It’s Monday, September 5th, Labor Day 2016…but before we begin, two things.  First, it’s our contention Labor Day, like Organized Labor in general, is an anachronism which no longer serves the function for which it was designed.  As we observe in the Quote of the Day above, shouldn’t a paycheck suffice as recognition for a job well done?  That is, unless the paycheck in question is for union labor; in which case the job likely wasn’t well done…hence the need for faux recognition with an employer/taxpayer funded holiday.

Second, courtesy of Bob Chagares and Balls Cotton respectively, two Weinersnippzels: Barney Frank’s dream ticket…

…and the contempt in which we’ll always hold Colin Kaepernick:

Now, here’s The Gouge!

Leading off the Labor Day 2016 edition, the WSJ reveals the damning evidence contained in…

The FBI’s Clinton File

Vanishing digital devices, memory lapses and withheld emails.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation waited until the Friday afternoon before Labor Day weekend to release its investigation summary and interview notes with Hillary Clinton about her private email server, and no wonder. The new information makes a hash of what’s left of the former Secretary of State’s credibility.

Mrs. Clinton is running for President as an experienced statesman, but her handling of classified material was even more reckless about state secrets and disdainful of public records laws than even we had thought. Start with her convenient memory lapses.

For example, Mrs. Clinton told the FBI that she “did not know” that the “(C)” marks on classified material meant classified and “speculated it was referencing paragraphs marked in alphabetical order.” Yet in her famous—and last—press conference about the emails in March 2015 she said, “I’m certainly well aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material.” To the public she claims to be a sharp professional who knows the score; to the FBI she presents herself as a clueless grandee who left the details to her minions.

The only time Barack Hussein’s ever told the truth in his miserable life.

Mrs. Clinton even told FBI agents she “never had a concern” with how discussions of potential drone strikes were handled and classified and “could not recall a specific process for nominating a target for a drone strike.” In all, she told the FBI 27 times that she “could not recall” or “did not remember specifically” key details and events.

Mrs. Clinton also said in March 2015 that she used private email so she could use only one digital device, and her legal team turned two Blackberries over to the FBI. But the FBI identified 13 other mobile devices and five iPads that had potentially processed classified material. The Clintons were “unable to locate any of these devices” and only three of the iPads, says the FBI…”

In a related item, NRO‘s Andrew McCarthy wonders about one underreported aspect of James Comey’s increasingly-suspect “investigation”:

Hillary Clinton’s Mind-Boggling FBI Interview – What Was Cheryl Mills Doing There?

“As David and Rich have already noted, the FBI-302 report of the interview of Hillary Clinton, along with the other notes of investigation released today, make for mind boggling reading. Most bracing is the fact that Mrs. Clinton had her server wiped clean sometime between March 25 and 31, 2015, only three weeks after the New York Times on March 3 broke the story of the server system’s existence. David notes that, at the same time the Democrats’ Janus-faced presidential nominee was outwardly taking the position that she “want[ed] the public to see my email,” she was having her minions frantically purge her emails behind the scenes.

I’d add that this was five months before she feigned ignorance when Fox News’s Ed Henry pressed her on whether she’d “tried to wipe the entire server … so there could be no email – no personal, no official.” Henry finally asked, “Did you wipe the server?” Famously, Clinton scoffed, “Like with a cloth or something?” But we now know, as the FBI notes recount, she had the server purged with a sophisticated software program, BleachBit, which eventually made it extraordinarily difficult for the FBI to recover her emails, several thousand of which were successfully destroyed.

…Among the most eye-popping claims Clinton made to the FBI was that she was unfamiliar with the markings on classified documents. Yes, you read that correctly: one of the highest ranking national security officials in the United States government – an official whose day-to-day responsibilities extensively involved classified information; who had secure facilities installed in her two homes (in addition to her office) so she could review classified information in them; and who acknowledged to the FBI that, as secretary of state, she was designated by the president as “an Original Classification Authority,” meaning she had the power to determine what information should be classified and at what level – had the audacity to tell the interviewing agents that she did not know what the different classification symbols in classified documents signified.

