Sunday, March 18, 2007

Hilliary's Secret Thesis

In 1993, Hilliary Clinton's 1969 senior thesis was locked away at Wellesley's college. Why? Because of a convenient rule that said the senior thesis of anyone was available to read at the archives, except the thesis of a president or first lady of the United States. Of course this rule came about after the Clinton family asked them to remove it. But it didn't take Indiana Jones to dig it up; when the Clinton's left office, her thesis also returned to the archives, as she is no longer the first lady.

Now I understand that people change after college. Now I'm no fan of her, but I'm going to defend Hilliary on the fact that she shouldn't have been judged by what she wrote several decades ago. What one writes in their senior thesis is likely not a good indicator of what they believe now. So I'd say in general one shouldn't be judged years later by their thesis.

I also understand that just because you write a paper on a topic doesn't mean you agree with the topic. Otherwise, my writing this would mean I agree with Hilliary Clinton, and I certainly do not. I don't know what stronger evidence of this there possibly is.

But this case is different. Why? As I said, I said she shouldn't have been judged on her thesis, not that she shouldn't be judged on her thesis. The difference? Because of the fact that they the Clintons had it hidden. If they're hiding something, then that suggests they don't want something to be found out. This was a horrible political move. If the thesis had been left quietly in the library of Wellesly, then I don't think this would have been an issue. They could have just shrugged off anything embarrassing as something naively written 30 plus years ago. But it was hidden, and so I say its fair grounds.

Another reason its fair grounds? She's running for the Office of the President of the United States, ruler of the free world, arguably the most important job in the whole world. (as compared to the Vice Presidency, arguably the least important job in the whole world.) Every comment, every scrap of paper, is grounds for analysis for anyone running for this high office. If anything, someone who is not the President or pursuing that office has more of a right to have their thesis hidden then the President or a Presidential candidate does, not less. Everyone running for it knows that you're endangered of burning up under the view of the magnifying glass that is the media's coverage of the election, for good or ill. Stick behind what you said or explain why its changed, but don't try hiding something. If someone covers up when running for office, what does that say about what they will do when in office?

So what was this classified document on? The tactics of the radical community organizer Saul D. Alinksy. Unfortunately, you are probably not going to be able to Google her thesis anytime soon. The only way to read it is to go to Wellesly and read the one copy there, no photocopying, or get the one copy circulating through the country through the interlibrary loan system. As far as the interlibrary loan, my guess it that its booked solid through past the Presidential Election. So you'd probably have to take a trip. If someone did release it unauthorized, Hilliary Clinton could sue them. Granted, that probably would be an even worse political move, as it would really make her thesis an issue, and it would already be circulating so people could actually read this forbidden document. But I'll leave it up for you to investigate her thesis any further if you want.