Hillary Clinton: 'responsible' but not 'accountable'

In the wake of the Capitol Hill hearings conservatives are still whining that nobody, including Ste. Hillary Clinton, is being held accountable for the deaths of Americans at the hands of terrorists at our consulate in Benghazi.

Clinton herself, of course, has repeatedly held herself "responsible" but not "accountable."

Don't bother to look up these two words in any standard dictionary. These words, used in a political context, have purely political definitions.

Attorney General Janet Reno publically took full responsibility for the government massacre of men, women and children at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas in 1993.

She even said "I'm accountable" but she was never actually "held accountable," meaning that she was never forced to resign, charged with a crime, or gently slapped on the wrist.

Hillary Clinton Erupts at Senator During Libya TestimonyHillary Clinton Erupts at Senator During Libya Testimony

Clearly those definitions have been carefully parsed, whitewashed and redefined since those days.

The New York Daily News published the transcript of Secretary of State Clinton's Congressional testimony on those Benghazi attacks for which she "takes responsibility."

The headline itself includes "Hillary Clinton takes responsibility" and Clinton says, buried in her 2,050-word statement, "I take responsibility," "taking responsibility" and "I felt the responsibility."

But two words she never used are "accountable" and "accountability."

Today the political class uses the term "responsible" to mean "Look at me, I'm a standup, trustworthy, dependable, honest public servant who would never attempt to pass the buck, make excuses, or try to wiggle out of that responsibility. I am answerable for what happened."

Responsible, answerable, liable, but never "accountable," because "accountable" smacks of chargeable, blamable, reprehensible, disgraced, wrong, punishable, legally subject to fines, incarceration, loss of higher office and political power.

It's not just the political classes that play this game of course. Their crony statists in the corporatist world have been singing this song for years.

The ruling class judicial system routinely allows favored "corporate persons" to settle criminal charges against them by "paying a fine without admitting wrongdoing."

They're "responsible" but not "accountable," so their transgressions are written off as just another way of laundering corporate money into political hands which had originally been laundered from political hands into corporate hands via corporate welfare subsidies.

Only the poor common citizen is ever held "responsible" and "accountable" and actually punished for sinning against the ruling class's legal dictates.

By contrast, entitled people like "responsible" Hillary Clinton get to run for president in four years.

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