The irony of it all: Hillary's server was safer from hackers than the State Department's.

The irony is Clinton's email server was safer from hackers than the State Department's.

The GOP inspired hunt to turn over every pebble to find proof that Hillary Clinton was a liar about her emails, that there were no classified email on her private server, has a new twist. Reports are that her log shows her private server was not hacked. What server was safer from hackers? The State Department's or Hillary Clinton's private one? The answer: Clinton's. That may not have been her intent when she set up the system to have a safer server, but the irony was hers was safer. In 2014 and 2015  the State Department and White House email servers were hacked. Fingers pointed to Russians.

Trying to pin Benghazi missteps that proved guilt for her misstatements and actions causing  the attack or finding criminal misdeeds in the private email server records so far have been factual dead ends . However it has served the GOP well in damaging Hillary's personal credibility with both their own base and even potential Democratic support of her.

Is that fair?  While all is fair in politics, love, and war it seems, the fact checkers show exactly the opposite. Her statements ranks high in truthfulness when compared to most other candidates in the race or other politicians.   It is especially true when compared to Donald Trump, to whom all major fact checkers awarded the Liar of the Year title. Yet in polls she is tied with Trump on that issue.

These attacks on Hillary's trustworthiness verifies the success of  a political tactic,  When opponents repeat an accusation or suspicion time and time again and then cite their own attempt to prove their  point, the attempt itself  takes on its own credibility and it becomes the gospel truth.

This is not to say that Clinton is off the hook for not being completely truthful or  touting her half of half truths, Two wrongs do not make a right.  Relatively speaking when compared to others, she comes out fairly well, though.

So far her claims about her private server and Benghazi  are cases in point. Trying to pin Clinton directly to  Benghazi missteps that caused miscommunications or the attack itself, and even criminal guilt on the private email server records, so far  have  been factual dead ends . However it has served the GOP well in  damaging Hillary's personal credibility.  In polls, she is shown as the least honest and untruthworthy of all candidates and the perception is held by both Democrats and Republicans .

There is another element of telling lies.  What was the intent.? Did the accused know otherwise or was the statement based upon ignorance or faulty knowledge of intelligence?  Was the alleged lie used to exaggerate or hype a point, such as Donald Trump's continued assertion many Muslims cheered the fall of the Twin Towers even after evidence to the contrary was revealed? Did George W Bush intentionally lie about weapons of mass destruction as a reason to invade Iraq or was faulty intelligence a contributor to his statements on which he acted.

 The bottom line, though, should be if  Hillary Clinton's  statements claimed to be false had any impact on national security or shaping national security policy. So far, that has not even been the  accusation made  by her most partisan critics. To the contrary, the Benghazi result was beefing up funding  and changing policies and military strategies protecting US embassies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/04/us/politics/security-logs-of-hillary-clintons-email-server-are-said-to-show-no-evidence-of-hacking.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/politics/how-russians-hacked-the-wh/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/16/state-dept-computers-hacked_n_6167696.html

http://m.dailykos.com/story/2016/2/8/1478776/-Why-Do-People-Hate-Hillary-Clinton-So-Much

http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/poll-hillary-clinton-least-honest-and-trustworthy-of-all-presidential-candidates/

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/embassy-security-three-years-after-benghazi

http://www.factcheck.org/2016/01/the-whoppers-of-2015/

http://www.factcheck.org/person/hillary-clinton/

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/dec/21/2015-lie-year-donald-trump-campaign-misstatements/