"Why am I bringing all this up? You guessed it - Hillary Clinton. In all my days of being cleared, and even after those days were over, I have never, ever, ever seen ANYONE act so caviler with classified material."
Back in the day when I was a young lad of 19, I was being considered to be awarded a very high level security clearance in the Navy. As most of us know at age 19, we have trouble understanding quite a bit about life, much less being responsible for keeping some of our nation's highest secrets. The vetting process to get my initial clearance was long and tedious, but just before my 20th birthday, I was awarded my security clearance.
I knew from the get-go that having this clearance was an honor and a privilege. And holding this clearance was not for everyone. Even though the process of getting a clearance took a lot of time and cost a whole of a lot of money, some who were awarded a clearance did not keep it for long. Why? Loose lips for one thing. Not showing the right discretion in personal decisions for another.
Those who have had held a clearance know what I am talking about. We had a clearance for one reason only - we served at the pleasure of the United States Government. At any time, for any reason, that clearance could vanish.
Why am I bringing all this up? You guessed it - Hillary Clinton. In all my days of being cleared, and even after those days were over, I have never, ever, ever seen ANYONE act so caviler with classified material. I have seen people lose a clearance for just a minute, just a fraction of what Hillary has done. She just does not seem to get it - the responsibility of having a high level clearance. And by the way, she also seems to think that rules for clearances are only for the "little people".
What was the punishment received by Ms. Clinton for putting tens of thousands of emails at risk of compromise? Nada. Zip. What would have been her punishment if she were one of the "little people"? In the kindest, most lenient of circumstances, she would have lost her clearance, never to be returned. Did Ms. Clinton keep her clearance? Yep. Did she learn her lesson about being more diligent with classified material? Nope. How do I know? The boner she pulled in the last debate.
Disclosing on national TV our launch time for nuclear missiles was the biggest compromise by a government official I have seen since I first received by clearance. Way back during the Nixon Administration, somebody came out of the White House holding a secret code word document. A huge no-no. His picture was taken by a magazine photographer, and the document soon appeared in the magazine. To say the least, "the ship hit the sand". All code words had to be changed. Big, big problem.
Again, if I had disclosed what any code word back then, I would still be breaking rocks in Leavenworth. We need to demand better out of our elected officials. They need to play by the same rules we do. Could Donald Trump do any better than Hillary Clinton? That is an unknown, as I don't think Trump has ever held a clearance. We do however, know how Hillary would act. We have recent history on her. And if I were in charge, her clearance would have been pulled yesterday.
Get ready folks. The person who is the most irresponsible in the free world is about to win the Presidency. I shudder to think the kind of compromises we will see then. Putin should love her instead of detest her. He will be able to get all kinds of information once she is sworn in.
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