Cover-up: That will always be the real undoing of politicians and others

At last, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has admitted that perhaps she should have spoken out sooner and answered questions earlier about the private server she used while serving as secretary of state.

You think?

It is amazing how many people in this world don't seem to learn the lesson that the cover-up is always worse than the actual act -- well, at least most of the time.

There are examples all over -- in sports, in politics, in business, in entertainment.

Americans like to see someone own up to a mistake, and they don't trust those who try to ignore questions or to spin a yarn to make themselves look innocent.

Bottom line, those who do that sort of thing are rarely honest -- or innocent.

So we will have to see if this latest revelation -- motivated, we are sure, by the candidate's dropping poll numbers -- is enough to make Americans move on to something else.

It is clear that the "divert attention to other topics" and the "call it a right wing conspiracy" tactics just simply did not work. Americans are still talking about the email and still don't believe Mrs. Clinton's story about why she had the server installed in the first place.

And keep in mind, it is difficult to look innocent also when your former server maintenance team member "pleads the Fifth."

The fact is that Americans are tired of "spin masters." They are looking for someone who doesn't have to excuse away some prior bad act.

It is not about likability.

It is about honesty and accountability.

Let's hope that someone, somewhere explains that to all of the candidates who are running.

We might actually get one who fits that bill.

Published in Editorials on September 9, 2015 11:07 AM