Is the Clinton Foundation going broke now because Hillary is no longer in a position to grant favors?

Another chance to exercise critical thinking and basic research techniques.

Probably the question is prompted from a recent round of stories from the right-wing blogsphere about Clinton Global Initiative laying off employees and closing.

Obviously, this must be because Hillary Clinton lost the election and therefore influence faded, right? I mean, what other explanation could there possibly be? Plus, this is the Trumpian world; why would anyone care about fact-checking?

Well, for the sake of the exercise, old-fashioned though it may be:

I note that the closing of Clinton Global Initiative was announced and reported as of August-September 2016. See, for example, Clinton Global Initiative Ends With Some of Shine Worn Off

I note that the time period of August-September 2016 is before November of 2016. (I’ll wait while you check to see if there’s some “alternative facts” on this.)

I note that as of August-September 2016, it was generally believed that Clinton would win the election.

I therefore conclude that the closing of Clinton Global Initiative could not be because of a loss of influence of Hillary Clinton. To the contrary, the closure took place at the time when Clinton was expected to gain more influence than ever before.

“But wait,” you might say. “How can this be true? Those facts conflict with the narrative as being told by all those right wing websites!”

It appears that life sometimes affords stark choices, such as between actual, verifiable facts, and versions being spun by partisans (and many left wing sites do just the same).

Personally, I prefer to make the choice to go with facts, but I do understand that this is unfashionable in some circles.

Read other answers by

Andrew Weill on Quora:

• Do Clinton voters care that 99% of the Clinton's charitable donations went to their foundation, keeping the money and getting an unearned tax credit?
• Were the Clintons paid by the Clinton Foundation?
• If FBI Clinton Foundation investigation finds crimes committed by any Board member, will the Right demand that HRC go to prison anyway?

Read more answers on Quora.

from Quora http://ift.tt/2kmgeTn