Posse Incitatus

Russia and the forlorn Never Trumpers

This election season is going to be a tough slog for the GOP Never Trumpers.  For the next three months they’re going to have to come up with nasty attacks on the GOP nominee that aren’t simply regurgitations of mainstream media attacks.

When Trump does pull out a stunning win – as he has today by bringing Hillary’s email woes to the top of the news cycle in the middle of the Democrat National Convention – they have to waste precious column inches with rote denunciations of the maestro.

Out first example comes from The Federalist, which used to be an amusing read but which I hardly visit any more.

The title is great, exactly what conservative readers like to see:

Dumb Media Play Right Into Trump’s Hands On Russian Hacking

And yet to find out what Trump did, the reader has to trudge through four paragraphs of anti-Trump invective.

Talk about burying the lede.

Over at the normally sensible PJ Media, the hapless Tyler O’Neil has basically cut-and-paste the lies of the New York Times:

Trump to Russia: I Hope You Hack Hillary

Er, no.  Trump never said that.  He said that he figured Russia already had Hillary’s 30,000+ illegally deleted emails and then joked that they should share them with the FBI.

It’s a brilliant turn of phrase, but completely lost on O’Neil.  I don’t know the man, haven’t read him much and I won’t bother to in the future. 

This highlights the problem of the Never Trump dead-enders:  No one needs them.  There is plenty of anti-trump nastiness out there, so why seek out their version of it?

The whole point of magazines like National Review and The Weekly Standard was to provide an alternative to the biased mainstream press.  By continuing to hit Trump, they pretty much undermine their rationale for existence.

Sure, I guess there is a segment that likes to have pointless b.s. sessions about some sort of Platonic conservative ideal, but they aren’t even good at that.

Seriously, Ace of Spades has provided a better framework for what’s going on at the moment than the entire staff of National Review.  True, Ace is prone to bouts of depression and/or temporary insanity, but when he is on, he is brilliant.

SHALL WE JUST NUKE RUSSIA AND GET IT OVER WITH?  Since the Federalist brought it up, I have to ask:  What’s the point of continually pissing on Putin, anyway?

The point of the Cold War was to resist Communist subversion of democracy both at home and abroad.  The Soviet Empire had imprisoned Eastern Europe as well as disrupted most of the developing world.

At this point, the disputes are pretty small-ball stuff.  The Crimea, for example, is pretty obviously Russia’s core turf.  They have a far better title deed to it than we do to most of our country, and expecting them to cough it up is delusional.

Similarly, the pissing match over Donbas is hardly something to start World War III over.  Yeah, I don’t like Putin, but guess what?  He’s the guy we have to deal with.  I’m getting real tired of GOP types ratting their swords as if we’re going to deploy the Third Army on the Ukrainians steppe.

Could a firmer, more resolute foreign policy have checked Putin’s adventurism?  Yep.  But at this point, that ship has sailed.  The path forward is to yes, make deals with Putin.  Perhaps trading Transnistria for Crimea and border adjustments in Donbas, for example.

It ain’t morally pure, but that’s diplomacy. 

3D: Disgraceful, Despicable Democrats

It is appalling how far left the Democrat Party has drifted in just the past 10-15 years. In recent years, it has become almost impossible to find "old-school" Democrats who are liberal on social issues but still patriotic and somewhat hawkish on defense and national security. Former Navy Secretary and U.S. Senator Jim Webb is one who is not far removed from the Scoop Jackson mold, but he's been marginalized of late. There are not many more like him.

As Democrat members of Congress and candidates have drifted further left, their knowledge of basic economics seems to have withered on the vine. (What else could explain preposterous proposals such as a $15 an hour minimum wage, or the convoluted distortions of Obamacare?) Even more concerning, thanks in large part to the leftward drift of K-12 education and academia, millions of lemmings have reached voting age utterly devoid of the ability to reason or engage in critical thinking. They buy the Democrats' snake oil, and have no second thoughts. As the Democrat Party continues to sign up unregistered voters and lower the bar for voting requirements, this only promises to worsen.

The Democrats' national convention has put on full display how severely this once great political party has lost its way. Where to begin...

