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  1. Elephas Americanus Member
    Elephas Americanus
    @ElephasAmericanus

    It’s beginning all over again.

    When those two planes hit the World Trade Center, a collective amnesia seemed to take over this nation about the Clinton Years: Most people don’t remember that those were eight solid years of petty scandal. The fact that the nation was so absorbed in cattle futures, Whitewater, Vince Foster, Monica Lewinsky, the parade of fondled women. Because of them, we actually didn’t notice Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda’s development, the collapse of Russia, the gradual metastasis of the EU, the rise of Hugo Chávez, and a whole parade of horribles that have plagued us in the last fifteen years. They all had their start in the Clinton Years, all because the administration then did nothing to nip the problems in the bud then because it was too busy fending off its many domestic scandals.

    And here it comes again, the same Clinton Minstrel Show of Calumny and Corruption, ready to shove all their skeletons back into the White House closets…

    • #61
  2. Matthew Gilley Inactive
    Matthew Gilley
    @MatthewGilley

    A penny for Scooter Libby’s thoughts….

    • #62
  3. Penfold Member
    Penfold
    @Penfold

    The great American experiment just couldn’t last.  Ah well.  What time are the Judge Wapner reruns on?

    • #63
  4. Paul Erickson Inactive
    Paul Erickson
    @PaulErickson

    It now seems both presumptive nominees could get away with shooting someone on 5th Avenue.  I guess that makes this a fair fight.

    • #64
  5. Elephas Americanus Member
    Elephas Americanus
    @ElephasAmericanus

    Paul Erickson:It now seems both presumptive nominees could get away with shooting someone on 5th Avenue. I guess that makes this a fair fight.

    If only they’d shoot each other and be done with it.

    • #65
  6. Irregardless Member
    Irregardless
    @

    KC Mulville:Because I have a Top Secret clearance, I have to go through an annoying set of “training” courses that threaten me with consequences of mishandling secret information.

    So much for that.

    No, no, if YOU mishandle secret information there will be dire consequences.   ummm . . . . . unless the “C” stands for Clinton.

    • #66
  7. Lizzie in IL Inactive
    Lizzie in IL
    @LizzieinIL

    Matt Bartle:I just feel sick.

    The same way I did after a couple of the Supreme Court decisions on Obamacare.

    What reason is there to have faith that the institutions of our government will conduct themselves impartially? It seems now to be a given that the Left and the powerful will get their way no matter what.

    Matt – I felt the *exact* same way, both when I heard today’s news AND when I heard the Obamacare ruling.  And when I heard SCOTUS’s Obergefell decision.  Like others have said, batten down the hatches.  The silver lining to this Clinton drama may be that she is denied the presidency after all – God works in mysterious ways to mete out justice here on earth, & He uses unlikely people to help secure those ends.  Say what you will about Trump’s scruples & character, but he may be the most epic foil yet to the Clinton crime family if he gets elected over Her & she is DENIED.  Oh what a glorious day that would be….

    • #67
  8. LesserSon of Barsham Member
    LesserSon of Barsham
    @LesserSonofBarsham

    Elephas Americanus:

    Paul Erickson:It now seems both presumptive nominees could get away with shooting someone on 5th Avenue. I guess that makes this a fair fight.

    If only they’d shoot each other and be done with it.

    Presidential Election by Thunderdome, now that would get good ratings.

    • #68
  9. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    I’m just gonna leave this here…

    “Oh, when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

    – Richard Nixon (May 19, 1977)

    • #69
  10. Mr. French Inactive
    Mr. French
    @MrFrench

    You know, the Nixon impeachment train didn’t truly get rolling until THE REPUBLICANS couldn’t check their consciences at the door anymore.

    I haven’t felt this sick since reading the sheer judicial absurdity of the Obergefell majority opinion one year ago.

    • #70
  11. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Carol:So much for James Comey’s vaunted integrity.

    Wonder what the price for selling your integrity is these days?