…Mind you, Mrs. Clinton was not just secretary of state for four years. She was a United States senator for eight years, during nearly all of which she was assigned to the Senate Armed Services Committee (and such Armed Services components as the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities). Reviewing classified information, including highly sensitive national defense secrets, is a routine part of that committee’s work.

…Finally, something else about those lawyers. I nearly fell out of my chair upon reading the very first paragraph of the notes of Clinton’s interview, which identifies the lawyers for Clinton who were permitted to be present for the interview. Among them is Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s longtime confidant and chief-of-staff at the State Department.

Readers may recall that I suggested back in May that “the fix” was in in the investigation of the Clinton emails. The reason was that the Justice Department was allowing Cheryl Mills – a witness, if not a subject, of the investigation – to invoke attorney-client privilege on behalf of Mrs. Clinton in order to thwart the FBI’s attempt to inquire into the procedure used to produce Clinton’s emails to the State Department. Mills was a participant in that procedure – and it is the procedure in which, we now know, well over 30,000 emails were attempted to be destroyed, including several thousand that contained government-related business.

When she worked for Clinton at State, Mills was not acting in the capacity of a lawyer – not for then-Secretary Clinton and not for the State Department. Moreover, as Clinton’s chief-of-staff, Mills was intimately involved in issues related to Clinton’s private email set up, the discussions about getting her a secure BlackBerry similar to President Obama’s, and questions that were raised (including in FOIA requests) about Clinton’s communications.

That is to say, Mills was an actor in the facts that were under criminal investigation by the FBI. Put aside that she was not Mrs. Clinton’s lawyer while working for the State Department; as I explained in the May column, Mills, after leaving the State Department, was barred by ethical rules from acting as Mrs. Clinton’s lawyer “in connection with a matter in which the lawyer participated personally and substantially as a public officer or employee.”

There is no way Mills should have been permitted to participate as a lawyer in the process of producing Clinton’s emails to the State Department nearly two years after they’d both left. I thought it was astonishing that the Justice Department indulged her attorney-client privilege claim, which frustrated the FBI’s ability to question her on a key aspect of the investigation. But it is simply unbelievable to find her turning up at Mrs. Clinton’s interview – participating in the capacity of a lawyer under circumstances where Clinton was being investigated over matters in which Mills participated as a non-lawyer government official…”

For those of you unfamiliar with the brilliant Andrew McCarthy, having served as assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York for some 10 years, during which time he led the successful 1995 terrorism prosecution against Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman for ’93 World Trade Center bombing, he knows of what he speaks.  Which is more than we can say for Jim Comey…or anyone else in the Clinton campaign. 

However, as this meme forwarded by Jeff Foutch suggests, there is one aspect of Hillary’s candidacy which is undeniably noteworthy:

Next up, Townhall.com‘s Guy Benson relates how this Nigerian prince wasn’t the only Clinton Foundation donor who realized a return on their…investment:

Quid Pro Quo: Clinton Foundation Donor Granted Private Meeting With Hillary, Bill Accessed Donor’s Jet

This, via the New York Times, is just another small tableau emerging from the Clintons’ lucrative web of big money, privilege, influence and power. A major Clinton Foundation donor and CEO wanted a private meeting with Hillary, which was dutifully arranged by Huma Abedin — a woman whose unusual role occupied a blurry gray area somewhere in between public employee and private operative. And then Bill Clinton was given access to that donor’s private jet. A very cozy, mutually beneficial transaction…

Clinton’s defenders in the media often make two claims: (1) There’s no direct evidence of illegality or clear-cut corruption, and (2) the Clinton Foundation has done some important work fighting global poverty and international health crises like HIV/AIDS.  On the first point, there are conflicting reports about whether there is a major federal investigation into the Clinton Foundation currently underway.…On point two, I’m certain that the Clinton Foundation and Global Initiative has done some good humanitarian work, despite criticisms of its money allocation and exorbitant overhead costs.  But this is irrelevant.  Just because an entity does some good does not absolve it from legal, ethical and political scrutiny on other fronts.  This defense is reminiscent of Obamacare apologias: The law has helped some people.  Sure, but those benefits do not and cannot erase the harms it has inflicted on even more people, nor does it cancel out its many broken promises and failures (deliberately broken promises and purposeful failures!).  Ignore that, look over here instead.

