Crossing Fingers

I listened to  Hilary Clinton assure a crowd of supporters that the whole email debacle was a rightwing conspiracy, drummed up for purely political reasons.  She went on to assure them that she committed no crime, that there were no emails on her private server that were "classified."

Although I am not certain, I lean toward believing her - that there were none legally or technically classified.  But, the FBI is finding quite a few that are deemed classified.  So, while they were not labeled classified, they should have been.  And, if she had ran them through the proper channels, instead of her private server, they would have been.  Regardless, the information is such that it was and is of national interest that it be safeguarded.

It seems to me that Hilary is playing a little loose with the truth and with national security information.  That is is playing a game not to unlike what kids in my day who would say something, knowing that it was not factual, but crossing their fingers behind their backs so that technically it was not a lie.  Some might say she is lying but that would depend on "what the definition of 'is' is."

In the days when Jesus walked the earth, it was common to take oaths, swearing on certain things.  What you swore on, not the validity of the oath, determined whether it was technically a breech of the truth: “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath'" (Matt 23:16).

So, were there classified emails on her private server?  I can't say, the jury is not in just yet.  Were there emails that should have been classified?  Apparently so.  What is without question is that Hilary is losing believability.  Her poor choice as Secretary of State to conduct business through a private server in her home instead of one monitored by our intelligence has caused her to blur the lines between honesty and deception.

So what?  What is that to us?  Well, apart from her potentially having oversight of all national secrets, there is the fact that Hilary is not alone in crossing her fingers.  All of us are tempted to say something that is not technically a lie but it is a misdirection or blurring of the lines.  We need to say no to the temptation to allow the appearance of truth to be more important than the truth.  Why?  Well, for many reasons, but let me offer just one: "There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, …" (Pr 6:16-17)  Jus' Say'n.