Evaluate Hillary Clinton on More Than the Odometer Reading

Despite the impression one may have gotten from the drooling, sloppy tongue bath she received for her service as Secretary of State from her Democrat colleagues prior to her Congressional testimony on the attack on our consulate in Benghazi or the lavish praise heaped upon her by the liberal media for her performance at that same event, Hillary's tenure at the helm of the State Department was anything but stellar and her testimony at the hearing was down right disgraceful.

From her embarrassing initial trip to Russia where she presented the Foreign Minister with a "Staples Easy" button to show America's desire to reset our relationship with his country which didn't translate very well to her unbelievably weak final act as Secretary of State trying to explain away what happened in Benghazi, Hillary Clinton has been a disaster as our top diplomat.

For me the last straw came during her exchange with Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) when she apparently didn't like his questions. Johnson asked questions trying to get the Secretary to explain why the Administration didn't clarify the record as to the events that led up to the Benghazi attack. A frustrated Clinton snapped back, "With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans.  Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make?" What difference indeed? With all due respect Madame Secretary, it makes a great deal of difference - unless the truth doesn't make any difference. She went on to say the important thing is to understand why it happened and to keep it from happening again in the future. Exactly how were we to determine what happened when she and other Administration officials insisted that there was some connection between an anti-Islam YouTube video when it was clear early on that there was none. Further, I'm sure it would make a difference to her had one of the dead Americans been her daughter, Chelsea. The loved ones of Ambassador Chris Stevens and the others deserve answers. And while months were wasted perpetuating the falsehood about the a video, we recently learned from Algerian military officials that some of the very same terrorists responsible for the attack in Benghazi were also responsible for the Algerian Gas facility hostage crisis in which 3 more Americans lost their lives. So much for preventing something like this from happening again.

As bad as the complete disregard for the truth is, the political ramifications are far worse and will have much longer lasting adverse effects. It played an important role in the re-election of President Obama by giving the impression that his policies in North Africa and against Al Qaeda have been successful. In fairness, progress has been made in combatting Al Qaeda but it isn't "on the ropes" as the American public was led to believe during the 2012 presidential campaign and the handling of the Arab Spring has been nothing short of completely incompetent. Instead of governments friendly to the United States, North Africa is now run by Islamic regimes that are openly hostile to America. This and the compromising political impact of the Benghazi cover-up will direct the course of the United States for decades.

Hillary's champions declare her to be one of American's greatest Secretaries of State but the assessment of her performance has to be based on more than just the number of foreign countries she visited or miles she racked up on the odometer. America's standing in the world has not improved under Clinton which is the true measure of success not her frequent flyer miles. My high school football coach used to say, "People remember best what you do last." For the sake of the country,  I hope he is right and America remembers Hillary for the intellectually, politically, ethically, spiritually and moral bankrupt person she is based on her Benghazi testimony. Then maybe this will be the last we hear of America's most travelled Secretary of State.