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I once wrote a column in praise of competence. The object of my admiration was Walter Mondale, then running for president against Ronald Reagan. The presidents message was that it was morning again in America. Mondales message was that he was competent. He lost 49 states. He was Hillary Clinton even before she was.

The comparison is apt and sad. It came jumping out at me as I read Shattered, Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes new account of how Clinton managed to lose to Donald Trump, a man for whom the word competent is about as fitting as humble. She did it, the two tell us, by assembling a huge and unwieldy campaign apparatus, fixating on data and not, unfortunately, on retail politics, and not being able to adequately explain her use of a private email server, a historically trivial matter that came to symbolize her failings as a politician. She seemed inaccessible.

But Clintons great failing, the book not to mention the election itself makes clear, was her inability to fashion a message. She knew why she was running for president: It was her turn. But she could not say that. She could not merely say that she was prepared, a walking briefing book. Policies coursed through her body like blood cells. She knew everything. She was, in the famous formulation of Isaiah Berlin, a fox. Trump was a hedgehog. He knew just one thing: why he wanted to be president.

Shattered is a cliche-clogged slog in itself. The authors made a deal with sources within Clintons campaign to not write anything until after the election and to treat what they learned on background meaning, the sources would not be named. This leads to a heavy drizzle of the words source or sources and, after a while, a certain resistance on the part of the reader: Who are these people? Even banalities are privileged: It was a very hard 10 days, a source says about some very hard days.

The other word that keeps coming at you is message. Clinton did not have one, and the search for a message preoccupied her staff. Oddly, and fatally, Clinton left it up to them to articulate why she was running. As a mental exercise, I tried to come up with a message myself: Hillary Clinton because shes not Trump, is the best I could do. As it turned out, she could do no better.

Bernie Sanders, in contrast, knew why he was running and his supporters knew it, too. He was something of a biblical figure. He wanted to smite the big banks and put some Wall Street heads on the end of a pike. It was, in his own way, a position paper.

As for Trump, he was going to make America great again never mind that he did not have a clue as to how. He had the unassailable confidence of the ignorant, unburdened by knowledge and complexity. He was successful, but lets not make too much of it. He drew three inside straights in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania and won them all by margin-of-error numbers. As he was at birth, he was lucky.

When I wrote about Mondale, I felt sorry for the guy. I liked him. Hes smart and has a refreshing sense of humor. Whatever my feelings for him were, the camera did not agree. It showed a cold and somewhat distant Midwestern archetype. The same with Clinton. Ive had a few private moments with her and found her to be as her aides will always tell you fresh, irreverent and funny. She gets the joke. Alas, on TV none of that came through, as if she was hiding from the camera lest it reveal too much.

Clintons search for a message occupies much of Shattered. It is a sad trek because she was an oxymoron: a familiar figure who was seeking to appear fresh and, as she herself acknowledged, a politician with no gift for politics. I know that I engender bad reactions from people, and I always have, Allen and Parnes quote her as telling an aide. There are some people in whom I bring out the worst. I know that about myself, and I dont know why that is. But it is.

In the end, Hillary Clinton had it right. She was stuck with herself. It was good enough for most voters, but not for enough of them in those three key states. She lost and a fool won. That, to us, ought to be the message.

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Cohen: Walter Mondale, the original Hillary Clinton - The Mercury News

CREDIT: Fox News screengrab

It was easy to forget the Senate hearing on Monday featuring former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was supposed to be about Russias meddling in the election.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) got things started with a line of questioning that echoed Trump talking points about unmaskinga talking point rooted in Trump supporters desire to defend the presidents baseless accusation that President Obama wiretapped him.

The unmasking claims have been thoroughly debunked. Last month, both Republican and Democratic sources told multiple news outlets that the intelligence communitys conduct with regard to the intelligence reports in question was normal and appropriate.

Republican senators who followed Graham took things even further afield. Instead of asking about Russian meddling, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) grilled Yates about her decision not to enforce President Trumps Muslim bana decision that resulted in Trump firing her on January 30.

Later, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spent time asking Clapper about Hillary Clintons emails.

Cruz eventually returned to the topic of the Muslim ban, prompting Yates to give him a lesson in constitutional law.

There was more talk about the Muslim ban to come. Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-LA) conducted a mansplaining clinic while grilling Yates about the reasoning she used to determine the Muslim ban is unconstitutionala judgment that has since been vindicated by numerous federal courts that have come to the same conclusion.

Kennedy later expressed confusion about the difference between classified and unclassified information, prompting laughter from the audience.

Cornyn and Cruz reportedly left the hearing before it ended. Neither of them asked a single question about the purported topic of the hearing.

While it makes for good Fox News fodder, the conduct of Republicans during Mondays hearing only strengthens the case that Congress isnt equipped to conduct a fair, thorough investigation into Russian meddling. Democratic senators Dick Durbin (IL) and Amy Klobuchar (MN) both called for such an independent investigation during the hearing.

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Republicans use Russia hearing to defend Trump, talk about Hillary Clinton's emails - ThinkProgress

Former secretary of stateHillary Clinton came out swinging against the media on Sunday.

