He grew up in poverty in Brooklyn, attending public schools and college before becoming a captain of industry, leading a key division for a multi-billion-dollar international company. He opposed the Vietnam War, he’s pro-Choice, he appreciates the contributions of immigrants (though, especially, Jewish ones), and he thinks the government should provide healthcare for all. For decades, he has supported Democrats and Republicans, most recently John Kasich. We have argued politics for decades, but I have always found him a sane person, albeit with a world view completely skewed by an unquestioning support for anything done by the Israeli government. Still, my father supporting Donald Trump? Last week, he excused Trump’s attack on a Gold Star family. In part two of our Pulitzer-worthy series, Dad (not his real name) offers his argument against Hillary Clinton.
Gersh: So, you wanted to divert attention from the real problems with your candidate to focus solely on Hillary Clinton’s wealth, today? OK, I’ll give you the first word.
Dad: She became rich as a public servant.
Gersh: OK, so how does that suggest that she would be a bad president?
Who still supports Donald Trump? Meet my dad
Dad: She is supposed to be a public servant and as a public servant she should not have earned enough money to be in the 1%, which she opposes violently. No one who ever wanted to vote for Bernie Sanders should even consider voting for her.
Gersh: Are you upset that she’s rich or that she opposes the rich? Because your candidate is very rich, at least he tells us.
Dad: I’m not upset she’s rich. But she and Bill Clinton were supposedly public servants who ended up earning enough to be in the top of the 1%.
Gersh: That’s your issue?
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Dad: How can someone in public service can earn $110 million legally? I don’t know how you do that legally.
Gersh: Well, it would be nice if you actually had some criminal allegation beyond mere rumor and speculation, especially given your candidate’s well documented history of bankruptcies, broken promises and lawsuits by people he stiffed.
Dad: I am not making an allegation that she did something illegal. But she is in the top one-tenth of 1% of wealth in this country. She makes speeches opposing the 1%!
Gersh: Which part bothers you: That she’s rich or she attacks the rich in her campaign?
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Dad: When Bill Clinton left office in 2001, they were broke. But in the next 16 years, they have amassed $110 million. I don’t see how you can do that without capitalizing on the fact that you were president, first lady, senator, Secretary of State.
Gersh: I’ll stipulate that Bill and Hillary Clinton have done what every politician does: Go through the revolving door and make millions. They all do it. But I don’t know why it bothers you more with Hillary than with anyone else.
Dad: I can’t prove that she did anything wrong to get it, but I want to ask your readers this one question: Do you think someone can earn $110 million wealth in 16 years legally? I’m asking your readers!
Gersh: She traded on her good name to make money. I’ll stipulate that.
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Dad: Ask your readers: How could they amass that kind of wealth legally? I want your readers to think about that.
Gersh: They make speeches for hundreds of thousands of dollars for an hour of work. So what bothers you: they’re rich or that they attack the rich or don’t attack the rich enough? Members of Congress go through the same revolving door all the time. It’s corrupt.
Dad: You don’t go into public service to be wealthy.
Gersh: She didn’t go into public service to become wealthy.
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Dad: I think she did.
Gersh: Bill Clinton made $35,000 a year as governor of Arkansas! She was making more than him as a lawyer.
Dad: She knew that was her ticket to riches. And the proof is she’s rich. She traded on her public service to make a fortune.
Hillary Clinton — my dad hates her. I mean, HATES HER!
(Andrew Harnik/AP)Gersh: Your guy borrowed money from his rich dad. That’s the other great American pastime, yet ran more businesses into the ground than anyone in our country with the possible exception of Aaron Burr. He has no record of success in anything except being a reality TV star.
Dad: I don’t want to talk about Trump in this week’s column. This is about Hillary. I question her ethics.
Gersh: You want to make ethics the issue in this election? How can you explain away Donald Trump’s complete lack of basic business ethics?
Dad: We’ll do that in another article. This one is only about Hillary. Could someone legitimately earn that money?
Gersh: You’re doing the classic game that you Republicans always do: You don’t want to talk about your candidate at all — and I’ve agreed with you on the completely irrelevant issue that you keep berating me about, which is Hillary and Bill’s wealth. So can we talk about the real issue: Your candidate is one of the most unethical businessmen we’ve had in this country. I may have a flawed candidate, but you have an incompetent one.
