Release the transcripts? I dunno.

[DanTex]

On one hand, there's a case for just releasing them. After all, there's not any dark conspiracy, anyone who's been to corporate events knows how these things go. A bunch of boilerplate statements about the state of the world, the future, etc. The point of getting someone like Hillary is to make the executives there feel important, and to show that whatever organization is holding the event is "big time."

On the other hand, there's the "don't feed the trolls" aspect to it. The people asking for the transcripts to begin with aren't particularly rational or honest, so there's no good reason to believe the conspiracy theories will die down once the innocuous transcripts are released. What's more, as we've seen, every word out of Clinton's mouth gets taken out of context and posted on reddit or youtube, so we can look forward to a sentence like "I don't support mass deportation" to show up as "I...support mass deportation".

Overall, I think the balance tips towards not releasing them, and letting the furious conspiracy theorists keep getting furiouser and furiouser.

[virtualobserver]

1. the internal case for releasing them or not from Hillary's perspective depends on what she said.

I suspect that they won't be released because they were not that innocuous.

[DanTex]

3. It's based on how they would be received, which doesn't necessarily depend on what's in them.

Like I said, the people asking for them the loudest don't have a particularly good track record for honesty and reason, and on the other hand there's a very long record of things Clinton says being taken out of context for political reasons.

And there's also the question of how the very act of releasing them would be perceived.

[virtualobserver]

5. Hillary's spin doctors don't have a particularly good track record for honesty and reason

Nixonian style secrecy never plays well politically.

[floriduck]

2. I might be willing to accept your recommendation if

Hillary had demonstrated better judgment in her prior decisions like IWR and not using a personal email server. But she had had an issue with not stepping in it. So it might be wise to give the appearance that she's not hiding anything.

That's just my opinion and it won't buy you a cup of coffee. But since you brought it up, I thought I'd share.

[asuhornets]

14. Bernie did not show better judgement when he sided with the gun lobby five times.eom

[floriduck]

21. This thread is about Goldman Sach speeches.

If you want to get into the vote to question Bernie's congressional vote to support his constituency, it deserves its own thread. But you might not want to go there.

[asuhornets]

24. No this thread is about her "judgement"..

Bernie has not made enough decision to really measure his judgement..except for voting with the gun lobby five times.

[floriduck]

34. He represented his constituency. That's what

House of Representatives do. U S Senators vote on a national basis. So he made his decision on that basis.

You don't like his decisions on guns. I don't like her decisions on Iraq and Wall Street and email servers. We'll agree to disagree. I'm fine with that.

[cherokeeprogressive]

4. I see what you did there.

Masterful. Masterful, I say.

[Arazi]

6. Delicious! Don't release them, really

Keeping them secret gives Bernie Sanders a quick, very easy to understand bullet point to use in the days ahead.

"Release the transcripts!" he'll thunder. "She won't because she doesn't want you to know how cozy she is with Wall St"

Everyone gets it. It dovetails perfectly with his message.

So yup, I fully agree with you. Please don't release them Madame Secretary! Let this just get "furiouser and furiouser!"

[DanTex]

9. It would be great if Bernie decides to join the redditors asking for the transcripts. Do it Bernie!

[Arazi]

17. In all seriousness, keeping them secret will end worse for her

[DanTex]

23. A good move might be to release them after the primary, but well before the GE.

I don't think Bernie will go after them, it could easily backfire, but the rules in the GE are different.

If she does release them, it will probably be a little hit at the time simply because it focuses attention on the speaking fees. Releasing them in response to pressure could have the additional negative of being seen as caving. But releasing them at some time well before the GE will get them out there, and take away from the GOP the ability to use them against her when the campaign gets intense.

[bklyncowgirl]

7. That's sort of like Kerry not releasing his full military record in the face of Swiftboat attacks

Kerry's military record confirmed his exemplary military service but for some reason which I've never understood he did not release them. We all know how that turned out.

