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HOW OBAMA CAN BURY HILLARY RIGHT NOW. IMMEDIATELY. (DOES HE HAVE THE COURAGE?) by Mia T, December 22, 2007 Barack Obama can knock hillary clinton out of the race right now, with one fatal blow. Indeed, he is the only person with both the ability and the incentive to do it now. (The time for the Republicans to deal that fatal blow would be in the general, so the conventional wisdom goes.) How does Obama do this? Simply by requesting and publishing the 120 redacted pages of the Barrett Report. They document massive clinton abuse of power and were redacted by more massive clinton abuse of power. (Do not miss the irony here.) But does Obama have the courage to do it? THE BARRETT REPORT. By Mark Goodman. January 31, 2007. The bell has just rung on the 2008 presidential sweepstakes and already more entries have crowded into the gates than the American grandstand can count, much less account for. That's all to the good, as the only winners over the past two decades have been named either Bush or Clinton. Still, since nothing less than the fate of the nation seems to be at stake, it is imperative that all candidates be measured as closely as possible for merit and accountability, beginning with the most visible pretender, Senator Hillary Clinton. The disturbing problem is, neither the Democrats nor Republicans on Capitol Hill are disposed to brace Mrs. Clinton, even though it is immediately within their power to do so. Let's return one year to the yellowing Barrett report. In February 2006, after nine years of hard labor. Washington lawyer David Barrett, the Independent counsel appointed to investigate the Henry Cisneros scandal, finally published his 684-page report. His study provoked commentary mainly for what was missing,120 pages of evidence, reportedly devastating to both Clintons, which Democratic congressmen, led by Senators John Kerry, Dick Durbin and Byron Dorgan, had redacted by attaching a rider to another bill. Deeply frustrated by nine seasons of blockading by Clinton lawyers and Democratic congressmen, Mr. Barrett Issued a statement saying, "An accurate title for the report would be, 'What We Were Prevented from Investigating.'" What, Indeed. In an online column written before he signed on as President Bush's press secretary, Tony Snow reported that by all accounts the redacted pages contained enough damning evidence to sink Mrs. Clinton's presidential ship. Mr. Snow's widely held view made sense, else why would the Democrats go to such extravagant lengths to shield the pages from the light of day? However, there was a catch to the redaction: Any congressman could secure a copy of the vaulted evidence merely for the asking. As It happened, I had trod a path parallel to Mr. Barrett's in my own investigation into corruption in the highest precincts of a global media conglomerate which led In turn led to evidence of obstruction by President Clinton. An abiding theme in the redacted pages, insiders say, is the Clinton camp practice of using the I.R.S. to punish its enemies. Mr. Clinton plainly did not leave this illegal practice behind in the Oval Office. By all accounts he has maintained a tight grip on a number of government departments and agencies, notably the Justice Department and the I.R.S., the folks who can deal the deadliest damage. I can personally vouch for the Clinton I.R.S. strategy. In 2002, after I had learned of Mr. Clinton's intrusion into the case I had reported to the I.R.S., I informed Mrs. Clinton of the facts I'd uncovered. Soon enough the I.R.S. came calling with unwarranted tax demands and threats of criminal investigation. I replied accusing the I.R.S. of conspiring with the Clintons and the media conglomerate to perpetrate "institutionalized terrorism.' The agency, finally grasping the irony that it was seeking to punish its own whistleblower, quickly backed off.... I submit that in this crucial election season the American public, which, after all, paid $20 million In hard tax dollars for the Barrett report, has every right to access of all pertinent information available on presidential candidates. Now that the senator from New York has announced "I'm in to win," voters should demand that their representatives release the mystery pages so that they may examine Mrs. Clinton red in tooth. Otherwise, Americans run the risk of going to the polls in 2008 seeking the rebirth of a nation only to discover that they have merely traded the devil for a witch. Also see: Stalinist Rising? hillary clinton abuse of power (Where is the unredacted Barrett Report, anyway?)