For starters, "tone deaf" doesn't begin to describe the Democrats. Following several weeks of terrorist attacks  and cold-blooded assassinations of police officers, the Democrats failed to mention terrorism in any of their first 61 convention speeches, and featured as speakers mothers of lawbreakers who died after altercations with police officers (while failing to invite widows of slain police officers to address their convention).

And in the case of two of the grieving "Mothers of the Movement" who spoke, the death of their loved one did not result from a police officer's action. Trayvon Martin was killed by a private security guard after Martin was pummeling George Zimmerman and Zimmerman shot Martin. The other deceased African American, Sandra Bland, hung herself in a Texas jail cell.

The Democrats also featured illegal immigrant speakers while our southwest border states are under siege from illegal immigration and our schools, social services, hospitals and law enforcement are overwhelmed. The rule of law means nothing to Democrats.

And on the sleaze front, the nihilistic Democrats featured the hideous train wreck Lena Dunham as a speaker. This despicable slattern pretty much sums up the Democrat Party's tendency to spit in the face of standards and morals. Predictably, she accused GOP nominee Donald Trump of being a hater and wanting to "make America hate again." Real deep thinker, that Lena.

Finally, President Perjury (er -- Bill Clinton) gave a typically long-winded speech endorsing his so-called wife for the Democrat presidential nomination. It is ironic that at the outset of his remarks, he spent a great deal of time describing how he met Hillary...the attraction, romance, etc. What an absolute joke. Their marriage has been an expedient sham for decades, and Clinton is one of the world's biggest philanderers. Hillary, supposedly a paragon of virtue and a role model for women everywhere, worked hard to trash the reputations of the "bimbos" who went public about affairs with Slick Willie, accused him of sexual harassment or even rape.

And the final irony -- undoubtedly lost on the Demon-cats -- is that Bill Clinton's administration enacted many of the laws and policies that today's hard-left Democrats despise: NAFTA, the Defense of Marriage Act, Don't Ask Don't Tell, repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act and the Violent Crime Control Act of 1994. In my post, "The Clintons' Bitter Boomerang," I wrote about how the Clintons' past policies are coming back to haunt them in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Bill Clinton committed perjury, was impeached, and had his law license suspended. He has abused women atrociously. But the Democrats love him to death. Their admiration underscores how liberals and progressives base so much of their beliefs on feelings, idealism, emotion and imagery. Don't let the facts get in the way of that warm, glowing feeling.

This nation is in serious trouble if this bunch of charlatans retains control of the White House. Sadly, it just might happen. And as the expression goes, the most concerning thing is not just the con artists and liars in leadership; it's that tens of millions of people actually support and vote for them.

 

Ted Cruz is a lying hypocrite

One of the worst aspects of our modern age is the complete lack of any sense of personal accountability.  Once the province of the left, it is now becoming the new hotness among conservatives.

I do not have much invested in Ted Cruz.  I was curious about him during the primary and sympathetic to his candidacy, but as Trump started to pull ahead, I found Cruz's overt religiosity off-putting.  I consider myself a reasonably devout Christian, but I think it's bad form to go telling everyone about it.

As Trump marched to victory, Cruz - like many of the defeated Republican Establishment - began making noises that they wouldn't endorse the winner because of their principles.

Led by the insular eunuchs at National Review and The Weekly Standard, these career insiders who had spent years selling out conservatives in Washington, suddenly decided that the one thing they could not do was endorse a man they were pledged to support.

To me that is the key element.  No one forced Ted Cruz to sign the pledge to endorse the eventual GOP winner.  He signed it knowing full well who Donald Trump was and what kind of campaign he would run.

The fact that Trump took cheap shots and hammered opponents without mercy was a given, known by anyone who had a passing knowledge of celebrity culture for the last thirty years.  Cruz knew damn well what he was signing.

He didn't care because he figured he would win.  So did Jeb and Kasich and the rest - the all hated Trump and figured that under no circumstances would he win, so pledging to endorse the GOP nominee held zero risk to their precious principles.

And then Trump won.

So they broke their solemn pledge.

I see that some Trump-haters are trying to bail Cruz out, by citing Trump's bare-knuckles campaign style (which - to repeat - they knew going into this was his thing) or - hilariously - that Trump himself said he wouldn't be bound by the pledge.

That last one is a real treat.  It's like saying you can commit adultery because your spouse did.  Er, no.  It's still a mortal sin, and if you want to do it to get even or to salve your ego, fine, but don't pretend that it's a matter of deep moral principle that you have a hotel tryst with that intern because your wife got her head turned by someone else.