Don't feed the trolls can be a good thing but if the trolls are eating away at you and you can get rid of the trolls by tossing them what they want then you should do it. As long as there's nothing damaging in the transcripts, what is the harm. If the transcripts are not released then the natural assumption is that there is something damaging there.

I'm a Sanders supporter but I do not dislike Hillary and will almost certainly vote for her in the general election should she be the nominee. My hope is that this is Benghazi all over again, but will not be able to make that judgment if I cannot see the evidence.

[DanTex]

12. Kerry is a good example to the contrary. In retrospect, he probably should have "fed the trolls."

[bklyncowgirl]

33. Hillary's best moments have come when she's come out with the facts.

Her appearance a few months ago before the Benghazi Committee is a good example. Trolls do not feed on facts. Trolls feed on rumor, innuendo and misperception.

[cali]

8. Of course you think only trolls want her to release them and of

course you don't lean toward releasing them. Hell, you can't even see that she created case after case of textbook conflict of interest situations.

[SheenaR]

10. She has made the choice

Which one will be worse for her..

Release them or avoid it altogether

Apparently she feels this method will cause less damage.

Otherwise, if there was NOTHING there, she could release them and give a big middle finger to everyone. But we know why that wont happen

[asuhornets]

11. I agree...

If she releases them and there is no smoking gun and I am sure there is no smoking gun. Her enemies will ask for something else. What's amazing is that Democrats at DU are asking for them. Who would have thunk it.

[DanTex]

15. Yeah, and once they realize that a conspiracy theory is all it takes to get her to release whatever,

it will keep going on and on and she'll be asked to release her kindergarten drawings.

[bigwillq]

13. I support transparency

And hope they are released.

[HassleCat]

16. I think you're right

When politicians speak to these groups, they always make statements of "I'm on your side" without making specific promises. They sometimes say things like, "I believe we need to make sure our financial sector is never against threatened by dangerous legislation like Glass-Steagal!" but they don't promise to vote against Glass-Steagal. It's such standard stuff for politicians we have learned to think nothing of it, so everybody does it. Hence Mitt Romney's comment about the 47 percent. It's better for Clinton if she follows Romney's lead with his tax returns, and releases only what makes her look good.

[DanTex]

19. Actually they says stuff like "the future of the European experiment is now being shaped by

geopolitical trends spanning the Eurasian continent and with historical roots in blah blah blah."

[HassleCat]

22. If they do, they get no campaign donation. (eom)

[DanTex]

25. Well, they don't anyway because corporations can't donate to campaigns.

[Fumesucker]

18. Hillary is perfectly within her rights to hold onto the transcripts

And we are within our rights to draw conclusions from her actions in the matter.

[DanTex]

20. Also a good point. People like you have already drawn conclusions, so there's no point in

factoring in what you might think into the decision.

[Fumesucker]

26. Hillary is the one who wants a Manhattan Project to crack your cellphone encryption

[DanTex]

28. Interesting non sequitur.

[Fumesucker]

30. She gets secrets, you don't

[reformist2]

27. She's running for president. We practically have a right to know what she said to Wall Street!

[Jackie Wilson Said]

29. Birth certificate too?

[R B Garr]

31. She should ask for his list of all the Wall Street execs

he would prosecute and their exact crimes. Do an even swap. Name names, Bernie. Enough with the "artful smears". He couldn't even name any execs he would go after during a Bloomberg interview, but he sure wants you to clap for his stump speech. He should walk the walk himself.

[restorefreedom]

32. i am not sure i care all that much about the content

my issue is her fundraising sources, her cozy relationship with wall st donors, mic contractors, and her refusal to denounce tpp outright.

if the content was not innocuous, it would reinforce my view of her untrustworthiness. if it were innocuous, it would not assuage my view of her untrustworthiness.

so for me, its moot. but politically, it could hurt her either way. or not.