Dad: All you have is a lot of newspaper reports about Trump. But we will discuss that in another article. This article is so important that we can’t get distracted: Everyone has to know she became a one-percenter by doing public service. How did she do that? Can anyone do make that much money in public service legally?
Gersh: You have now asked that question 45 times in this short conversation, so I’ll ask you: Did she commit crimes to obtain that money?
Dad: She and Bill are the only people to become rich after leaving the White House.
Gersh: For the record, Ulysses Grant got very rich after leaving the White House. And you never cite a single criminal charge.
Dad: We know what happened. She was going to talk to the FBI about the email server issue. Two days before that, Bill and Loretta Lynch met and they worked out a deal — I can’t prove this, but think of the logic — that Hillary Clinton would not be indicted. So she went into the FBI and she did indeed say everything honestly because she knew the fix was in that she wouldn’t get indicted.
Gersh: He said no reasonable prosecutor would say what she did with her email server was criminal.
Gersh Kuntzman enjoys his taco bowl.
(Gersh Kuntzman)
Ronald Kuntzman
(Gersh Kuntzman/New York Daily News)That's me (left) and Dad (not his real name).
Dad: Because the fix was in! But none of that matters. The only thing that matters is that she’s in the 1%, and I’m asking how do you think she earned that money in public service honestly.
Gersh: Why won’t you answer your own question?
Dad: I won’t answer.
Gersh: Because you don’t have an answer.
Dad: If you really are asking me, I’d say it’s criminal. But you don’t want to ask your readers that question!
Gersh: You’ve asked them 55 times now. And now I’ll do my job, asking you a question: How did she do it?
Dad: I can’t understand how you can make that much in government service legally. In order to make money in our economy you have to have a product and or service to sell. What product or service did the Clintons sell to earn their enormous wealth?
Gersh: A corrupt government-business complex that they certainly didn’t invent and won’t be the last to exploit. Big deal. If this is all you have, you don’t have much.
Tune in next week when my father dodges more questions and explains how Donald Trump made his money — and somehow finds his unethical behavior not objectionable.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/from-press-paranoia-to-affairs-one-hillary-confidantes-letters-reveal-the-window-into-her-friends-life/2016/08/09/e8da7dd2-5b21-11e6-9767-f6c947fd0cb8_story.html#comments
Diamondback88
5:36 PM PDT
Why did this woman waste her life defending this criminal and her thief of a husband
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4 ·
Brigaduunce
6:19 PM PDT
Not a nice thing to say about Melania and her husband.
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serfdomfeifdom
6:20 PM PDT
dia - what an ignorant as s hole thing to say.
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MotoBob
6:46 PM PDT
Aside from dishonoring a glorious reptile, Dei88 is clearly a true believer (Hoffer) who cannot accept the fact that despite the tens of millions of taxpayer and right-wing millionaire dollars spent on investigations aimed an jailing her, HRC has been found guilty of only a few harmless fibs and email carelessness.
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2 ·
cents or sense
7:23 PM PDT
I have always thought that Hillary could have done better when it came to her marriage.
However you love who you love. There is nothing else in the world to explain their marriage.
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bluecyan
5:31 PM PDT
Mrs. Clinton is steel that had gone through the hottest forge. The lies against her are incredible and continuing. But her optimism is unending and the attacks only prove her durability. Let's hope that this November she will change the course of history.
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15 ·
Diamondback88
6:25 PM PDT
She is a durable criminal who lies with impunity. She's also a pro-abortion fanatic.
History will remember her in infamy for her wanton and barbaric disregard for human life.
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cents or sense
7:25 PM PDT
One of those criminals who hasn't committed a crime?
When you are on a witch hunt you assume guilt.
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jmardiwelch
4:27 PM PDT
A much maligned public servant and one who, as Rodney Dangerfield used to say, " I just get no respect." In my view, she deserves respect because she has earned it. Hillary Clinton must have nerves of steel, as far as I’m concerned. The conspiracy of faked “news,” never ends. How this woman endured the constant innuendos, hate-filled garbled twists of facts is a marvel. Yet, she goes on with a mind that is sharp, clear, focused, and will make a great president. I’m with her!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/from-press-paranoia-to-affairs-one-hillary-confidantes-letters-reveal-the-window-into-her-friends-life/2016/08/09/e8da7dd2-5b21-11e6-9767-f6c947fd0cb8_story.html#comments