Subject: Correct The Record Friday December 5, 2014 Morning Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 09:29:13 -0500
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

*​**Correct The Record Friday December 5, 2014 Morning Roundup:*

*Headlines:*

*Boston Globe: “Hillary Clinton urges examination of racial, judicial
disparities”
<https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/04/hillary-clinton-speak-boston-conference/ikAQ8oJMhN1yppZdpn39zK/story.html>*

“In a speech at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center that sounded
decidedly presidential in its broad sweep and careful call to action,
Clinton said, ‘Each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race
and justice in America.’”

*NBC News: “Hillary Clinton Backs Obama's Post-Ferguson Policy Proposals”
<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/hillary-clinton-backs-obamas-post-ferguson-policy-proposals-n261711>*

“Hillary Clinton on Thursday endorsed President Barack Obama's creation of
a task force to examine police practices and called for ‘whatever
substantive reforms are necessary to ensure equality, justice and respect
for every citizen’ in the wake of intense anger and protests after grand
juries opted against indicting police officers in the killings of black men
in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri.”

*Washington Post blog: Post Politics: “Hillary Clinton on Brown, Garner
deaths: ‘A lot of hearts are breaking’”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/12/04/hillary-clinton-we-have-allowed-our-criminal-justice-system-get-out-of-balance/>*

“The U.S. criminal justice system is ‘out of balance,’ and the deaths of
black men at the hands of police in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y.,
are ‘tragedies’ that demand justice and answers, likely Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday.”

*Red Alert Politics: “Pro-Hillary Clinton group emphasizes her ‘deep
connection with the middle class’”
<http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/04/pro-hillary-clinton-group-emphasizes-deep-connection-middle-class/>*

“A pro-Hillary Clinton group called Correct The Record is chastising media
outlets for detracting from Clinton’s ‘deep connection with the middle
class.’”

*Politico: “Hillary’s presidential reality check moment”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/hillary-clinton-on-the-presidency-113333.html>*

“Hillary Clinton says the most important thing for a president to do is to
keep it real and avoid losing touch with ‘what’s authentic, who you were
before you were sworn into office.’”

*Bloomberg: “Warren Buffett, Reluctant PAC Man, Is Ready for Hillary”
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-04/warren-buffett-bets-big-on-hillary-clinton>*

 [Subtitle:] “The world's third richest man makes his first-ever donation
to an independent political group aligned with a candidate.”

*Bloomberg: “Hillary Clinton Seeks Advice on How to Win 2016 Campaign”
<http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-12-04/hillary-clinton-seeks-advice-on-how-to-win-2016-campaign>*

“‘As she decides, she’s casting a wide net and wants to hear from a variety
of people on a range of specific topics, from policy ideas to what a
successful campaign would look like,’ Nick Merrill, the spokesman, said in
an e-mail.”

*Washington Post blog: Plum Line: “This one Hillary quote about climate
change is very, very important”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/12/04/this-one-hillary-quote-about-climate-change-is-very-very-important/>*

“As Ron Brownstein noted recently, climate is a key area in which Hillary
will embrace Obama’s legacy, even as Republicans line up to campaign for
president by vowing to unwind it. Clinton has now confirmed this…”

*The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Paul invites Clinton to work on criminal
justice reform”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/226080-paul-invites-clinton-to-work-on-criminal-justice-reform>*

“Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said
he’d be happy to work with the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination,
Hillary Clinton, on criminal justice reform.”

*CNN: “George Bush picks Jeb over 'sister-in-law' Hillary in 2016”
<http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/05/politics/george-w-bush-hillary-clinton-jeb-bush/index.html>*

“Bush said there's no question Clinton is formidable, but his brother is,
as well.”

*Fusion: “Meet the man behind the Hillary Clinton video that’s making
everyone groan”
<http://fusion.net/story/31558/hillary-clinton-country-music-video-stand-with/>*

“In a phone interview, Chavez told Fusion he and Orozco wanted to create a
group that could promote Clinton to working-class people, young people, and
Latinos.”

*Wall Street Journal column: WSJ editorial board member James Taranto:
“Running on Half-Empty”
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/running-on-half-empty-1417727817>*

“Remember when she [Sec. Clinton] was inevitable?”

*Townhall.com column: D.W. Wilber: “Benghazi Baloney”
<http://townhall.com/columnists/dwwilber/2014/12/05/benghazi-baloney-n1927664/page/full>*

“While career bureaucrats sat on their posteriors in Washington, D.C.
looking for ways to ‘cover their backsides’, courageous Americans put their
lives on the line, and in Benghazi gave their lives, in service to a
grateful nation.”

*Washington Times: “Benghazi report ‘full of inaccuracies,’ say CIA
contractors”
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/4/benghazi-report-full-inaccuracies-say-cia-contract/>*

“John Tiegen and Kris Paronto told CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday that the
report was ‘full of inaccuracies.’ Messrs. Tiegen and Paronto are the
authors of ‘13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In
Benghazi.’”

*Articles:*

*Boston Globe: “Hillary Clinton urges examination of racial, judicial
disparities”
<https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/04/hillary-clinton-speak-boston-conference/ikAQ8oJMhN1yppZdpn39zK/story.html>*

By Joshua Miller

December 4, 2014

Hillary Rodham Clinton dove into a roiling national debate about race,
policing, and justice Thursday, saying the United States must wrestle with
some “hard truths” and positioning herself as a proponent of criminal
justice reform after two high-profile deaths of unarmed black men at the
hands of white police officers.

“I know that a lot of hearts are breaking, and we are asking ourselves,
‘Aren’t these our sons? Aren’t these our brothers?’ ” the possible 2016
White House contender said.

In a speech at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center that sounded
decidedly presidential in its broad sweep and careful call to action,
Clinton said, “Each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race
and justice in America.”

The remarks by the former secretary of state and US senator were her first
public statement about grand jury decisions on the racially charged deaths.
They came a day after a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict a New
York City police officer in the death of Eric Garner and a week after a St.
Louis County grand jury brought no criminal charges against a Ferguson,
Mo., police officer in the death of Michael Brown.