    • #71
  12. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Misthiocracy:I’m just gonna leave this here…

    “Oh, when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

    – Richard Nixon (May 19, 1977)

    Yes, but what happened to Nixon?  Resigned in disgrace.

    • #72
  13. tigerlily Member
    tigerlily
    @tigerlily

    Carol:So much for James Comey’s vaunted integrity.

    Yeah. He was willing to speak truth to power when working in a Republican administration, in a Democrat administration – not so much.

    • #73
  14. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Maybe we’ll get a little fun out of this on twitter today….

    BREAKING: FBI finds John Wilkes Booth “extremely careless” in discharge of firearm.

    — Stephen Green (@VodkaPundit) July 5, 2016

    • #74
  15. Elephas Americanus Member
    Elephas Americanus
    @ElephasAmericanus

    LesserSon of Barsham:Presidential Election by Thunderdome, now that would get good ratings.

    Imperator Furiosa for President!

    furiosa

    • #75
  16. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    Irregardless:

    KC Mulville:Because I have a Top Secret clearance, I have to go through an annoying set of “training” courses that threaten me with consequences of mishandling secret information.

    So much for that.

    No, no, if YOU mishandle secret information there will be dire consequences. ummm . . . . . unless the “C” stands for Clinton.

    Some animals are more equal that others, silly.

    • #76
  17. The Forgotten Man Inactive
    The Forgotten Man
    @TheForgottenMan

    As I recall Richard Nixon was impeached with the Amen of most republicans.  He made the mistake of turning over the incriminating tapes just because the Supreme Court ordered him to.  You can bet the Clintons will make no such mistakes.

    • #77
  18. Tuck Inactive
    Tuck
    @Tuck

    James Madison:Frank, good luck getting a prosecutor to proceed with that…

    You can’t have intent to commit negligence. They’re mutually exclusive, by definition.

    Frank’s right.

    • #78
  19. Mr. Dart Inactive
    Mr. Dart
    @MrDart

    The Forgotten Man:As I recall Richard Nixon was impeached with the Amen of most republicans. He made the mistake of turning over the incriminating tapes just because the Supreme Court ordered him to. You can bet the Clintons will make no such mistakes.

    Nixon wasn’t impeached.

    • #79
  20. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    BrentB67:

    James Madison:Frank, good luck getting a prosecutor to proceed with that…

    How does this differ from the case against David Patraeus? It seemed no issue getting that indictment.

    Petraeus participated in the email “drop” system and actually handed over confidential documents.  That later fact is intent – flagrante.

    • #80
  21. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Joe P:Why did he structure the presser like this?

    If you had followed everything up until the last 5 minutes, you’d think they were going to push for an indictment. So, why did he bother saying all of that the way that he did?

    Joe,

    Because conscience is a funny thing. Once you get used to having one it’s really hard to stop. Comey’s soul is owned. We Jews don’t believe in a Devil the way the Christians do. For us, there is three parts to evil. First, The Evil Inclination tempts you to sin. Second, The Satan, Gd’s prosecuting angel, convicts you of sin. Finally, The Angel of Death comes to collect.

    I think the collecting part is all that remains.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #81
  22. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    I’m disappointed and distressed by this decision, but not surprised because I’ve lost faith in our government and in the rule of law.

    Most sad.

    • #82
  23. KC Mulville Inactive
    KC Mulville
    @KCMulville

    A truly stunning quote:

    To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now.

    I guess the State Department is going to give her a strict talking-to? That’s not what the training courses suggest – they claim that people go to prison.

    Suppose we take Comey at his word … that Clinton showed no overt criminal intent but was foolish, deceitful, and reckless  in her handling of secrets necessary to her job … the Clintons are going to screan “Vindication!” and claim “victory!” They’ll put it on a campaign banner: “Hillary’s only a lying fool, folks, but she’s not criminal!”

    • #83
  24. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    Lily Bart:

    James Madison:

    Frank Soto:

    James Madison:

    Frank Soto:Comey in brief: While it is clear that Secretary Clinton and her aides violated the law, we don’t think they really meant to. So we’re good.

