The revelation that potential presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State has shown more about the media's open disdain for the Clintons than anything about Hillary herself. Incessant articles about elusive Democrats who want another nominee, the double standard about Republicans, and the flat out hostility toward Hillary has made the mainstream news look more like gossip columnists than guardians of the public's trust.
Within days of the story breaking that Hillary had a private server set up in her Chappaqua home to communicate via email, reporters on both the left and right tipped their biased hands by swirling in the political waters like blood lusting sharks. Immediately the air and web was filled with stories of the Rose Law Firm and secret health care task forces that were both beaten to death ad nauseam and long forgotten in the 1990s. In the delighted rush to judgment, few headlines depicted the fact that what Hillary did was no different than what former Secretary of State Collin Powell did with email while he was in office. Why isn't the media crying out that Secretary Powell had a private account and deleted all of his emails from his time in office? Could these deleted documents potentially show what went down before Powell's 2003 speech to the United Nations in an effort to sell the world on the Iraq War? Maybe these deleted emails prove that Bush and Cheney knowingly lied to the American people and should possibly be tried for war crimes? It's just awfully peculiar that the press, and frankly many members of congress, have fallen over themselves to paint Hillary's emails as smoking guns that finally demonstrate the evil Clinton core while barely acknowledging that she's not the first government official to use a private email account.
Then there's the other would be presidents who have gotten a free pass at Hillary's expense. While Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush was aghast at this supposed scandal and called on Secretary Clinton to be more transparent, we hear little about how Jeb himself only made select emails public from his tenure as Florida's Governor. Meanwhile, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said he's never written an email in his life. I can't even get into the shocking thought that someone who has never sent one email wants my vote to be the leader of the free world and one of the most sophisticated nations on the planet. I do wonder though, might we subpoena Senator Grahams' brain? After all there's bound to be evidence of collusion with other Republicans about how make Benghazi into a political football at the taxpayers' expense. One can only conclude then that if it wasn't Hillary's emails the press would have found something else to rip her apart about. Perhaps her infamous pant suits must be a secret signal for aliens watching our planet from afar that one of their own is about to invade the White House? The fact that male candidates wear suits too would not be relevant to the media. It's as ridiculous as email-gate.
Finally, if all of this wasn't enough evidence that many members of the press seem to hate the Clintons, I've read a barrage of mysterious reports about nameless Democratic operatives who are miffed at Hillary and want to see someone else run for president. This is mildly confusing as I'm a Democrat that considers myself fairly plugged in and I have not heard one other Democrat say anything close to this. In fact, the many people I've talked to, including a number of independents, stated this would make them want to vote for Hillary more. They recognize that if the media and Republicans are aligning to go after Hillary something is weird afoot. Perhaps it's a deep fear that Hillary will not only win in 2016, but be a powerful change agent for this country.
Whatever the reason, the rush to bury Hillary Clinton in a mound of emails smells funny. The unabashed gnashing of teeth on behalf of the press has stripped away the idea that the media will just report the facts and remain neutral. At the end of the day, it's not Hillary Clinton that comes off as untrustworthy from this story; it's the news reporters who have shown their cards and made it clear that no matter what Hillary does, they will find some reason to rip her to shreds.