Clinton, speaking to a crowd pegged at 10,000, said despite decades of
advances for people of color, African-Americans are still more likely to be
stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to
longer prison terms.

She said a third of all African-American men face the prospect of prison
during their lifetimes. Clinton paused briefly before continuing: “What
devastating consequences that has for their families and their communities,
and all of us.”

Citing another statistic — that the United States has less than 5 percent
of the world’s population, but has nearly 25 percent of its total prison
population — Clinton said the high rate of imprisonment is not because
Americans are more violent or criminal, but because “we have allowed our
criminal justice system to get out of balance.”

The former first lady also said she hopes the deaths give the country the
opportunity to come together “to find our balance again.” And she called
for learning from the police departments all over the country that protect
public safety without depending on excessive incarceration or unnecessary
force.

Tapping into a discussion that grew as images of police in Ferguson with
military-style equipment were broadcast on national television, Clinton
called for funneling federal dollars to state and local law enforcement to
boost best practices instead of purchasing “weapons of war that have no
place on our streets.”

She also said she backed the Department of Justice investigations into what
happened in Ferguson and Staten Island. The families and the country
deserve a full accounting, she said, “as well as whatever substantive
reforms are necessary to ensure equality, justice, and respect for every
citizen.”

Clinton told the primarily female crowd that facing the tough issues in
policing can’t be left to officials — from the president to police chiefs.

She said it’s important for Americans to imagine what it’s like to walk in
their fellow citizens’ shoes, to try to see the world “through our
neighbors’ eyes.”

Indeed, Clinton said, the deaths did not occur in a distant land to a
foreign people.

“These are our streets, our children, our fellow Americans,” Clinton said,
“and our grief.”

The remarks, delivered with a slow, deliberate cadence at the Massachusetts
Conference for Women as Clinton stood on a wide stage, came not long before
she is expected to telegraph her political intentions.

Clinton has said she will probably decide in early 2015 whether to run for
president a second time.

Should Clinton jump into the race, a key goal will be winning a large
percentage of minority voters, as the potent issues at the intersection of
race and policing are likely to remain a big part of the national
conversation.

African-Americans and other communities of color have long been a core
constituency of the Democratic Party, and were a vital part of the
coalition that lifted President Obama to his White House victories in 2008
and 2012.

Her husband, Bill Clinton, also enjoyed significant support among
African-American voters.

Obama also energized black voters in the 2008 Democratic primary against
Clinton, and some felt Clinton allies were subtly injecting race into a
heated contest.

Polling has found stark divides in how white and black Americans see the
police and grand jury decision not to criminally charge the Ferguson
officer who shot and killed Brown.

An ABC News/Washington Post survey released this week found 35 percent of
white people disapprove of the Missouri jury decision, while a whopping 85
percent of black people disapprove.

A 2013 Pew Research Center poll found 70 percent of black people said
African-Americans are treated less fairly than white people in dealings
with police.

As she considers a run for president, Clinton has traveled the country,
campaigning for Democrats and making paid speeches.

It was not clear Thursday whether Clinton was compensated for her Boston
appearance.

The media affairs director for the conference did not respond to e-mailed
questions about whether and how much Clinton was paid. The Boston Globe was
among the media sponsors of the conference.

In the rest of her wide-ranging remarks — and a subsequent
question-and-answer session — Clinton spoke about women in the workplace
and the lingering gender gap in pay. She told personal anecdotes from her
life and mulled the immense challenges of being president.

Clinton laced her remarks with references to Massachusetts past and present
— including mentions of Abigail Adams, the Lowell textile mills, and the
late Thomas M. Menino.

She struck a few notes of economic populism, repeatedly praising and
emphasizing the significance of a ballot initiative, passed by
Massachusetts voters last month, that will entitle employees to earn and
use up to 40 hours of sick time each year.

Clinton said we are “overcoming this false idea that everybody is on their
own in society and the workplace.”

She touched on many other topics — including a mention of an hourlong
meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday with President Obama.

But Clinton never directly spoke about the question that looms every time
she makes a public appearance: Will she run again?

*NBC News: “Hillary Clinton Backs Obama's Post-Ferguson Policy Proposals”
<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/hillary-clinton-backs-obamas-post-ferguson-policy-proposals-n261711>*

By Perry Bacon Jr.

December 4, 2014, 2:47 p.m. EST

Hillary Clinton on Thursday endorsed President Barack Obama's creation of a
task force to examine police practices and called for "whatever substantive
reforms are necessary to ensure equality, justice and respect for every
citizen" in the wake of intense anger and protests after grand juries opted
against indicting police officers in the killings of black men in New York
City and Ferguson, Missouri.

The likely Democratic presidential contender largely echoed views expressed
by other Democrats, such as Attorney General Eric Holder and New York Mayor
Bill de Blasio, who have said the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown
should inspire a broader national debate about race and policing.

"These tragedies did not happen in some faraway place, they did not happen
to some other people," she said, speaking at the Massachusetts Conference
for Women. "These are our streets, our children, our fellow Americans and
our grief."

Like Obama, she urged a closer look at the use of military-style weapons by
local police officers, calling them "weapons of war that have no place on
our streets."

The former secretary of state said that she's pleased that the Department
of Justice will be investigating both the Staten Island and Ferguson
incidents.

"The United States has less than 5% of the world's population, yet we have
almost 25% of the world's prison population. Now that is not because
Americans are more violent and criminal than others around the world, in
fact that is far from the facts, but it is because we have allowed our
criminal justice system to get out of balance," she told the crowd of
several thousand women. "And I personally hope that these tragedies give us
the opportunity to come together as a nation to find our balance again."

She spoke for about five minutes about the police issues at the start of
her speech in Boston before shifting to the original theme of event, which
was women's advancement in society.

Clinton is expected to opt to run for president, although Democrats say she
is still considering her decision. Like a presidential candidate, she is
already choosing to weigh in on major national issues even when they don't
direct relate to the audience Clinton is addressing, like on Thursday. And
her agreement with Obama on policing mirrors Clinton's comments for most of
the year, in which she has agreed with her former rival's approach on
nearly every issue.

