Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell, and Ratifying Advice about Private Email

The story concerning Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was Secretary of State took a new turn in the past week.   According to The New York Times, Clinton told the FBI she used private email as per former Secretary of State Powell's advice.   Powell's response to this report, in an interview with People magazine,  was that Hillary's "people have been trying to pin it on me ... The truth is, she was using [the private email server] for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did."

The media have widely been reporting this as evidence that Hillary was not telling the truth to the FBI about what Powell told her. Unsurprisingly, the media have once again missed the essential point: there are two kinds of advice one colleague may give another about their professional activities. One kind of advice could be given before the activity, in which case the person given the advice could say that she or he was doing this or that because of a colleague's advice.  The other could be given after the activity was underway, with the colleague's advice supporting or ratifying the activity.

Here's a non-controversial example.  Let's say I'm teaching a class on a particular subject, for the first time, and I decide that rather  giving a final exam, I'll assign a final paper instead.   A month after the course is underway, I'm having a cup of tea with a colleague, and she tells me she taught the course a few years earlier, and she always assigned a final paper rather than giving a final exam.  In this case, I didn't assign the final paper because of what my colleague said.  But her advice ratifies what I was already doing, and is therefore relevant.

Powell's complaint that Hillary or her people are to "pin" the use of private emails on him implies that Hillary is trying to blame him for her use of private email, or that she used a private email server because of what he told Hillary.  Hence, his point that "The truth is, she was using [the private email server] for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did." That may be the case, but it doesn't in the slightest contradict the ratifying advice that Powell gave to the then new Secretary of State, after she was already using the email.  And the fact that a former Secretary of State supported what Hillary was doing as Secretary is indeed very worthy of mention, and shows that any notion that what she was doing was wrong is ex post facto, as was the designation of 100 of her emails as "classified," long after they had been sent.

Why Hillary Clinton's Emails Are No Big Deal

There have been lots of denouncements this morning of Hillary Clinton's use of private email for government business when she was Secretary of State.  In response to Clinton's point that previous Secretary of State Colin Powell used private email, too, CBS Face the Nation moderator John Dickerson said on CBS This Morning that there's a big "difference between running a few red lights and running every red light from here to Chicago".

But that analogy is seriously flawed and therefore highly misleading.

Running a red light was always against the law.  Going through a red light twice rather than once, or every time versus a few times, is obviously much worse.

But using private email as Secretary of State was not only not against the law, but went against no policy when either Powell or Clinton held that office.  Powell did nothing wrong, and Hillary Clinton did nothing wrong. If person A does something that is not against the law or any policy a few times, and person B does it every time, and that action later becomes against the law or stated policy, guess what?  Neither person has done anything wrong.

It's amazing that Dickerson and all the pundits in the media who are repeating his analysis are so fuzzy on this issue.  Our Constitution wisely prohibits ex post facto laws - holding someone accountable for an action which was not illegal when it happened - and Dickerson and his colleagues should know better.

Another Question for Republicans: Do You Agree with Rep. Bachman That Media Should Investigate "Anti-Americans" in Congress?

Michele Bachman - Congresswoman from Minnesota - told Chris Matthews on Hardball on Friday that she suspects Barack Obama may be "anti-American," and news media should vigorously investigate whether there are "anti-Americans" in Congress.

Colin Powell cited this in his endorsement of Obama on Meet the Press on Sunday as one of the things that disturbed him about the Republican Party and the McCain campaign.

Obama today spoke eloquently of there being no dichotomy between "real and fake Americans," no anti-Americans in this campaign.

So, another question for sensible Republicans: do you agree with Bachman, or with Powell and Obama? Are you concerned that a Congresswoman from your party is raising the spectre of Joe McCarthy and witch hunts against Americans that beset us in the 1950s?

Is this the kind of change you're after?

Powell's Endorsement of Obama Should Appeal to Every Sensible Republican

It was good to see Colin Powell endorse Barack Obama this morning on Meet the Press.

I've always liked Powell, not only because he was born in the Bronx and attended City College (two of my proudest accomplishments), but because he always has had a way of cutting through the hype and getting to the core of the issues at hand.

Powell said his reasons for not voting for McCain, a long time friend, were two-fold: McCain's response to the economic crisis has not consistent and clear. And Sarah Palin, McCain's choice for VP, is unfit for the office, in Powell's assessment.

Powell thinks Obama, on the other hand, has displayed good judgment and leadership capacities, especially in the economic crisis that still besets us.

Those are about as sensible reasons anyone could want for endorsing a candidate for President - sensible not only for a thoughtful Republican like Colin Powell, but for anyone. Indeed, Powell's complete 30-minute endorsement of Obama, with the detailed reasons he offered, was the best-reasoned endorsement I recall ever hearing of anyone.

Powell will have to live forever with going before the United Nations and assuring Americans and the world that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. He can't go back in history and change that, because he now regrets that he had been misinformed by the CIA.

But Colin Powell went a long way today in doing something very right and balancing his position for the good on that great cosmic scale.

America Moves Up: Barack Obama Nominated!

It was no surprise tonight, but it was something no one would have predicted a decade ago. One of our two major parties has nominated an African-American for President.

There was talk of Colin Powell running in the Republican primaries in 2000, but Powell pretty quickly put an end to that. Barack Obama was dazzling at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston - I and many others said, hey, he should run for President someday, soon as possible - but even then that seemed more a hope than an achievable reality.

But it all became real tonight. And in the best possible way. Hillary and the New York delegation marching quickly into their place on the convention floor and history. I don't think I've ever seen a delegation walk that quickly or purposely onto a convention floor. It was exhilarating and entirely appropriate to see: it was about time, more than about time, in American history.

As a New Yorker, I was especially glad to see the New York delegation perform this service. We're a rough and tough city and state, but we do the right thing.

And Hillary Clinton did the right thing. Her voice, more than any other at the convention, spoke unity in calling for the nomination by acclamation of Obama. She will play an important role in our future.

But next up in destiny: winning the election in November.

And next up at the convention: Bill Clinton's speech. I expect it to be pretty momentous itself.

And I'll be back with my thoughts after Bill Clinton's speech.





Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day Two: Patrick Buchanan on MSNBC: Hillary Will Campaign Hard for Obama, But Won't Shed Tears If He Loses ... Hillary Speaks Powerfully at Democratic Convention, in a Scene for the Ages

Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day One: Olbermann to Scarborough on MSNBC: "Jesus, Joe, Get a Shovel!" ... Ted Kennedy at 2008 Democratic Convention: JFK Would Be Smiling ... Michelle Obama's Speech: Bringing Home America