2001 with a meager income of $416,039 and $11 million in debt, as she defended her $200,000 speaking fee to ABC’s Diane Sawyer.

Clinton insists the speaking fees were necessary for the family of three to make ends meet, managing two mortgages and the steep bills for daughter Chelsea’s private school education.

“We struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea’s education. You know, it was not easy,” Clinton told ABC’s Diane Sawyer, in an interview to air Monday.

Remember when I chuckled about New Yorker writer referring to her as “Lunch-Pail Hillary,” suggesting she will run a populist campaign that is “critical of the Wall Street types”? Apparently she really intends to do this.

A woman with a net worth of $200 million, who gives speeches to Goldman Sachs for $200,000 each, is perhaps the single least plausible populist of all time. She may attempt to pose as this reform-minded outsider who will shake up “The System,” when she is perhaps the personification of “The System.” You can count on one hand the number of people who have had more influence over public policy than her since January 1993.

But she’s going to try it, because she is apparently incapable of perceiving herself as she is. Because massive wealth is seen as suspicious or inherently corrupting in today’s political culture, particularly in Democratic circles, she has to pretend she’s middle class, that her personal finance worries are just like those of Americans making mid five figures or less.

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On the government dole, to the n’th degree.
Bill Clinton alone has collected 16 MILLION DOLLARS in taxpayer money in just the 14 years he’s been out of office.
All Hillary is trying to do is vaccinate herself from all these OLD issues when she finally makes it official that she’s a candidate.
I don’t think it will work this time.
Not after 8 years of an un-vetted president.

hillary and bill walked out of the wipe house with $23 million in suit cases-she lied.

POOR HILARY, SHE ONLY HAVE MILLIONS,
AND she forgot the seven calls for help from the slain AMBASSADOR,
there goes her presidency wish,
HER FORGET HABIT IS DANGEROUS ENOUGH TO START A WAR,

She is broke, all right. Broke in the head.
This is part #n in the big lie.
She is a progressive, and will run as a populist.
Any reference to her record (and what a record it is) will be denounced as sexist.
Remember: she was named for Sir Edmund Hillary.
She said so.
She is quite good at saying things that are not so.
We will see.