*Washington Post blog: Post Politics: “Hillary Clinton on Brown, Garner
deaths: ‘A lot of hearts are breaking’”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/12/04/hillary-clinton-we-have-allowed-our-criminal-justice-system-get-out-of-balance/>*

By Anne Gearan

December 4, 2014, 4:50 p.m. EST

The U.S. criminal justice system is “out of balance,” and the deaths of
black men at the hands of police in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y.,
are “tragedies” that demand justice and answers, likely Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday.

“A lot of hearts are breaking, and we are asking ourselves, ‘Aren’t these
our sons? Aren’t these our brothers?’” Clinton said.

The former secretary of state opened an address about women’s economic
participation with an unusually direct and politically charged discussion
of what she called a national failing.

“I want to say a few words about the pain and frustration that many
Americans are feeling about our criminal justice system,” Clinton began.

“We have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance,” to
over-militarize policing and incarcerate too many people, and especially
too many black men, she said during a speech in Boston to the Massachusetts
Conference for Women.

Clinton welcomed the Justice Department inquiries into the cases of Michael
Brown and Eric Garner, saying their families and communities and the entire
country “deserve a full and fair accounting as well as whatever substantive
reforms are necessary to ensure equality, justice and respect for every
citizen.”

A New York grand jury declined to indict a police officer in the death of
Garner, an unarmed 43-year-old asthmatic who died after being put in a
chokehold by officer Daniel Pantaleo on July 17, as the officer was
arresting Garner on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes.

Protests erupted in New York and other cities following that decision,
which came on the heels of the decision by a Missouri grand jury not to
indict white officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael
Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old whom Wilson may or may not have identified as
a robbery suspect.

The Justice Department is looking into both cases, and could bring federal
civil rights cases that address police practices. House Speaker John A.
Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday that he still has “unanswered questions”
about the deaths of Garner and Brown and wouldn’t rule out having House
committees hold hearings.

Clinton has no official position from which to comment on the cases, and it
is a tacit acknowledgment of her status as a likely candidate that she
chose to address the controversy and offer her opinion.

“I personally hope that these tragedies give us the opportunity to come
together as a nation to find our balance again,” she said. “All over the
country there are creative and effective police departments demonstrating
that it is possible to keep us safe and reduce crime and violence without
relying on unnecessary force or excessive incarceration.”

The former secretary of state is widely expected to announce early next
year that she will make another run for the White House in 2016.

“Each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race and justice in
America,” Clinton said. “Because despite all the progress we’ve made
together, African-Americans, most particularly African-American men, are
still more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes
and sentenced to longer prison terms.”

Clinton said that with about 5 percent of the world’s population, the
United States has about 25 percent of the world’s prisoners, and that a
third of black American men “face the prospect of prison in their
lifetimes.”

The Brown and Garner cases attracted protests and began a national
discussion of race in large part because the officers in both cases were
white. The Garner arrest and death were captured on video.

Clinton did not comment specifically on the circumstances of either of the
Garner or Brown deaths, or note the race of the officers in those cases.
She said there are “decent, honorable and brave” police officers doing a
good job each day, and that they should be examples.

“Let’s learn from the best examples. Let’s invest in what works, let’s make
sure that federal funds to state and local law enforcement are used to
bolster best practices, rather than buy weapons of war that have no place
on our streets or contribute to unnecessary force or arrests,” he said.

*Red Alert Politics: “Pro-Hillary Clinton group emphasizes her ‘deep
connection with the middle class’”
<http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/04/pro-hillary-clinton-group-emphasizes-deep-connection-middle-class/>*

By Morgan Chalfant

December 4, 2014

A pro-Hillary Clinton group called Correct The Record is chastising media
outlets for detracting from Clinton’s “deep connection with the middle
class.”

According to The Daily Beast, Correct The Record plans to issue a memo
penned by Executive Director Isaac Wright to news outlets that scolds them
for “Karl Rove style” attacks on what the organization dubs Hillary’s “deep
connection with the middle class.”

Specifically, the letter zeroes in on Clinton’s speech fees for appearances
at various universities for which she has been ripped apart in the media.
For instance, Clinton charged the University of Buffalo $275,000 for a
one-hour speech last year, and she collected $225,000 from the University
of Nevada-Las Vegas for her remarks at their Foundation dinner this fall.

However, the memo labels the critique of Clinton’s speech fees “lame duck
period attacks [that] lack the substance to connect with Americans in a
serious way.”

In the letter, Wright champions “Clinton’s extensive record of fighting for
mobility and to advance the middle class,” emphasizing her backing of a
minimum wage hike and “progressive tax policies that required millionaires
to pay their fair share.”

He also underlines the “tougher stance on big business” and “populist
themes” that Clinton revealed when delivering remarks at fundraisers for
Democratic candidates ahead of the midterm election.

Undoubtedly, Wright is referring to Clinton’s assertion at a Massachusetts
fundraiser that businesses and corporations don’t create jobs.

“One of Clinton’s biggest strengths [is] her passion for advancing the
middle class and renewing American upward mobility,” concludes the memo.

Correct The Record’s effort will come with an uphill battle, considering
Clinton was heavily criticized for being out of touch with regular
Americans after she described 2001 herself as “dead broke” during a Diane
Sawyer interview this past summer.

*Politico: “Hillary’s presidential reality check moment”
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/hillary-clinton-on-the-presidency-113333.html>*

By Maggie Haberman

December 4, 2014, 5:46 p.m. EST

[Subtitle:] ‘You can easily lose touch with what’s real’

Hillary Clinton says the most important thing for a president to do is to
keep it real and avoid losing touch with “what’s authentic, who you were
before you were sworn into office.”

Clinton, who has already been asked in almost every conceivable way
intended to elicit news about her potential 2016 run for president, was
queried Thursday about what quality she thought was most important in a
“first gentleman.”

She called the question “clever,” but then turned serious as she answered
it through the lens of what a president deals with in office. She spoke at
length about stresses, friendships the unforgiving nature of the job and
the importance of support systems — an unusually frank answer for a woman
known for drawing a zone of privacy as she considers her future.

