The day after Hillary Rodham Clinton became secretary of state in 2009, she signed a contract with the American people, not figuratively, but literally.

She signed a Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement — a contract acknowledging that she held a very special position that would put her in possession of extremely important information. Information that had to be handled with the utmost care.

The contract is very clear. It states in part, “I have been advised that the unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized retention, or negligent handling of [sensitive compartmented information] by me could cause irreparable injury to the United States or be used to advantage by a foreign nation.”

Mrs. Clinton has defended herself by saying that none of the information she received on her private, unsecured server was ever marked classified. That defense may not hold up. The burden was on her to know whether it was classified or not.

Again, from the contract she signed: “I understand that it is my responsibility to consult with appropriate management authorities in the Department … in order to ensure that I know whether information or material within my knowledge or control that I have reason to believe might be SCI.”

As one former counterterrorism official put, “[Top secret, sensitive compartmented information] is very serious and specific information that jumps out at you and screams ‘classified.’ It’s hard to imagine that in her position she would fail to recognize the obvious.”

Now that this contract is public, will the FBI, the Justice Department and the media hold the former secretary of state to the same standard as General David Petraeus, former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, former CIA Director John Deutch and former State Department official Peter Van Buren?

Obama Rejects Keystone Pipeline

Speaking at the White House [Friday], President Obama officially killed the Keystone XL pipeline. The move came days after TransCanada, the company sponsoring the project, asked for a suspension of its consideration, mainly due to economic considerations. The price of oil right now is relatively cheap. (But for how long?)

The Keystone fiasco is a monument to government bureaucracy and left-wing nonsense. TransCanada first applied for the necessary permits when George W. Bush was still in office — more than seven years ago.

In April 2010, the State Department initially approved the project, but the Obama administration caved in to demands from the radical environmental movement. The project then got bogged down in lawsuits and red tape.

In January, a large bi-partisan coalition of 62 senators voted to allow construction of the pipeline. Polls found that the vast majority of Americans supported the pipeline — a chance to access a large energy supply from a friendly neighbor.

But once again, Barack Obama has sided with a loud radical minority against the common sense of most Americans.

Nothing To See Here…

Wednesday morning, an 18-year-old Muslim went on a rampage at a California university campus. After stabbing four people, he was shot and killed. For 24 hours, authorities refused to release his name — Faisal Mohammad. By the time they did, the story was “old news,” and thus no longer news.

Thanks to our 24-hour news cycle, this incident, like others before it, is already down the memory hole. I doubt 1 in 100 Americans know that a Muslim in California attempted to carry out a stabbing attack just like the attacks Palestinians have been committing against Jews in Israel.

Is it possible that Faisal Mohammad was inspired to use a large hunting knife by the actions of Palestinian Muslims who in turn have been inspired by ISIS thugs beheading people with large knives?

As is turns out, we don’t have to guess. Faisal Mohammad, like many jihadists before him, left a manifesto behind in which he repeatedly praises Allah.

But that’s not the worst part of it. The self-delusion of our politically correct authorities is truly frightening. Consider this Fox News excerpt:

“[Sheriff] Warnke stressed Wednesday’s stabbings were not terrorism, just a grudge by an angry teenager, but Mohammad did praise Allah in his writings. [Warnke] added though that the writings about Allah would be like him, a Christian, referencing Jesus, since that is the religion he practices.”

Right. And the Fort Hood massacre was just “work place violence.”

Wake up, America! Political correctness and misguided notions of tolerance will destroy us.

The Elite Eight

The next Republican presidential debate takes place Tuesday night, November 10th, on the Fox Business Network. But this time, the prime time debate stage will feature only eight candidates, instead of ten.

[Thursday], the network announced that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee had missed the cut (2.5% support) based on their averages in recent polls.

The eight candidates participating in the prime time debate will be billionaire Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz, former CEO Carly Fiorina, former Gov. Jeb Bush, Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Rand Paul.

Christie and Huckabee will be in the second-tier debate with Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Sen. Rick Santorum. Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Gov. George Pataki missed the cut for that debate after failing to register at all in several recent polls.