The only principle in play is Ted Cruz's fragile ego.

Here's the thing: the endorsement doesn't have to be an insincere tongue-bath.  All Cruz (or Jeb, or anyone) have to say is this:

When I launched my campaign, I gave my solemn pledge to support whoever won the nomination.  I do not agree with the nominee about many things, but a promise given must be kept.  I hearby endorse Donald Trump for president.

That's it.  Promise fulfilled.  Honestly, it would demonstrate real character.  What Cruz is doing now is showing that he's a self-obsessed blowhard whose principles are whate3ver he feels they should be in a given moment. 

No wonder they booed him.  I would have.

The Petulant John Kasich

It turns out Barack Obama isn't the only petulant one. Plenty of Republican and conservative crybabies who are upset that Donald Trump is the GOP nominee share this unflattering trait with the O-man. These include former presidents George W. and George H.W. Bush, Mitt Romney, John McCain, columnist George Will, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and most notably, Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Kasich has been successful as Ohio's governor, and is popular in the Buckeye State. But because of his dislike of Trump, he refuses to attend the Republican Convention taking place in his own state, and didn't even go so far as to send a video greeting or written statement. His petty, classless behavior is highly disappointing, and pretty much sums up why so many Americans hold politicians and politics in utter contempt.

Now I feel a little embarrassed that I put in a plug for Kasich last summer, when the GOP candidate lineup had not been thinned out and no one had a clue who would eventually emerge from the pack to earn the nomination. Kasich did do some great things while he was in Congress 20 years ago, and he's helped Ohio tremendously during his 5 1/2 years in the State House. But of late, he seems to love the attention he gets from media hacks when he bashes Trump for his statements about illegal immigrants and the need to restrict immigration of Muslims.

News flash, John: The media won't love you in the morning. As soon as the presidential election is over, they'll discard you like a used dish rag. Put your massive ego in check, and get off your high horse.

You purists who won't vote for Trump because you're unhappy about some of his stances on the issues don't realize that you're laying the groundwork for a permanent Democrat White House, hard left Supreme Court, an out-of-control administrative state, and severe repression of conservative free speech as well as Second Amendment rights. The United States is truly in for dark days if Hillary Rotten Clinton is elected president. We will have reached the point of no return.

Former presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz haven't endorsed Trump, but both will speak at the convention. That may be a sign of their concern for party unity. Or, they may just love the attention and figure they are setting themselves up to garner the GOP nomination in 2020. But Rubio, Cruz, Jeb Bush and others who may think the GOP can simply throw away this election -- many of them are certain Hillary will win in a landslide -- regroup and come back stronger in four years are delusional.

If Hillary wins, she will move rapidly to consolidate Democrat power. A deluge of immigrants from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East -- most of whom will become registered Democrats and many of whom will have large families -- will make it extremely difficult for the GOP to compete in presidential, Senate and Congressional races. Add to that the Democrats' plans to further vitiate the voting process. For instance, no photo IDs necessary, undercounting of military ballots, allowing convicted felons to vote, extending early voting, and installing left-wing secretaries of state whose biased ballot counting will benefit Democrats. This will be the final nail in the GOP coffin.

So for those bitter Never Trumpers who actually believe the GOP has a chance in four years should Hillary win this November, all I can say is, WAKE UP!

Black Unemployment Matters

Earlier this month, I discussed the tensions and confrontations between blacks and white police officers as a consequence of the utter breakdown in the black family structure.

I doubt anyone has had the guts to research this in our uber-PC world, but it's probably a safe bet that a huge majority of blacks who have complained of ugly encounters with, or been shot by, white police officers are individuals who were raised by single mothers. In many cases, these black individuals, despite often being young, already have lengthy track records of criminal behavior.

Too often, these individuals have not been taught about boundaries and respectful behavior. No father in the picture means a young boy does not have the disciplinarian, mentor, breadwinner and role model he sorely needs. If a young person has not been held accountable all his life, why would he have respect for a police officer or the rule of law?

Granted, there are some bad cops out there. As I acknowledged in this post, blacks have some legitimate complaints about rogue officers and discrimination. A U.S. Department of Justice investigation did indeed find that racist emails were sent by members the Ferguson, Mo., police department, resulting in several terminations. Law enforcement does need to root out the bad apples. With that being said, there is NO JUSTIFICATION for harming law enforcement officials, and those who do so must be severely punished.