“I spent an hour with the president yesterday, going over a lot of
different issues,” the former secretary of state said during an appearance
in Boston at the 2014 Massachusetts Conference for Women. “And I was
thinking, sitting there in the Oval Office talking, that I’ve known a lot
of presidents over the course of the last many decades … And it is such a
hard job … It is such a challenging job. And you need people, starting in
your family — but going to your friends, beyond a larger circle — who will
really be there for you and continue to treat you like a human being.”

She continued: “Because you can easily lose touch with what’s real, what’s
authentic, who you were before you were sworn in to office … Whether it’s a
man or a woman, the support system is absolutely critical. It used to be,
in years past, presidents like the Roosevelts, or Harry Truman … they would
go away, they would go to their ranch or their home or, in Harry Truman’s
case, he’d get on the presidential yacht and he’d sail down to Key West. …
They wanted to breathe, they wanted to think.”

Clinton’s remarks come at a moment of transition for the former senator and
first lady — no longer campaigning for fellow Democrats in the midterms,
but still not firmly decided on whether to campaign for herself.

She spoke a day after meeting with President Barack Obama and as POLITICO
reported that she’s begun political work behind the scenes. She is expected
to run, but people close to her still insist that, even with all the
infrastructure that she has allowed to grow around her in the last two
years, she isn’t certain about a decision.

The knock on Clinton for years has been that she comes across as
inauthentic and overly cautious, something she struggled with during her
first run for the presidency in 2008. She’s not expected to announce if
she’ll run again until early next year, but she’s taken steps in recent
days that suggest she’s pulling together a campaign infrastructure.

On Wednesday, Clinton met with Guy Cecil, the outgoing Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee executive director and one of the two people
most often described as a potential manager for her 2016 campaign, sources
said. People familiar with the discussions told POLITICO that Clinton has
also spoken with Robby Mook, the other often-mentioned potential campaign
manager.

Her spokesman Nick Merrill said of the meetings that as Clinton considers
2016, she “wants to hear from a variety of people on a range of specific
topics, from policy ideas to what a successful campaign would look like.”

Few details were available about Clinton’s meeting with Obama in the Oval
Office. A statement from the White House said the pair met to “catch-up and
enjoy an informal discussion on a wide range of issues.”

In Boston on Thursday, Clinton also discussed decisions by two grand juries
not to indict white police officers accused in the deaths of two black men,
calling for a reform of the criminal justice system. While she commended
the Department of Justice for initiating probes into the cases and the
president for forming a task force on policing, Clinton also praised the
country’s “decent, honorable, brave” police officers.

As for the presidency, Clinton said the support structure from family and
friends is vital.

“The incoming never ends, technology connects you around the world
instantaneously, you’re constantly being asked for opinions and to make
decisions,” Clinton said. “The pace of demands is so intense that you feel
like you’ve got to respond. So the job is unforgiving in many ways, and
therefore, I think you need people around you who will kid you or make fun
of you.

“I have no such shortage of people in my own life,” she added. “But
seriously, I think you would want people who are there because they can
revitalize your energy, your thinking, get you to perhaps take yourself
less seriously, and, if necessary, listen to you as you work through some
of the incredibly hard problems that exist.”

*Bloomberg: “Warren Buffett, Reluctant PAC Man, Is Ready for Hillary”
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-04/warren-buffett-bets-big-on-hillary-clinton>*

By Lisa Lerer

December 4, 2014, 3:45 p.m. EST

[Subtitle:] The world's third richest man makes his first-ever donation to
an independent political group aligned with a candidate.

Warren Buffett has said he's willing to "put money" on Hillary Clinton
winning the 2016 presidential race. Turns out, he really meant it.

The Oracle of Omaha gave the maximum donation allowed to Ready for Hillary
last quarter, his first-ever check to the sort of independent political
groups that he's scorned in the past. Buffett, who is the third richest man
in the world, gave $25,000, the most any individual can donate under the
committee's self-imposed cap, according to a person familiar with Ready for
Hillary's post-election financial disclosure report. The group has raised
more than $11 million to finance its efforts to lay the groundwork for a
Clinton presidential campaign. Their latest report is due to be filed with
the Federal Election Commission by midnight Thursday.

The contribution marks a major shift for one of the country's most famous
business leaders, who's long been known in Democratic circles as a bit of a
political tightwad. Though he's given hundreds of thousands to party
committees and candidates, Buffett has shunned super-political action
committees and other groups that can take unlimited sums. Last cycle, he
headlined fundraisers for Obama’s re-election, though he rebuffed
solicitations by Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC supporting the
president. “I don’t want to see democracy go in that direction,” he said in
May 2012 when asked at his company's annual shareholder meeting about his
position on giving to outside groups. “You have to take a stand some place.”

Though he supported both Democratic candidates during the 2008 race,
Buffett has long been an outspoken Clinton supporter, starting with his
backing for her Senate campaign in 2000. Just days after President Barack
Obama's re-election, Buffett told CNN that there wasn't anyone better
qualified than Clinton for the job in 2016. He also said donating to
super-PACs was simply "wrong,"  an opinion that he apparently no longer
holds. "Hillary is going to win, yeah," he said at Fortune's Most Powerful
Women Summit in October. "I will bet money on it. And I don't do that
easily."

Other notable donors to the group, which operates in a similar fashion as a
super-PAC, include Irene Hirano, the widow of late Hawaiian Senator Daniel
Inouye; former New York Representative Ed Towns; and John Zaccaro Jr., the
son of Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run on a major presidential
ticket.

Ready for Hillary has no official ties to Clinton. But they've become a
campaign-in-waiting for the former secretary of state, amassing a list of 3
million supporters. The organization plans to begin shutting down as soon
as Clinton formally announces—if she decides to run, of course. It will
make its list of backers available to her campaign, giving Clinton the type
of infrastructure any candidate would covet. “We will be at or beyond on
Day One of the Clinton campaign, if and when it comes, where we ended up
last time,” Jerry Crawford, an Iowa lawyer who's advised Clinton's 2008
presidential campaigns, told reporters at a Ready for Hillary donor summit
in New York last month.

In a sign that Ready for Hillary doesn't anticipate closing its doors in
the immediate future, organizers took out a $1 million loan—which they plan
to repay by March—to expand its direct mail operation, according to the
documents. Letters touting its work on behalf of Clinton are being sent to
every zip code in the country, according to a strategist involved with the
operation, and the investment has doubled their number of donors who give
an average of $10 more than those online.