One last point: If the Clintons simply wanted to engage in philanthropic work on behalf of humanity without nosy Republicans or journalists constantly sniffing around, they could have easily done so by declining to operate their ‘slush fund’ during Hillary’s time at the State Department.

…Her denial squad can argue that there’s nothing to see here until they’re blue in the face, but the American people have not been fooled:

And the 30% are either on Hillary’s payroll or brain-dead!

Hillary Clinton is ethically unfit to be president.

No bout adout it: Hillary’s as crooked as a dog’s hind leg…and about as attractive as a dog’s…

In other words…

Speaking of lying b*tches, The WSJ reports on…

The Virtues of Presidential Golf

His health plan failed, but Obama can still have a legacy on the links.

“Conservatives should resolve this Labor Day weekend not to complain if Barack Obama is spotted on a golf course while national news is breaking. The President was criticized for hitting the links on Martha’s Vineyard last month while Louisianans suffered through historic flooding. But it’s probably better for all concerned if the President enjoys some fresh air and a favorite pastime.

Not that the President has been neglecting the game. In August he notched his 300th round as President. That may seem excessive—and Mr. Obama is known for a leisurely pace on the course. But think of it as the better part of a year that Mr. Obama didn’t spend drafting executive orders. Considering the flood of regulation that continues to pour out of the Obama Administration even in its waning months, an afternoon on the greens could be the economic pause that refreshes.

…Links magazine notes that Mr. Obama has “a decent swing (albeit with a pronounced chicken-wing follow-through).”…”

It’s worth noting the Journal also offered this observation on Slick Willy:

“Bill Clinton would present a formidable challenge—if anyone believed his scores. According to Links, Mr. Clinton “has a solid game, albeit very difficult to quantify because of his penchant for mulligans and gimmes. If golf is truly a window into a person’s character and personality, there is no better example than the 42nd President, whose bending of the rules on the course could be said to be a mirror of his truth-stretching statements in his personal life.”“

We can attest personally to Clinton’s mid-round mulligans and proclivity for…creative…scoring, having personally witnessed them at Lakeside Golf Club.  We were proud at the time to have refused the opportunity to shake his hand…and remain so.

Since we’re on the subject of Slick Willy and The Obamao:

And this little tidbit from Matt Vespa should make us all feel confident in the potential legality of the upcoming election:

DHS: We May Declare Elections System ‘Critical Infrastructure‘

“Voter databases were hacked in two states this week. According to Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News, Illinois and Arizona had their residents’ voter data downloaded by parties reportedly associated with Russian intelligence.

…This is some serious news, one that prompted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to consider whether DHS should consider out election system to be reclassified as “critical infrastructure” (via Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner):

“We should carefully consider whether our election system, our election process, is critical infrastructure like the financial sector, like the power grid,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said.“There’s a vital national interest in our election process, so I do think we need to consider whether it should be considered by my department and others critical infrastructure,” he said at a media conference earlier this month hosted by the Christian Science Monitor…”

After all, Jeh’s group has been doing such a bang-up job in its primary area of responsibility…

…why not load ’em up with more?!?  And it’s not as if Johnson, a prominent partisan Progressive, would ever consider sacrificing the security and integrity of America’s electoral processes to ensure Hillary’s ascension to office?!?

Think The Windy City…

…on a national scale!

Finally, on The Lighter Side…

For those who actually provide an honest day’s work for an honest wage, enjoy your Monday off!

Magoo