FBI Director James Comey gave a press conference yesterday morning that sent shock waves through the political establishment.
The bottom line:
Shock waves indeed, but when I looked around at the political landscape when it was over, I noticed that the pieces hadn’t moved.
Hillary wasn’t indicted. That wasn’t news.
She acted stupidly, carelessly. That wasn’t news either.
That the right wing would go apoplectic — not terrible surprising.
I guess I would be more moved if the right wing hadn’t tried to get Hillary in jail since 1991. Kevin Drum is right on the money when he writes:
Consider two “scandals.” The first is Benghazi. Hillary Clinton did nothing wrong. It was, essentially, a complete nothingburger. The second was Emailgate. In that one, Hillary unquestionably did things that were foolish at best and possibly criminal at worst. It was a genuine story.
But Republicans treated them both exactly the same. It didn’t matter whether Hillary actually did something wrong or not. They went after her with their usual Whitewater/Travelgate/Vince Foster level of fury, convinced that if only they yelled loudly enough the country would finally see her unmasked as the villain she really is. And they’re still doing it. James Comey has spoken, and no one reasonable thinks he’s on the take for the Clintons. But conservatives are almost unanimous in their shrieking that she is too guilty and ought to be put behind bars. Paul Ryan is now promising a probe of the probe, and idiotically calling for the director of National Intelligence to “block” Hillary’s access to classified information while she’s running for president. The only surprise here is that he isn’t demanding that Hillary’s access to classified information be blocked even if she wins.
After eight years of Bill Clinton’s presidency and now four years of Hillary Clinton’s post-cabinet career, Republicans have been crying wolf about Hillary for more than a decade. It’s pretty obvious that they’re going to continue, and that they really don’t care whether she’s actually done anything wrong. I have a feeling the public may finally be getting tired of their games.
I think this is true.
And watching Trump last night, you could see a prime example of a wingnut overplaying the hand. Trump insisted that Comey — Republicans James Comey — was crooked and that Loretta Lynch was bribed.
And that’s when he took a gift and blew it.
How badly will this hurt Hillary? It should hurt her badly politically. Not fatally, but badly, if only in the short term. I think, however, it won’t.
UPDATE: Another predictable thing — Sarah Palin word salad on Facebook:
Ironic, tragic, but not unexpected – amidst America’s Independence Day celebrations the Ruling Class put another boot on our neck to snuff liberty’s life out of We the People. It’s a farce that “no one is above the law” and my heart goes out to all who’ve been unjustly accused and destroyed over much lesser crimes than Hillary’s…
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Today’s FBI forgiveness of tyrants’ illegal acts illustrate purpose in why I insist Americans rise up and tear down this tyrannical system that is destroying America from within. Truly, you’re either with us or you’re against us…
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Message to all the “Republican” elites throwing in for Hillary, boasting they’ll stay home instead of vote because their particular weakened good ol’ boy is not the GOP nominee (the R.A.T.s suffering chapped ass because their power and purse are threatened by the grassroots movement to destroy their failed politics-as-usual), Hillary thanks you. She knows she can’t win without you.