In a tweet congratulating Emmanuel Macronon winning the election in France despite a last-minute hacking attackagainst his campaign Clinton wrote:

Clinton was referencing criticism she received last week after an interview in which she took absolute responsibility for her surprise election loss in 2016, but also blamed a combination of interference byRussiaand the FBI.

I was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comeys letter on October 28th and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off, Clinton said. And the evidence for that intervening event is, I think, compelling, persuasive.

Last week, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com said Clinton was right, at least about the Comey part.

Hillary Clinton would probably be president if FBI Director James Comey had not sent a letter to Congress on Oct. 28, Silver wrote.

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Hillary Clinton Rips Hackers, Blasts Media In A Single Tweet - Huffington post (press release) (blog)

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By Kody Fairfield

A political columnist who voted for then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in last years presidential election has some blunt advice for the twice failed presidential candidate after she announced her intentions this week to remain involved in politics, reportsthe Blaze.

Hey, Hillary Clinton, shut the f up and go away already, wrote Gersh Kuntzman, a columnist at the New York Daily News, in a column earlier this week.

I voted for Clinton on Nov. 8 and thought shed be a good president, he explained. But she lost. And she still wants us to feel bad about that. And, worse, shes still blaming everyone else.

Kuntzmans upsettedness appears to be in response to Clintons recent faux acceptanc responsibility for her loss, in which she quickly turn around and blamed misogyny, FBI director James Comey, and anyone else she could. (RELATED:Hillary Clinton: I Would Be Your President If Not for Russia, Comey, or Misogyny)

In his column, titled, Hillary Clinton shouldnt be writing a book she should be drafting a long apology to America, Kuntzman lays out the reasons why Clinton lost the election, despite her failure to admit even one, according tothe Blaze.

Boo hoo, he wrote. Simon & Schuster may want Hillary Clinton to write the history, but Im not about to let her re-write it. No one deserves more blame for the election debacle than Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Kuntzman instead argued that Clinton lost the race for four reasons:her untrustworthiness, a poorly run campaign, her private email server and her Goldman-Sachs speeches.

Remember her fainting spell at the 9/11 ceremony? Remember how long it took for her to tell the truth? Remember how that reminded every voter in America that Hillary Clintons first instinct is to lie?

Just like she did when she claimed she had taken sniper fire during a First Lady trip to Bosnia. Just as she did when she said she never sent classified documents over her private email server.

He wrote of her untrustworthiness.

He explained that upon Clinton claiming that Trumps supporters were a basket of deplorables,the election was was pretty much over.

On the former Secretary of State utilizing a private email server, Kuntzman said:Its basic. The only reason to set up a private email server and delete some of the emails on it is because you want to hide something from the public. Clinton never provided a good answer to the simple question, Why would you do that?

Lastly, Clinton can blame her tight relationship with Wall Street as a reason she lost to Trump, according to Kuntzman, explainedthe Blaze.

You cant be a prostitute on Wall Street and then go to church on Main Street, he wrote.

The American public does not want a book from Hillary Clinton. It wants an abject apology. And it wants it for free. She got what she deserved: She lost, Kuntzman concluded. Now she needs to shut up and go home.

2016Gersh KuntzmanHillary Clintonpresidential campaign

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Liberal Columnist Excoriates Hillary Clinton: "Shut the F Up and ... - The Libertarian Republic

Iconic singer Barbra Streisand gave a special shoutout to Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonDebra Messing to Ivanka Trump: 'Please stop blindly defending your father' House Democrat plans to attend town hall for GOP lawmaker Comey: Twitter is 'like every dive bar in America' MORE at her New York concert Saturday night as the former Democratic presidential nominee and former President Bill ClintonBill ClintonBill Clinton to pen first novel with James Patterson Trump admin heading to court Monday on travel ban: report Hillary Clinton gets standing ovation after shoutout at Barbra Streisand concert MORE sat in the audience.

Streisand introduced our groundbreaking first lady, senator from New York, secretary of State, and the winner of our countrys popular vote, Hillary Rodham Clinton as the audience rose to give her a standing ovation.

Barbra Streisand gave Hillary Clinton a special shoutout pic.twitter.com/9qcjYLzFHi

The singer referred to a recent interview by Hillary Clinton in which she said she has returned to public life and joined the movement against President Trump.

Streisand said it makes us yearn for what could have been, what should have been, The Associated Press reported.

"I was thrilled to hear yourself describe yourself as an activist citizen and part of the resistance.

A vocal supporter and fundraiser for Clinton during the presidential election, Streisand also knocked Trump during her remarks. The singer recalled performing at Bill Clinton's inauguration, and touted the former president's accomplishments on taxes.

And speaking of taxes, he showed us his tax returns, she said about Bill Clinton, according to the AP.

hillary clinton gets a standing ovation at the barbra streisand concert tonight in brooklyn pic.twitter.com/1j2AadzvPs

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Hillary Clinton gets standing ovation after shoutout at Barbra Streisand concert - The Hill (blog)