Hillary Clinton is responsible for her choices. Bad choices. Dodge federal transparency and security rules for email. Take money from foreign countries that discriminate against women and seek influence over U.S. policy. Dispatch David Brock, Lanny Davis, and other professional dissemblers to discredit critics and fair questions.
Staggered by self-inflicted wounds, the former secretary of State reportedly plans to hold a news conference. This presents her with a choice between the right way and wrong way to manage a public-relations crisis in the post-Internet era, when the 1990s tactics of deflection, deception, and victimization are less relevant than a phone booth.
Option No. 1: The Right Way
Clinton strides confidently into the room trailed by aides carrying an email server once registered to her home. "President Obama gave me the honor to serve the American people as secretary of State," she says. "While serving in that office, I wrote and received thousands of emails. These emails belong to the American public, not to me. I am turning them over to the State Department—all of them."
(RELATED: It's Not About the Emails: Clinton's Fate Hangs on Bigger Questions)
Photographers inch closer to Clinton, their cameras whirring and flashing. "I recommend that a ruthlessly independent entity be selected to review the email to determine which ones are private, which ones should immediately be made public, and which ones fall under public-archive rules. My actions have damaged the public's trust in the integrity of my email cache. I'll take whatever steps are necessary to earn back that trust."