Category Archives: 2016 presidential campaign
Integrity Beyond Question
Attorney General Loretta Lynch was caught red handed discussing grandkids with Bill Clinton. Bill’s wife, Hillary, was under investigation at the time for her secret email server. So the AG turned over her decision making authority in the caper to FBI Director James Comey.
When Comey decided not to prosecute, a Greek Chorus of Democrats sang his praises. But when he reopened the case, due to emails found on Carlos Danger’s laptop, they changed their tune.
Integrity Beyond Question
Harry Reid, having pronounced Comey’s integrity beyond question, questioned it by accusing him of violating the Hatch Act. At least he hasn’t accused Comey of not paying his taxes. Yet.
Ruling Class
Thomas Frank has a great little essay in the Guardian about how the ruling class works. The details are emerging from John Podesta’s WikiLeaks. He sits at the head of the ruling class and is asked for favors and jobs by other members of the elite group.
Ruling Class In-Group
CNN expelled Donna Brazile for slipping debate questions to classmate Hillary Clinton. Brazile is acting chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. That’s because she replaced another classmate, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Schultz didn’t work well with others – especially Bernie Sanders.
Bernie, like The Donald, isn’t part of the in-group.
Tarmac Talk Could Influence Election Outcome
Jane Mayer, in the New Yorker, points out that FBI Director Comey broke with Justice Department tradition:
Attorney General Loretta Lynch expressed her preference that Comey follow the department’s longstanding practice of not commenting on ongoing investigations, and not taking any action that could influence the outcome of an election, but he said that he felt compelled to do otherwise.
Tarmac Talk
He might have felt compelled to do otherwise because the AG turned her authority in the case over to him:
Comey’s supporters argue that he had to act independently, and publicly, because Lynch had compromised herself by having an impromptu visit with Bill Clinton late in the investigation.”
Here’s Andrew McCarthy in NR on Comey’s tradition breaking behavior:
In effect, it became The Decision because Attorney General Loretta Lynch had disgraced herself by furtively meeting with Mrs. Clinton’s husband a few days before Comey announced his recommendation. Comey, therefore, gave Mrs. Clinton a twofer: an unheard-of public proclamation that she should not be indicted by the head of the investigative agency; and a means of taking Lynch off the hook, which allowed the decision against prosecution to be portrayed as a careful weighing of evidence rather than a corrupt deal cooked up in the back of a plane parked on a remote tarmac.
Taking Action
McCarthy says not taking action would also have influenced the election:
But of course, not taking action one would take but for the political timing is as political as it gets. To my mind, it is more political because the negatively affected candidate is denied any opportunity to rebut the law-enforcement action publicly.
Anyway Hillary created the mess so it’s her fault. At least that’s the way Rich Lowry, A. B. Stoddard, Trey Gowdy, Andrew McCarthy, and Piers Morgan’s see it.
Election Day Shower Forecast
Hillary’s under FBI investigation again thanks to Anthony Weiner. And now The Donald is really yuge. Time for a shower.
Hillary’s Supreme Court
Hillary wants to appoint Justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn the Citizens United ruling.
In the third debate she said she wants a court that will stand on the side of the people rather than wealthy donors. Citizens United is a corporation that bankrolled a movie critical of her. Wrong side of the people.
Supreme Court
Justice Alito asked the government if Citizens United had published a book about a political figure instead of a movie could it be banned too? The answer was probably so.
Innocence of Muslims was the movie Hillary and the White House blamed for the Benghazi attack. The filmmaker was thrown in jail for a parole violation.
