The Trial of Hillary Clinton

This article comes at a time of rising tension between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, as there is a big difference between these two candidates. Mr. Trump, a hot-headed businessman who did not pay his taxes for many years, aims to grab women between their legs without consent, create a wall between the Mexico–United States border and remove all Muslims from the United States if he becomes President. Whereas, Hillary Clinton, a champion for the working class, has a dream to create a better America for all Americans regardless of their race, faith or sexual orientation. This is why I support Hillary Clinton to be President Obama’s successor.

“There has never been a man or a woman more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as the President of the United States of America,” said President Obama about Hillary Clinton. Even the New York Times and Washington Post, two newspapers that reported about Clinton’s misuse of private emails as Secretary of State, endorsed Hillary for her efforts to create economic and social development from below, stating that “Hillary has shown herself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into practical action for the benefit of millions of people, not only in America, but also in many other countries like Bangladesh.” However, this is just a snapshot of the admiration for Clinton, who wrote “It Takes a Village” to present her vision for children around the world. As First Lady of Arkansas, she led a task force whose recommendations helped reform Arkansas’s public schools. She also invited Muhammad Yunus to launch a Grameen Bank type project to help poor Arkansans break their cycle of poverty. As a First Lady of the United States, she helped create the State Children’s Insurance Program. She also visited Bangladesh to meet with poor women of the Grameen Bank. As the first female senator of New York, she took a leading role in investigating the health issues faced by 9/11 first responders and victims. As Secretary of State, she fought for poor women around the world. She visited Dhaka many times to convince Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina not to break the Grameen Bank into 18 piece.

However, Donald Trump has a different opinion of Clinton. He considers Hillary a devil, stating that “she is a nasty lady who is supposed to be in jail for using a private email address during her tenure as a secretary of state.” Trump not only caused a firestorm but also revealed a profoundly distorted view held by the GOP. This shows that Republicans will do anything, even spit in the face of a woman who has served America for more than three decades. Thus, I will vote for Hillary on Nov. 8th for three reasons: (1) She helped kill Osama bin Laden; (2) She saved Grameen Bank, which is owned by the 10 million poor women of Bangladesh, from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina; and (3) She did not break any laws by using a private email account.

(1) The Killing of Osama bin Laden:

It was September 11, 2001—the day Rakibul, my only brother, survived. I was working at LaGuardia Community College when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers. My brother was in the South Tower (World Trade Center II), so I ran there as soon as news broke out about the attack. As soon as I arrived near 1 Liberty Plaza, I got caught in the fallout of the first collapse (North Tower) but continued running toward the South Tower to find my brother. However, I couldn't outrun the smoke and had to crawl under a van to avoid the debris. I started choking, and my eyes burned; the air had turned black. I thought the van would move and kill me. Someone dragged me into the van, and I later found myself in a hospital. In a panic, I fled the hospital and ran toward the Twin Towers again with the hope of seeing my brother there. I went north on the West Side Highway, along with thousands of other terrified people. I waited there all day, watching everything go down, including the fall of the South Tower, but I did not see my brother. I saw men and women jumping from windows in a desperate bid to escape the fire within. I saw them hit the ground—saw their blood on the street. I had, until now, forgotten all about these horrors (probably because, by a miracle, my brother survived). On that day, however, I decided to dedicate my life to eradicating terrorism through education. My efforts gained momentum when I got into NYU as a CRISP Scholar. While there, I spent a lot of time at the Bobst Library, where I wrote many Anti-Islamic State articles, such as “Trial of Malala,” “Taliban Terror,” “I’m Muslim & I’m Charlie,” “Terror of Islamic State,” “To be Muslim and not to Be?,” “I’m Muslim & I Love Gays” and “Make Islam Great Again.” This is why I was ecstatic when the combined leadership of President Obama and Hillary Clinton put an end to Osama bin Laden.

(2) Saving Grameen Bank from Sheikh Hasina:

It was April 4, 1995. Hillary and Chelsea Clinton sat on a military transport as it bumped along from Dhaka, Bangladesh to the rural southwest of the country, Jessore. They both wore Grameen Check, a typical dress made famous by Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank. A group of Grameen borrowers, most of whom were lower caste Hindus known as “untouchables,” were waiting to meet with Hillary and Chelsea and ask them questions about their status and self-reliance as women. As soon as Hillary arrived in Jessore, they asked her a series of questions, such as "Do you have cattle in your house?"

"No," Hillary smiled in acknowledgment of a world in which the difference between one cow and a few cows in a household is the difference between night and day. In 1983, Hillary invited Yunus to travel to Arkansas to help her set up micro-credit programs in Little Rock. Since that time, during her 1995 travels to Bangladesh and around the world, she has had the opportunity to meet many Grameen program participants and hear the ways in which these loans have transformed their lives. To this day, I continue to be inspired by the beneficial impact of these projects on low-income women and their families. Thus, I decided to meet former president Bill Clinton in 2004 to gain his support in translating his book, My Life, for the Weekly Tikana. I also translated Hillary Clinton’s biopic, Living History, for the Bangla Patrika. I even published a book about Bill and Hillary in 2006.