 Typically, the mail pieces include a pledge card, photo of Clinton being
sworn in as secretary of state, and a solicitation letter from Craig Smith,
a long-time Clinton confidant and adviser to Ready for Hillary. "In 2012,
Republicans saw that an early, strong organization helped re-elect
President Obama. They ignored it then, but I’m sure they won’t make that
foolish mistake again," writes Smith. "I believe we owe it to Hillary to
show her we’ve got her back."

*Bloomberg: “Hillary Clinton Seeks Advice on How to Win 2016 Campaign”
<http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-12-04/hillary-clinton-seeks-advice-on-how-to-win-2016-campaign>*

By Jonathan Allen

December 4, 2014

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is vetting people and
developing a policy platform ahead of a possible 2016 run for the
presidency, her spokesman said today.

That’s an important turn for the Clinton operation, which spent much of the
past two years playing down her level of political engagement. It’s the
most pronounced acknowledgment of what has long been obvious to most
political observers: She is preparing to run for president.

“As she decides, she’s casting a wide net and wants to hear from a variety
of people on a range of specific topics, from policy ideas to what a
successful campaign would look like,” Nick Merrill, the spokesman, said in
an e-mail.

Clinton has met recently with former political aides Guy Cecil and Robby
Mook, according to Politico. Longtime advisers say both men, along with
California political strategist Ace Smith and EMILY’s List President
Stephanie Schriock, rank high on the list of likely suspects to run her
second bid for the presidency.

The former first lady lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination to
then-Senator Barack Obama and then became his first secretary of state in
2009. In November 2012, Clinton turned down Obama’s offer to remain in her
job for his second term during a flight on Air Force One. Since then, she’s
traveled the country giving paid speeches, raised money for her family’s
foundation and written a book, “Hard Choices,” about her tenure as the
nation’s top diplomat.

*Washington Post blog: Plum Line: “This one Hillary quote about climate
change is very, very important”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/12/04/this-one-hillary-quote-about-climate-change-is-very-very-important/>*

By Greg Sargent

December 4, 2014, 1:05 p.m. EST

Hillary Clinton said something important about climate change this week —
something that could resonate into the next presidential race. It isn’t
what you’ve read about, though. Clinton gave a speech at the League of
Conservation Voters, and judging by the headlines about it, you’d think the
newsworthy portion was her unwillingness to take a position on the Keystone
pipeline.

That is understandably frustrating to environmental activists. But now that
video of the full speech is available, it’s obvious that her Keystone dodge
is potentially far less important than this portion:

“You pushed for and rallied behind President Obama’s use of the Clean Air
Act to set the first ever federal limits on carbon pollution from existing
power plants, which are driving the most dangerous effects of climate
change. As you know so well, power plants account for about 40 percent of
the carbon pollution in the United States, and therefore must be addressed.
And *the unprecedented action that President Obama has taken must be
protected at all cost.*

“So this is an exciting time. From the administration’s announcement last
month of a $3 billion commitment to the global green climate fund, to that
new joint announcement with China, to new rules under consideration for
ozone, we continue to push forward. But that is just the beginning of what
is needed.”

Taking Clinton at her word, this hints at the ways in which climate could
become an important issue in the 2016 race. The key is that it is a
forward-looking policy statement. Clinton isn’t simply praising Obama’s
environmental record. She is also saying that protecting and implementing
his policies for years into the future is an urgent priority — which is to
say, an urgent priority for the next president.

There is a great deal riding on the successful implementation of those
policies — long after Obama leaves office. As Coral Davenport explained the
other day, Obama is currently using the 1970 Clean Air Act to put in place
a far-reaching environmental legacy that, most prominently, includes
ambitious new regulations on existing power plants. Implementation of these
regulations will reach years into the future, with the eventual goal of
reducing carbon-dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants by 25 percent into
the next decade, and by 30 percent by 2013.

The question of whether the U.S. successfully reduces emissions over time
has important long term international ramifications. The success of the
recently announced deal between the United States and China to cap or
reduce emissions will turn in part on whether the U.S. meets its own goals,
and as Philip Bump noted recently, this could be complicated if a
Republican president takes over in 2017.

Indeed, Republicans have pledged to do everything possible to roll back
Obama’s environmental regulations, and they essentially received the news
of the China deal with a big shrug. What’s more, the 2016 GOP candidates
might dig in even harder against Obama’s regs. After all, once Obama
announced his executive action to defer deportations, that immediately
supplanted Obamacare as the leading Enemy Of Freedom for the Tea Party.
Next year, Obama will likely be talking about climate change a good deal
more, as negotiations for a global climate treaty get underway — hopes for
which were boosted by news of the U.S.-China deal. There will likely be
court challenges to the new regs, which means more attention to them. They,
too, could become another Tea Party preoccupation — which means the 2016
GOP presidential candidates may be expected to pledge to eradicate them
once elected president.

As Ron Brownstein noted recently, climate is a key area in which Hillary
will embrace Obama’s legacy, even as Republicans line up to campaign for
president by vowing to unwind it. Clinton has now confirmed this, on her
side, by vowing to protect Obama’s initiatives “at all cost.” The battle
may shape up as one over whether the U.S. should participate in global
efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and embrace all the difficult domestic
policy trade-offs that will entail, or retreat from them.

Perhaps for Clinton, such promises are little more than checking a box for
an important Democratic constituency (the environmental movement). Perhaps
her consultants will want her to shy away from discussing climate out of
fear of alienating blue collar whites in swing states. But the key
architect of Obama’s climate agenda, John Podesta, is expected to play a
major role on Clinton’s campaign. The Democratic coalition in national
elections is less and less reliant on culturally conservative downscale
whites, and Democrats are increasingly organized around the priorities —
climate included — of its emerging coalition of millennials, minorities,
and socially liberal college educated whites.

In the end Obama can probably increase the chances that climate change will
be a real issue in 2016 simply by talking about it as much as possible.
This is something he appears determined to do. And on this issue, in
rhetorical terms, at least, Clinton is laying down her marker.

