Clinton Supporters Need to Wake Up

What do Greece, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump have in common?

Well, the two all but confirmed candidates for the White House next November might enjoy a souvlaki and Donald Trump might even like dancing a sirtaki from time to time, like Zorba. Otherwise, there may appear to be no direct links between Trump, Clinton, and the cradle of democracy. Still, a little digging—archaeology is an Ancient Greek word after all—reveals an interesting relationship that all comes together with Marc Mezvinsky.

The Greek crisis, after devastating thousands of families in that country, has hurt some American bankers and investors with some friendly fire. One particular investor who has felt the burn of standing too far from the Parthenon’s shade is Marc Mezvinsky. He is no ordinary financier. He is none other than Chelsea Clinton’s husband and son-in-law to one aspiring president of the United States, Hillary Clinton.

“Aristotle” Mezvinsky—as they now like to call him in the Athens acropolis—has recently closed his hedge fund specializing in Greek stocks. Why would anyone do such a thing, you ask? Isn’t it risky, you ask? Indeed, the fund lost some 90% of its value—Opa! (Source: “Clinton Son-in-Law’s Firm Is Said to Close Greece Hedge Fund,” The New York Times, May 10, 2016.)




Back in New York, where he will soon be known as the “Socrates of Wall Street,” Mezvinsky has burned almost all of the savings of the investors who gave him $25.0 million to invest in Greece—not knowing it’s better known as “Athens roulette.”

“Greece is back on the path to growth,” he said in 2014 to persuade investors to embark on his Greek investment cruise through the Eaglevale Hellenic Opportunity fund. (Source: Ibid.)

One of the fund’s losers is famed banker Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs’s CEO. As it happens, that is the very same investment bank where Chelsea Clinton’s husband worked for years. Goldman Sachs lent its name as testament to the fund’s viability to promote this most unfortunate concept of a “financial instrument.” (Source: “Hedge Fund Co-Founded by Chelsea Clinton’s Husband Suffers Losses Tied to Greece,” The Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2015.)

“Our recent predictions regarding Greek politics have proved incorrect… We are reticent to render decisive predictions at this time,” wrote Mezvinsky and the other Eaglevale founders to the Eaglevale Hellenic investors last week, failing to see that the leftist Tzyriza Party would win the national elections in Greece. Most pundits, including myself, had predicted this.

What does this have to do with the presidential election? It won’t have a direct effect, of course, but it fully corroborates Donald Trump’s principal accusation against Hillary Clinton: she is tied to Wall Street and hedge funds. Mezvinsky must like his mother-in-law enough that he would miss her too much if she were to move to Washington D.C. to start her new U.S. presidential career. Indeed, his hedge fund games will be the gifts that keep on giving to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton’s Democratic rival Bernie Sanders has often accused Hillary Clinton of being tied to Wall Street and Goldman Sachs in particular. What better evidence is there than the fact that her own son-in-law was a Goldman Sachs banker—and one who has screwed his clients’ savings in a highly risky and greedy maneuver to boot?

Hillary Clinton’s troubles will increase daily, delivering victory to Trump with the ease that Carson pours tea for Lady Grantham of Downton Abbey.

Hillary Clinton will not be able to eliminate the scent of Wall Street she has worn for years. It’s in her family. Trump will make her look like the technocrat she is, with himself appearing as the only fresh alternative.

Yes, Trump knows Wall Street. He has built there. But he has exploited the bankers rather than joining them in their clubs. Trump has a few more trump cards in his arsenal. He can appeal to peaceniks and isolationist libertarians alike, taking votes from left Democrats and right Republicans.

Indeed, Trump has talked some sense about the military and its famously Hindenburg-sized budgets: “I’m gonna build a military that’s gonna be much stronger than it is right now… It’s gonna be so strong, nobody’s gonna mess with us. But you know what? We can do it for a lot less.” (Source: “Donald Trump is right about defense spending – and that should scare you,” Reuters, March 2, 2016.)

As for Clinton, she is a darling of the defense industry. She’s topped the list for accepting donations from arms manufacturers. (Source: “The Defense Industry’s Surprising 2016 Favorites: Bernie & Hillary,” Politico, April 1, 2016.)

Apart from urinating on the bankers’ parades, Trump has also not joined the war camp and defense lobbyists. Few have remarked that the real estate mogul has stolen the Liberal playbook right out from under Clinton’s nose. Trump has all the right cards in his hand. He is anti-establishment and rich enough to fund his own campaign, while also appealing to the average American.

In a choice between himself and Hillary Clinton, even the more Ivy League-oriented Americans might prefer the braggart Trump to the shady Clinton.

Image source: Flickr; Image copyright 2016, Gage Skidmore