Hillary in Handcuffs! NOT!

I’m not at all surprised that FBI Director James Comey announced that no charges are appropriate and that none will be brought against Hillary Clinton or anyone else on her staff in the dust-up over her use of a private e-mail server during her tenure as Secretary of State. Some folks were quite surprised. Shocked. Some folks had their world rocked when Comey, a Republican who has been highly praised by conservative lawmakers in the past, made the announcement in a surprise news conference yesterday. (Meaning July 5th.)

For many of us, this is more than a little amusing. Many legal experts had said repeatedly that it would happen–or not happen–that way, but the Hillary haters would have no part of that!

Of course, I know that people who live in the Fox News bubble were told by their legal “experts” almost daily that she would, in fact, get cuffed and stuffed at any moment! Andrew Napolitano from Fox was leading the chorus.

But all the while, folks in the legal field who had no ax to grind were telling readers and viewers that the chances of Hillary facing charges were very small. I read at least four different articles to that effect in the last 60 days. But I know that a huge chunk of people who thought they smelled blood in the water would never see nor read any article like that. Their heads were pointed in a different direction, and they had lots and lots of sources who wanted Mrs. Clinton to get smacked down by a Grand Jury so badly that they talked themselves into believing the Republican talking points were true.

Of course, they had a fail-safe strategy; if they were right and the FBI recommended charges, they were geniuses and Hillary was finally getting what they believed she had deserved since the Whitewater and Vince Foster days.

And if they were wrong and no charges came down, they could explode with outrage and claim that the outcome just proved that Hillary–master manipulator and paragon of evil–had “gotten to” Director Comey and used some kind of very special and very evil mojo to get Mr. Comey and A.G. Lynch to shut it all down!

And, of course, that’s exactly what they’re doing.

I’ll certainly allow that Bill handed the haters more ammo when he met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix last week. I don’t know what that meeting was all about, but it’s crazy to think that if the Evil Clinton Cabal was going to get the AG to squash the investigation that they would summon their minion to a secret meeting just a few days before the inquiry was complete.

The fact that charges were not brought and that investigation has now been closed should not have been a surprise. The rock-solid certainty with which many believed it had to go the other way bordered on delusion.

I think there’s a definite parallel to the behavior of the right four years ago in the lead up to the 2012 Presidential Election. A huge chunk of the right wing hated Barack Obama so thoroughly that they truly believed Mitt was going to kick his ass on election day. Of course, it was ridiculous to believe that when all but a few polls–especially the ones that had proved the most reliable in previous elections–said that Obama was well in front of Mr. Romney. But they wanted that gay, commie, Muslim pretender-to-the-throne out so badly that they showed up at their pitiful victory parties on election night fully believing that their dream of “taking their country back” was about to come true. Not the best election night victory parties ever… Frowny face!

Writer Will McCleod came out with an excellent piece in Daily Koz today that deserves a wide reading. If you were sucked in by the hucksters who were selling the “Hillary’s goin’ down” gospel to all who’d listen, you should read it from start to finish. Thousands upon thousands of Americans’ jaws hit the floor Tuesday morning as Mr. Comey read his statement. For many of us that was the real surprise.

 

“Bulldog Ben” Basile