*The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Paul invites Clinton to work on criminal
justice reform”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/226080-paul-invites-clinton-to-work-on-criminal-justice-reform>*

By Jonathan Easley

December 4, 2014, 6:25 p.m. EST

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said
he’d be happy to work with the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination,
Hillary Clinton, on criminal justice reform.

“I have six different bills to reform the criminal justice system and we
would welcome Hillary Clinton if she would like to come and help us promote
this agenda,” he said in a Thursday interview on CNN. “I’ve been working
with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), [Senate majority leader] Harry Reid
(D-Nev.) and other Democrats, and if she wants to join and help to support
these bills I’m supporting on criminal justice, we would welcome her.”

Paul generally has few good things to say about Clinton. He refers to U.S.
military action in Libya as "Hillary's war" and has questioned whether her
husband, former President Bill Clinton, is a sexual predator.

But a grand jury decision on Wednesday to not indict a white police officer
in the death of a black New Yorker during an arrest has inflamed racial
tensions and has some lawmakers calling for reforms.

In a speech in Boston to the Massachusetts Conference for Women on
Thursday, Clinton said it’s time for the nation to address an
out-of-balance criminal justice system.

“We have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance,” she
said. “We can only hope that these tragedies give us the opportunity to
come together as a nation to find our balance.”

Paul’s primary criminal justice reform push is to end the war on drugs, but
this week he also talked about how politicians incentivize police to harass
citizens through burdensome taxes, which can provoke situations like the
one that ended in the death of Eric Garner.

Garner was selling loose cigarettes and the police approached him because
he was circumventing tax laws in the state.

“Some politician put a tax of $5.85 on a pack of cigarettes … then, some
politician also had to direct the police to arrest people for selling loose
cigarettes,” Paul said on MSNBC on Wednesday. “For someone to die over
breaking that law, there really is no excuse for it. But I do blame
politicians. We put our police in a difficult situation with bad laws.”

Paul said Thursday it was doubtful Clinton would get on board with his
reforms.

“I think she needs to have more concrete proposals, we have quite a few,”
he said. “We think the War on Drugs has gone to far. We think many of these
things could be addressed as misdemeanors not felonies, but we also think
that taxing cigarettes $5.85 criminalizes otherwise law abiding people. So
the question is specifically to her, would she try to make the sale of
cigarettes not such a burdensome thing that it drives people into the black
market? My guess is her notion of the busy-body notion of government is
that she wouldn’t support reducing taxes.”

*CNN: “George Bush picks Jeb over 'sister-in-law' Hillary in 2016”
<http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/05/politics/george-w-bush-hillary-clinton-jeb-bush/index.html>*

By Eric Bradner

December 5, 2014

George W. Bush might have developed a brotherly relationship with Bill
Clinton -- but he's still picking his actual brother, Jeb, over Clinton's
wife, Hillary, in a potential 2016 presidential match-up.

The two former presidents have developed a close friendship, with Bush
sometimes calling Clinton his "brother from another mother." In an
interview, CNN's Candy Crowley asked Bush what that makes Hillary Clinton.

"My sister-in-law," he said.

But when asked whether his brother, former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb
Bush, could run against his sister-in-law, the 43rd president said: "Yeah,
and I think he'd beat her."

Bush said there's no question Clinton is formidable, but his brother is, as
well.

The potential Clinton vs. Bush matchup would pit two of the most important
American political dynasties of recent decades against each other for the
second time.

Bill Clinton ousted Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, in
the 1992 election. The younger Bush then defeated Clinton Vice President Al
Gore to succeed Clinton in the 2000 election.

Hillary Clinton ran for the job when Bush left office in 2008, but lost to
Barack Obama in the Democratic primary.

Both the former secretary of state and the Florida governor have maintained
their families' vast political and fundraising networks. Clinton would be
the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination, while Bush would
likely face a stiffer challenge from conservative critics during his
primary thanks to some of his positions on education and immigration policy.

Bush has urged Jeb to run for president, he's said in several recent
interviews. Jeb Bush, meanwhile, said this week that he plans to make a
decision early next year.

"He's seen what it's like to be the son of a president. He's seen what it's
like to be the brother of a president," Bush said. "And therefore he's
being very -- he is not rushing into running for the presidency. I have no
clue where his head is now."

*Fusion: “Meet the man behind the Hillary Clinton video that’s making
everyone groan”
<http://fusion.net/story/31558/hillary-clinton-country-music-video-stand-with/>*

By Brett LoGiurato

December 4, 2014, 6:05 p.m.

The world of social media emitted a collective groan Thursday morning with
the release of a music video promoting former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton for president in 2016.

The music video is the work of a pro-Clinton group called Stand With
Hillary, which launched recently and is one of a handful of independent
so-called “super PACs” seeking to boost Clinton’s potential campaign.

The group is based in Camarillo, California, and run by Daniel Chavez, a
longtime Democratic operative who worked on Clinton’s 2008 campaign and in
the administration of former President Bill Clinton.

The music video is country-themed, with an undisclosed singer blaring lines
like, “Guys, put your boots on and let’s smash this ceiling!” and, “She
fights for country and my family, now it’s time for us to stand up with
Hillary!” Images of Hillary Clinton with her husband and daughter flash
across the screen throughout the three-minute video.

Miguel Orozco, a 2008 Obama supporter responsible for a couple of viral
video hits, helped create the video and wrote the song’s lyrics.

In a phone interview, Chavez told Fusion he and Orozco wanted to create a
group that could promote Clinton to working-class people, young people, and
Latinos. The group kicked off with a country ballad to appeal to men, who
he says, like him, should be inspired by Clinton.

“One of the things we know Hillary will need is more male supporters,” he
said. “Women support will be there.”

“And country music is a perfect vehicle to relay stories, because so much
of country music is a great storytelling platform.”

The group is planning at least four more similar videos — with one aimed at
Latinos and another aimed at millennials.

“We want to rekindle that symmetry” that Clinton has with many people,
Chavez said. “Hillary represents a lot of good things to a lot of people.”

