Hillary Clintonâs infuriating response to alleged harassment during her 2008 campaign
Hillary Clinton
Former secretary of  state Hillary Clinton  speaks to and meets voters in Allendale  Mich.  on Nov. 7  2016. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
How do you write a primal scream? Because my head is about to explode over the story about alleged sexual harassment on  Hillary Clintonâs  2008 presidential campaign and  her  appallingly mild response  then and now.
To recap  while we were still reeling from the report that President Trump ordered the firing of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III last summer  the New York Times posted this: âHillary Clinton Chose to Shield a Top Adviser Accused of Harassment in 2008.â
According to the Timesâ Maggie Haberman and Amy Chozick  Burns Strider   Clintonâs  faith adviser â yes  faith adviser  you canât make this stuff up â was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a young woman with whom he shared a campaign office. The Times: â She  told a campaign official that Mr. Strider had rubbed  her  shoulders inappropriately  kissed  her  on the forehead and sent  her  a string of suggestive emails.â
The campaignâs response? Campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle recommended that Strider be fired. So did Jess OâConnell  the national director of operations  who handled the investigation. And  Clinton  herself? Not so much  apparently. The young woman  not identified in the story  was moved to a different job. Strider â then married  by the way â was âdocked several weeks of pay and ordered to undergo counseling.â Which  predictably  he never attended.
And  even more predictably  when he was hired years later to oversee an independent group backing  Clintonâs  second presidential campaign  âHe was fired after several months for workplace issues  including allegations that he harassed a young female aide  according to three people close to Correct the Recordâs management.â
This is head-exploding stuff  but thereâs worse to come. Because now â now  after Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo and Roy Moore â this was Hillary Clintonâs belated response  in its bland totality: âA story appeared today about something that happened in 2008. I was dismayed when it occurred  but was heartened the young woman came forward  was heard  and had her concerns taken seriously and addressed.â
And classically  infuriatingly  this episode and its aftermath exposes  once again  the trademark Clinton failure to take personal responsibility; the allergy to owning up to error; the refusal to cede any ground  no less apologize; the incessant double-standarding  with different  more forgiving rules for the Clintons and their loyalists. Imagine a Hillary Clinton who said something like this:
Imagine that Hillary Clinton. She doesnât exist.
Former secretary of  state Hillary Clinton  speaks to and meets voters in Allendale  Mich.  on Nov. 7  2016. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
How do you write a primal scream? Because my head is about to explode over the story about alleged sexual harassment on   [TGT] 2008 presidential campaign and   [TGT]   appallingly mild response  then and now.
To recap  while we were still reeling from the report that President Trump ordered the firing of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III last summer  the New York Times posted this: âHillary Clinton Chose to Shield a Top Adviser Accused of Harassment in 2008.â
According to the Timesâ Maggie Haberman and Amy Chozick  Burns Strider   Clintonâs  faith adviser â yes  faith adviser  you canât make this stuff up â was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a young woman with whom he shared a campaign office. The Times: â She  told a campaign official that Mr. Strider had rubbed  her  shoulders inappropriately  kissed  her  on the forehead and sent  her  a string of suggestive emails.â
The campaignâs response? Campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle recommended that Strider be fired. So did Jess OâConnell  the national director of operations  who handled the investigation. And  Clinton  herself? Not so much  apparently. The young woman  not identified in the story  was moved to a different job. Strider â then married  by the way â was âdocked several weeks of pay and ordered to undergo counseling.â Which  predictably  he never attended.
And  even more predictably  when he was hired years later to oversee an independent group backing  Clintonâs  second presidential campaign  âHe was fired after several months for workplace issues  including allegations that he harassed a young female aide  according to three people close to Correct the Recordâs management.â
This is head-exploding stuff  but thereâs worse to come. Because now â now  after Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo and Roy Moore â this was Hillary Clintonâs belated response  in its bland totality: âA story appeared today about something that happened in 2008. I was dismayed when it occurred  but was heartened the young woman came forward  was heard  and had her concerns taken seriously and addressed.â
And classically  infuriatingly  this episode and its aftermath exposes  once again  the trademark  [TGT]  failure to take personal responsibility; the allergy to owning up to error; the refusal to cede any ground  no less apologize; the incessant double-standarding  with different  more forgiving rules for the Clintons and their loyalists. Imagine a  [TGT]  who said something like this:
Imagine that  [TGT] .  [TGT]  doesnât exist.