But I think we're missing a key factor here: The miserable Obama economy, which includes shamefully high unemployment rates among young blacks, terrible decay in inner cities, and a hopelessness born of a lack of opportunity also contribute to tensions between blacks and police.

Think about it: The unemployment rate for black teens is a staggering 31 percent. (And that probably understates actual unemployment.) Young black people, even if their family circumstances were dire and their upbringing horrible, would be less likely to break the law and have friction interacting with police officers if they were working even part-time. Employment keeps a person busy, with less time and energy to engage in destructive activities and associate with unsavory characters. A job gives a person a sense of purpose, and hope for better things. It helps the worker meet and associate with other people who have a work ethic and a tendency to play by the rules.

Lest anyone think this staunch conservative is getting squishy, I say "NONSENSE." I still believe a person has the best chance to succeed in life if his or her parents A) Got married before having children; B) Worked rather than received welfare; C) Set a good example for their offspring, including obeying the law; and D) Found a way to send their progeny to quality schools.

Alas, these factors are often missing in the lives of young blacks who get sucked into the vortex of drugs/drinking/teen pregnancy/gangs and confrontations with police. And once one has a criminal record, it becomes even harder to find work...IF that work was even available in the inner city, which it often is not.

For blacks who have been accustomed to automatically voting Democrat election after election, it would be wise to consider how a candidate (Donald Trump) who understands the private sector and has a proven record for creating jobs could benefit their communities, their families and neighborhoods. This is far more than a fiscal or economic issue. It's a matter of human dignity and the importance of making life more meaningful for those who already have the deck stacked against them.

 

Mayhem Exposes U.S. Leadership Vacuum

It has been clear from the get-go that President Barack Obama's actual leadership abilities, good will and competence are inversely proportional to his ego, narcissism and arrogance. The events unfolding around us demand leadership, or at the very least, inspiration and words that instill confidence. But if you're expecting such qualities from our fearless leader, you will be sorely disappointed.

We have now had two consecutive weeks of calamity, starting with the outrageous decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for actions that would land most people in the slammer. On July 7, five police officers were gunned down in Dallas. Thursday, an Islamofascist vermin drove a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, killing over 80 and horribly wounding dozens of others. The images of the carnage are deeply disturbing, and it is painful to comprehend the horrible suffering and grave wounds of so many.

Then on Friday, we got word of a military coup in Turkey, a situation that parallels what happened in Egypt in 2013, when the military ousted  President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood cohorts. The Turkish coup killed more than 250 people, but failed. Thousands of Turkish soldiers are now in government custody, and President Recep Erdogan will undoubtedly put the oppression hammer down hard. Turkey's military was concerned with the same thing Egypt's military was: That Erdogan was stripping away citizens' rights and installing a more Islamist form of government. Predictably, Obama supported Morsi and now supports Erdogan. Finally, today we learned that three Baton Rouge, La., police officers were murdered in a cold-blooded ambush.

What has transpired overseas and in the United States in just the past two weeks is an atmosphere of utter chaos which leaves a menacing cloud of fear and insecurity over people worldwide. At a time when we need wise actions and reassuring words of comfort from our leader, President Obama has made poor decisions and inappropriate statements over and over.

His bad judgment was obvious a few years ago when he was hell-bent to pull troops out of Iraq. After years of blood and treasure sacrificed to oust psychopathic butcher Saddam Hussein and stabilize his devastated nation, we gave up our hard-earned progress by abruptly vacating Iraq. The maniacal monsters of ISIS quickly filled the void, and Iran has also rushed in to exert greater control.

For years, our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have had their hands tied with strict rules of engagement that basically hamstring their effectiveness and make them much more vulnerable to harm. Who knows how many deaths and injuries we have occurred because the idealist at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has pie-in-the-sky notions of how war ought to be waged.

In the same way, local police officers are basically being told to stand down (or they are doing so to avoid possible confrontations that could result in facing charges and possible conviction). Crime is out of control in places such as Baltimore and the South Side of Chicago. Police are under constant threat, with hateful rhetoric being directed at them on a daily basis -- much of it coming from Obama voters, no doubt. Yet the tone deaf Obama recently invited leaders of Black Lives Matter to the White House.