He said he hasn’t seen any of the reaction yet on social media, most of
which has been some variation of tweets like these:

[TWEETS]

*Wall Street Journal column: WSJ editorial board member James Taranto:
“Running on Half-Empty”
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/running-on-half-empty-1417727817>*

By James Taranto

December 4, 2014

[Subtitle:] Can Mrs. Clinton base a campaign on stereotypes?

Remember when she was inevitable? Ladbroke’s still rates Hillary Clinton a
heavy favorite in 2016, paying 4 to 9 on a bet that she’ll take the
Democratic nomination and 11 to 8—slightly more than even money—that she’ll
be elected president. But if it were our intention to place a bet on Mrs.
Clinton, we’d wait a while. Our suspicion is that the odds are about to
lengthen.

“There’s plenty of bad news for [Mrs.] Clinton in last month’s Quinnipiac
poll, the first national survey conducted since the November election,”
observes the Washington Examiner’s Michael Barone. “Clinton runs 1 point
behind Mitt Romney, 1 point ahead of Chris Christie, 4 points ahead of Paul
Ryan and 5 points ahead of Jeb Bush, Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee. None of
this can be blamed on low off-year turnout; the poll is of registered
voters.” For what it’s worth, the Ladbroke’s favorite other than Mrs.
Clinton is Jeb Bush, paying 8 to 1. But of course Bush or anyone else would
have to beat all other Republicans; Mrs. Clinton, only one.

Mrs. Clinton is having difficulties with retailing as well. Yesterday she
spoke at Georgetown University, her husband’s alma mater. The Washington
Post’s Dana Milbank notes that when she “spoke in the same place a year
ago, the room was reportedly packed”—so packed, apparently, that Milbank
couldn’t get in. She was there again in October, and the hall “again ‘was
filled to capacity,’ the campus newspaper reported; some students lined up
overnight and others were turned away.” (How Georgetown can afford all
these pricey speeches we’ll never know.)

Yesterday, according to Milbank, “half of the 700 seats in the place were
empty.” An optimist would say they were half-full, but we live in
pessimistic times. “Roughly half a dozen people rose to applaud, and for a
terrifying moment it appeared they might be the only ones standing. But
slowly, lazily, most of the others struggled to their feet.” Really,
“terrifying”? Ambassador Chris Stevens could not be reached for comment.

“Those who bothered to listen,” Milbank writes, “could have heard the
rationale for Clinton’s candidacy.” OK, let’s listen as Milbank quotes her:
“We know when women contribute in making and keeping peace, entire
societies enjoy better outcomes,” she said. “Women leaders, it has been
found, are good at building coalitions across ethnic and sectarian lines
and speaking up for other marginalized groups. . . . They act more as
mediators to help foster compromise and to try to organize, to create the
changes they seek.” So the rationale for Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy is that
she’s a woman and women are wonderful.

To be sure, this was in keeping with the theme of the occasion (a
conference called “Smart Power: Security Through Inclusive Leadership”
sponsored by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security). But
there’s further evidence that the central theme of Mrs. Clinton’s
campaign—if a campaign it is—is sex stereotypes. Stand With Hillary, a
super PAC supporting Mrs. Clinton, is out with a new 3½-minute ad featuring
a country song likewise titled “Stand With Hillary.”

National Journal has the full cringe-inducing lyrics (with value added in
the form of sarcastic commentary from NJ’s Emma Roller):

“I’ve been thinkin’ about one great lady like the women in my life [“Women”
≠ “one great lady”]

“She’s a mother, a daughter, and through it all, she’s a lovin’ wife [Are
these really the first credentials you want to cite for supporting someone
running for president?]

“Oh, there is something about her, this great lady, caring, hard-working,
once a First Lady [expertly rhymes “lady” with “lady”]

“She fights for country and my family, now it’s time for us to stand up”

We’d say Roller’s first complaint is overly pedantic, but the other two are
on target, and the second makes the important substantive point. To which
we would add that, while by all appearances Mrs. Clinton is indeed “a
lovin’ wife,” she is also a long-sufferin’ one, and the Clinton marriage
would be great material for an actual country song, if not a whole album.

The song does not mention that Mrs. Clinton served in the U.S. Senate or
the State Department—though it alludes to the latter by dropping the title
of her Foggy Bottom memoir (“And there’s some hard choices that need to be
made”). It does assert that she’s “got vision,” but says little about what
it is she sees.

In case great lady, mother, daughter, lovin’ wife and former first lady
don’t get the point across, the lyrics exhort: “Guys put your boots on, and
let’s smash this ceiling!” If you’ve ever wondered what an actual glass
ceiling looks like, this video won’t satisfy your curiosity: It shows
someone smashing a car windshield (which has already been vandalized with
spray paint).

“This is a smart way for [Mrs.] Clinton to position herself,” Milbank
asserts. “Last time, she largely avoided campaigning on her potential to be
the first female president.” But she lost to a man who largely avoided
campaigning on his potential to be the first black president. Other
countries have had female leaders, but can anyone imagine Golda Meir,
Margaret Thatcher or Angela Merkel asking her countrymen to vote for her on
the ground that “women . . . are good at building coalitions across ethnic
and sectarian lines and speaking up for other marginalized groups”?

Mrs. Clinton is starting to remind us of President Obama’s other secretary
of state, the haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat. Around this
time 12 years ago, we started to notice John Kerry’s compulsion to bring up
his service in Vietnam. It soon became clear that he had very little to say
apart from that.

None of which necessarily means that Mrs. Clinton won’t be the 45th
president of the United States. Kerry, after all, wound up easily taking
his party’s nomination and probably would have been elected if voters had
soured on George W. Bush in 2004 instead of 2005. As for Mrs. Clinton,
Milbank notes: “The bad news is she’s now tied to Obama’s foreign policy at
a time when the world seems to be falling apart.“ But she’s a great
lady—and, through it all, a lovin’ wife.

*Townhall.com column: D.W. Wilber: “Benghazi Baloney”
<http://townhall.com/columnists/dwwilber/2014/12/05/benghazi-baloney-n1927664/page/full>*

By D.W. Wilber

December 5, 2014

Forget the recent Congressional Committee report absolving the Obama
Administration of wrongdoing over the attacks in Benghazi which resulted in
the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other brave Americans.

