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During the dark days of the Cold War, U.S. intelligence agencies engaged in "Kremlinology." This was the study and analysis of top Soviet officials in an attempt to guess what they would do next.
This was necessary because the Kremlin did almost everything in secret and shrouded everything visible with a heavy curtain of lies. If a regional party leader received a promotion, it might mean that this individual was headed for high office. Or, it might mean that he was a protege of another high official and the two would rise and fall in tandem. Or, it might even mean he was a protege of some official with powerful enemies and the elevation of his servant was intended to lull the target into a false state of security. Or, or, and or...
In a free democracy, Kremlinology isn't needed. Of course, governments and politicians try to keep their strategies secret; but we have the entire Fourth Estate which is supposed to labor mightily to ferret out what's going on. Individual politicians and bureacrats find it useful to have friends in the press. You make journalist friends by dropping a dime when you have something interesting to tell them, so most do.
That's why Mr. Obama's habit of prosecuting leakers has even the left worried. Some of the leakers, it's true, released classified secrets, which certainly deserves a very serious day in court. Mostly, the leakers were telling the American people things they need to know about government incompetence, political shenanigans, and the usual stuff that fills the daily fishwrap.
The President has mostly succeeded in his goal of frightening his minions into silence. Thus, when it comes to what the dying Obama administration is up to politically, we are left with the techniques of Kremlinology. Who is Mr. Obama's protege? Who is a threat to Mr. Obama's legacy, but too powerful for him to attack directly? What are his goals following his departure from the White House?
When Mr. Obama surprised everyone by beating Hillary Clinton for the nomination, it was generally expected that she would be awarded the consolation prize of high office - after all, that's the tradition for the runner-up. Nobody can say that being Secretary of State is chopped liver.
Some years on, though, it has something of the look of a poisoned chalice. As Gov. Scott Walker pointed out:
Everywhere in the world that Hillary Clinton has touched is worse off today than it was before she and the president took office.
Is this truly Hillary's fault, or are our ongoing foreign policy disasters caused by the terrible and destructive policies of Mr. Obama himself? As Hillary would say, "At this point, what difference does it make?" Hillary was at the controls when the world fell apart and she is getting the lion's share of the blame.
Now, Mr. Obama could come out and make a Harry Truman statement: "The buck stops here." Instead, he says nothing, letting Hillary take the rap for any foreign evil that happened on his watch.
He has, however, stated vehemently that Joe Biden hasn't been involved in foreign policy, even though that's not true. Nobody takes Mr. Biden seriously, not even Mr. Obama himself; he's had a very quiet few years as Vice President, generally noticed only when he emits a hysterical gaffe.
Considering the hash Mr. Obama's regime has made of just about everything, that may be the perfect foundation for a presidential run. As Vice President, Joe Biden knows everybody important both foreign and domestic. He can get anybody on the phone within a few minutes... and has had actual responsibility for absolutely nothing.
His genial incompetence has an attraction too, at least if you're Mr. Obama: Odds are, a President Joe Biden would simply leave most Obama appointees alone, and certainly leave alone those which have embedded themselves in the Federal bureaucracy. That makes it far more likely that Mr. Obama's policy poisons will continue to corrode our system, as opposed to, say, a President Trump, or even a President Mrs. Bill Clinton.
The Clintons' agenda is not always what Mr. Obama wants. As a fellow Democrat, Mr. Obama can't oppose her if she gets the nomination, and as an ex-member of his cabinet, he can't very well oppose her publicly either.
This all makes it highly suspicious that, finally, after many decades of thick, choking smoke from the Clintons, government prosecutors are starting to say that there might just possibly be a fire. The ongoing saga of Hillary Clinton's classified personal emails on her illegal private server has stayed in the news for months, unlike any previous Clinton scandal, and some scary people are actually asking serious questions.
Always before, the Clintons have been able to artfully slide out of legal trouble, hence the nickname Slick Willie. This time, their corruption is remaining firmly tied around Hillary's neck.
So.. why now? Why this? Is Mr. Obama wanting to dispose of Hillary Clinton once and for all, to clear the way for Puppet Joe Biden?
Or, is Mr. Obama wanting to show Hillary that he can get her sent to Club Fed if she doesn't play things his way? Is there shortly to be an offer she can't refuse?
Notice that we've not even discussed the possibility that the wheels of justice are turning as they ought. Unfortunately, the past years have proven that they don't anymore. We all know that Hillary Clinton doesn't have to obey laws that apply to the little people, and normally she doesn't.
The only thing that can take out a T-rex like Hillary is a bigger T-rex who controls the Justice Department. Is that what we're watching?
Now we know what it feels like to be Soviet, at least a little. Unlike the Soviets, we can freely write about what we're seeing, for the time being anyway. But we're no more enlightened than the Soviets who read Pravda, which should disturb us all.