    Again, proving they did not think they could prove “intent.”

    They don’t have to.

    Sorry Frank, they do for the serious violations. But believe what you will.

    Read Comey’s comments. And understand this, I predicted this 6 months ago. Intent is tricky. And for a serious violation, and almost all felonies are, you need intent.

    It is hard to square Comey’s comments on intent with the gross negligence standard of 18 U.S.C. § 793(f). –Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor)

    Also: Mishandling classified information leads to prison (if your name isn’t Clinton) (or the fate of Petty Officer First Class Kristian Saucier)

    I think that Comey was tripping all over himself in calling her careless and reckless.  He was trying to preserve his reputation.

    But her counsel would say,  she had no way of knowing and surely you cannot believe the Secretary of State would dream of disclosing information or leaving for others to find even if she knew it was classified.  After all, the guy at State set up her server – proving the best government standards were applied.  He is the culprit.

    Getting an indictment is hard – but not that hard.  Getting a conviction on intent – 18U.S.C. Sec. 793(f) or not – is very, very hard.

    • #84
  25. Lily Bart Inactive
    Lily Bart
    @LilyBart

    James Madison: Getting an indictment is hard – but not that hard. Getting a conviction on intent – 18U.S.C. Sec. 793(f) or not – is very, very hard.

    Well, if you wield political power, it is.   It wasn’t supposed to be this way in our country.   No one was supposed to be above the law.

    • #85
  26. Austin Murrey Inactive
    Austin Murrey
    @AustinMurrey

    James Madison:

    BrentB67:

    James Madison:Frank, good luck getting a prosecutor to proceed with that…

    How does this differ from the case against David Patraeus? It seemed no issue getting that indictment.

    Petraeus participated in the email “drop” system and actually handed over confidential documents. That later fact is intent – flagrante.

    This is by far the silliest argument ever had on Ricochet.

    • #86
  27. Mister D Inactive
    Mister D
    @MisterD

    Frank Soto:Comey in brief: While it is clear that Secretary Clinton and her aides violated the law, we don’t think they really meant to. So we’re good.

    You forgot the best part – if it been someone else they would have at least recommended sanctions, but it’s Hillary.

    • #87
  28. Mr. French Inactive
    Mr. French
    @MrFrench

    I’m sure that ham sandwiches across the country are pleased with James Comey today.

    • #88
  29. James Madison Member
    James Madison
    @JamesMadison

    Be careful conflating different cases , Petaeus, Saucier, etc. The facts and circumstances are different.  Intent was more easily established in those cases.  And for those who have not read my other feed, intent can be required even in gross negligence cases…for example:

    You drive a car at 75 MPH in a 45 MPH zone.  You kill a pedestrian.  The law presumes you are grossly negligent (in most jurisdictions).

    You show up in court and your lawyer shows your speed control was not working and therefore you had no intent to drive that fast – the equipment failed.  If the facts support your case, you were driving the car, but you did not have any intent to drive at 75 MPH.  Gross negligence has implied intent.

    Again, intent – and Hillary understood this.  She never “received nor sent materials marked classified.”  There you have it.

    As for the server, it was set up by a State Department guy and any normal personal would assume it would be protected like the State Department.  Yes people asked her to shut down the server, but no one said it was a national security risk and until they do and show why, she was just following the system they set up and were charged with maintaining for her convenience.  She was just doing her job – and trying to keep her work load under control with one email address.  Huma may have complained, the State Department may have complained, but no one said, “STOP. CRITICAL DANGER.”

    • #89
  30. Kwhopper Inactive
    Kwhopper
    @Kwhopper

    I have no idea but maybe someone can enlighten us – is there anyone currently indicted or serving some kind of sentence that did exactly what HC did? Granted there are no Sec’s of State in that situation, but if there is even one then this is a total sham.

    And to be intently negligent is absolutely an oxymoron, as another poster said. Negligence would have been the easiest thing to prove here.

    • #90
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