The real question underlying Benghazi is why Americans serving this country
overseas were set up to be killed by a State Department who ignored
warnings from security experts that the Benghazi Consulate was ‘ripe for
the picking’ for terrorists intent on attacking Americans, and American
interests in Libya.

As has been the practice of this administration since it took office, the
default position is to obfuscate, delay, blame others, or lie when
confronted with their failures. Hence Susan Rice’s appearance on news
programs following the Benghazi tragedy.

As expected the “mainstream media” exhibited a remarkable lack of curiosity
about the details of the Benghazi attacks, beyond reporting the fact that
the attacks had occurred.

Once initial indications showed that the Obama Administration and Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton may have some culpability resulting from their
lack of security preparations as we approached the anniversary of September
11, 2001, the media went into full damage control mode protecting Obama and
Clinton as best they could.

Either questioning the integrity and motives of career diplomats,
investigators, and Congressional committees, or accusing outright that
calls for an investigation were “politically motivated”, The Obama
Administration, Hillary Clinton, and their allies in the news media went
into ‘attack mode’ as a means of covering up their own negligence.

Oh to have been a fly on the wall watching Secretary Clinton rehearse her
anticipated testimony before the congressional committee looking into the
Benghazi failures. Just how many ‘takes’ did it require for her to be able
to show the right amount of indignation as she pounded the table in front
of her in the rehearsal room ? Did she have to repeat it, watching the
video playback over and over so that she could get it right for her
performance in front of Congress ? One can imagine the laughter around the
room as Clinton screwed up her lines and had to ‘take it from the top’
again and again. A little chilling when one thinks about it, considering
what she was to testify about.

An unbiased look at the facts we do know about what happened in Benghazi
shows that at the least what was determined was there was evidence of poor
judgment and planning on the part of the Obama Administration’s State
Department, overseen by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Enough to harm her future political aspirations ? Apparently the Clinton’s
thought so, which is why they and their supporters went into full attack
mode against anyone, including honorable career diplomats, military
members, and other government officials who might present a potential
threat by telling the truth.

While the deaths of four dedicated Americans serving their country is
certainly a tragedy for the families of those who lost their lives, it’s
also a great loss for this nation. We depend upon dedicated and
conscientious people to help defend America’s interests overseas, and
spread the message of America as a beacon of freedom in a far too often
dangerous world. The fact that no one has been held accountable in the
Obama Administration and Hillary Clinton’s State Department is an outrage.

While career bureaucrats sat on their posteriors in Washington, D.C.
looking for ways to ‘cover their backsides’, courageous Americans put their
lives on the line, and in Benghazi gave their lives, in service to a
grateful nation.

*Washington Times: “Benghazi report ‘full of inaccuracies,’ say CIA
contractors”
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/4/benghazi-report-full-inaccuracies-say-cia-contract/>*

By Douglas  Ernst

December 4, 2014

The House Intelligence Committee’s report on the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist
attacks in Benghazi, Libya is being challenged by two CIA contractors who
were there when they happened.

John Tiegen and Kris Paronto told CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday that the
report was “full of inaccuracies.” Messrs. Tiegen and Paronto are the
authors of “13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In
Benghazi.”

Both men told the network that they tried to take the “high road,” but that
they cannot sit silent as they are disputed “by the same government we had
sworn to protect.”

A two-year investigation concluded in late November the Obama
administration acted properly during the attacks. It also cleared the CIA
and the military of any wrongdoing.

“We spent thousands of hours asking questions, poring over documents,
reviewing intelligence assessments, reading cables and emails, and held a
total of 20 committee events and hearings,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, Michigan
Republican and the committee’s chairman, and Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger
of Maryland, the ranking Democrat, in a joint statement, The Associated
Press reported Nov. 21.

“We conducted detailed interviews with senior intelligence officials from
Benghazi and Tripoli as well as eight security personnel on the ground in
Benghazi that night. Based on the testimony and the documents we reviewed,
we concluded that all the CIA officers in Benghazi were heroes. Their
actions saved lives,” they said, AP reported.

The two CIA contractors told CNN that the committee’s assertion that no one
was told to “stand down” is not true, and that the decisions of individuals
in leadership positions on that day contributed to the death of Ambassador
Christopher Stevens and foreign service officer Sean Smith. Two CIA
contractors, Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty, also died that night.

Messrs. Tiegen and Paronto also told the network that the U.S. government’s
claim that no intelligence failures happened in the lead up to the attacks
are untrue. They told CNN they were given a “BOLO” (be on the lookout)
report roughly two weeks earlier.

The notification read: “Be advised, we have reports from locals that a
Western facility or U.S. Embassy/Consulate/Government target will be
attacked in the next week.”

Susan Phalen, spokeswoman for the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN
that it stands behind the report and that a point-by-point response will
follow.

“It’s a pity though that the truth is something that’s not very popular in
today’s society,” the contractors told CNN.

*Calendar:*

*Sec. Clinton's upcoming appearances as reported online. Not an official
schedule.*

·  December 5 – Washington, DC: Sec. Clinton speaks at the Saban Forum (CNN
<https://twitter.com/danmericaCNN/status/539475682183880705>)

·  December 16 – New York, NY: Sec. Clinton honored by Robert F. Kennedy
Center for Justice and Human Rights (Politico
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/hillary-clinton-ripple-of-hope-award-112478.html>
)

·  January 21 – Saskatchewan, Canada: Sec. Clinton keynotes the Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce’s “Global Perspectives” series (MarketWired
<http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/former-us-secretary-state-hillary-rodham-clinton-deliver-keynote-address-saskatoon-1972651.htm>
)

·  January 21 – Winnipeg, Canada: Sec. Clinton keynotes the Global
Perspectives series (Winnipeg Free Press
<http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Clinton-coming-to-Winnipeg--284282491.html>
)

·  February 24 – Santa Clara, CA: Sec. Clinton to Keynote Address at
Inaugural Watermark Conference for Women (PR Newswire
<http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hillary-rodham-clinton-to-deliver-keynote-address-at-inaugural-watermark-conference-for-women-283200361.html>
)