Ivy League Love Story (আইভিলিগ লাভ স্টোরি)"When Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina removed Yunus from Grameen Bank and wanted to break the bank into 18 pieces, Hillary made many trips to Bangladesh to meet with Hasina personally. She was able to convince her that Grameen was the bank not only of Muhammad Yunus but also of the impoverished 10 million. As Secretary of State, she had no obligation to save a bank in Bangladesh, yet she did it anyway because she cares about the poor.

(3) The Trial of Hillary Clinton

FBI Chief James Comey told Congress at a July 7th House hearing that the investigation of Clinton’s emails was closed. However, on Oct. 28th, he sent a letter to Congress stating that the FBI would review new information in the case. The letter read: “In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” From there, the attack on Hillary has unfolded like a fable, with Trump unveiling one allegation after another. These have included claims that Hillary is too corrupt to be a president and that Republicans will impeach her if she becomes President. Trump’s disparaging behavior comes at a time when we need to join together to end the Islamic State, an epidemic which is the result of wrong foreign policies by the Republican party. Therefore, instead of taking this to the Supreme Court (because Trump believes the decision will be rigged), let’s take this case to the Court of Solomon (the Son of David, according to the Old Testament) to see whether Hillary has broken the law:

Hillary and Trump are now at the imaginary Court of King Solomon (President Obama and FBI Chief James Comey are also present). Hillary claims that she has worked all her life to promote education, cure AIDS and eradicate poverty. She also admits that she made a mistake by using a private email account. Trump claims that he has a monopoly over America as a billionaire businessman and, thereby, should win the election. He also claims that Hillary should be in jail because she has broken the law by using a private email account. After interviewing Trump and Hillary, King Solomon wants to ask FBI Chief James Comey a few questions:

King Solomon: When did Clinton set up her private server, and where was it located?

James Comey: While she was a senator and during her 2008 presidential campaign. She continued to use her personal email throughout her term as Secretary of State.

Solomon: Was she allowed to use her personal email for government business?

Comey: Yes, the occasional use of a personal email account is permitted in certain circumstances, such as emergencies.

Solomon: Was she allowed to use a private server?

Comey: No.

Solomon: Did Clinton seek government approval to use a private server for her personal email account?

Comey: No.

Solomon: Did other secretaries of state use personal emails for government business?

Comey: Yes, such as Mr. Colin Powell.

Solomon: Did Clinton have a government email account?

Comey: No, she declined to have one setup for her.

Solomon: When did the public learn that Hillary used a personal email account to conduct government business?

Comey: It was not known that Clinton used her private email account exclusively for government business until the New York Times broke the story on March 2, 2015.

Solomon: Were any work-related emails intentionally deleted?

Comey: There is no evidence to date that work-related emails were intentionally deleted.

Solomon: When did the FBI began its investigation, and why?

Comey: We decided to investigate after the New York Times and Washington Post reported about it. By the end of July 2015, we had reviewed all of Hillary’s emails and found that four of them contained classified information.

Solomon: Did Clinton or her staff violate any federal laws or policies?

Comey: Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.

Solomon: Is the FBI investigation on Hillary’s emails closed?

Comey: No, we have reopened the investigation.

Solomon: Why did you write an open letter to Congress disclosing it 11 days before the election? Aren’t you aware this action will severely disrupt the election?

Comey: I did it in the best interest of the American people.

Solomon [looks at President Obama and asks him the following question]: Did Mr. Comey violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits the abuse of power by government employees near election time?

President Obama: We don’t operate on incomplete information. We don’t operate on leaks. We operate based on concrete decisions that are made.

After some thought, King Solomon ordered America to be divided into two pieces: Red America, which was to be ruled by Trump, and Blue America, which was to be ruled by Hillary. By doing this, Solomon was able to observe their reactions and determine the true lover of America. Upon hearing this terrible verdict, Hillary cried out, “Please, my lord, give him the presidency but do not break America into two pieces.” However, Trump, in his bitter arrogance, exclaimed, “It shall be divided into two pieces, and I shall be the President of Red America.”

Realizing that Hillary Clinton was the true lover of America, King Solomon instantly announced her to be the 45th President of the United States of America.

I digress, but the above imaginary court of King Solomon offers an important lesson: Republican candidate Donald Trump has become a monster, and his propaganda against Hillary has influenced many people, including Comey. However, Trump’s profound mistake is not that he has detailed the adverse effects of Hillary’s use of a private email account but, rather, that he wants to impeach her if she becomes President.

One does not have to be Einstein to understand that the work of great people—including Isaac Newton and, yes, Albert Einstein, himself—is tied to trials and tribulations. Every invention, innovation, theory, concept (e.g., Gravity) and executive decision (e.g., Using a personal email account for convenience) has its own humiliating shortcomings. Yes, we can argue that Hillary should have never used a private email account or that she should have done more to eradicate poverty through the Clinton Foundation. Instead, Trump turns on her and says, “Hillary, you are a nasty lady, and you should be in jail.”

Let’s not vote for a man who will divide us into a Red and Blue America. Instead, let’s vote for unity. Let’s vote Hillary, who believes there is only one America—the United States of America.

Rashidul Bari teaches Mathematics at the College of Staten Island and Physics at Brooklyn Tech. His websites is: Bari Science Lab