Rubbing salt in the wounds of family members of the deceased Dallas officers, Obama used his memorial service remarks to wallow in a discourteous rant about how our justice system still is tinged with racism and police departments are not without blame. He even wandered into slavery and Jim Crow laws. Disgraceful, but sadly, not a bit surprising in light of this man's boundless conceit and despicable track record.

Obama has purged the military of generals who don't suck up to his PC crap, including foisting transgender and gay policies on one of the American institutions that still is highly respected and absent of massive corruption. Now women will be integrated into combat roles. The practical problems and ramifications are plentiful -- that is, if one exercises rational thought and doesn't succumb to imagery and high-mindedness that is totally naive. Obama has deprived our nation of great experience, talent and strategic thinking in the leadership ranks, simply to appease his PC obsessions.

Turning to domestic terrorism, Obama has been knee-jerk with his calls for more gun control after the San Bernardino, Calif., and Orlando, Fla., killings. And he twists himself into a pretzel to avoid saying "Islamic terrorism" or "Islamic extremism." His declaration that the 2009 murders by Maj. Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood, Texas was "workplace violence" was not just asinine and preposterous, it was deeply offensive.

Obama is also adamant about opening up the floodgates to immigrants from the Middle East (to increase the number of Democrats as well as to reduce the Christian majority in our nation), despite the fact we cannot properly vet them and some of them will undoubtedly turn into terrorists. And let's not forget that quite a few of the Islamofascists released from Guantanamo Bay have returned to the battle field and/or plotting acts of terrorism.

When Newt Gingrich said Muslims who support sharia law should be deported, Obama's indignance and scorn were off the charts. Once again, he showed more rage against a conservative than he does against terrorists who murder and maim. He's done it repeatedly with Republicans, the NRA and others. 

To put it simply, Barack Obama is the polar opposite of what the United States needs in Summer 2016. The world is Humpty Dumpty. But rather than put it back together again, Barack Obama, one of the most divisive presidents we've ever had, is feeding it into a shredder, head first.

 

 

 

 

Belated Comments on a Tumultuous Week

Normally when a major news item breaks, I try to post my insights ASAP. But this past week, I was working some ungodly hours and unable to comment on the two major events of the week: FBI Director James Comey's announcement that no charges would be filed against Hillary Clinton, and the heinous attack on police in Dallas, which left five dead and wounded seven.

Perhaps it is better to have had a few days to ruminate. As my esteemed co-blogger stated, it helps to ponder the various angles and ramifications rather than responding immediately, as today's 24/7 world of the Internet, cable network news and social media demands.

Let's start with Hillary. I must admit, I was somewhat naive in assuming that FBI Director James Comey was beyond reproach and full of integrity. Turns out, the seemingly squeaky clean Comey apparently has succumbed to pressure from above -- a politicized Department of Justice, but ultimately, our corrupt president, by refusing to recommend that Secretary Clinton be prosecuted for her serious transgressions.

Which begs the question: Why? Was Comey threatened? Do the feds have something on him, or did they imply things might be rough for him and his family if he threw the book at Hillary? Or is Comey simply someone who doesn't want to be remembered in the history books as the guy who derailed the candidacy of what would have been our nation's first female president?

Another possibility: Does he only care about his great position, job security and pension? A two-term Hillary would most likely reappoint him as director after his 10-year term ends in 2023. Why stir up trouble by recommending prosecution? The mainstream media and tens of millions of rabid Democrats would demonize and harass Comey to no end if he'd chosen that route. Most people don't want to bring rage and hatred down upon themselves, even if they are as accomplished and intelligent as Mr. Comey.

So where do things stand for Hillary? Well, for her supporters, it's time to acknowledge that she is one of the biggest liars in world history, and has shown horrible judgment and reckless disregard for sensitive information. Some of the emails she handled were stored on gmail servers, and who knows about the servers and email services of recipients of her classified communications. I'd say there's a 99.99 percent chance that the Russians and Chinese have hacked into her communications. We will probably never known how many people in sensitive positions have been abducted, tortured and even executed as a result of her criminal neglect. But partisan fervor runs deep, and millions of Hillary supporters will choose to be ignorant and delusional, and downplay this whole situation as nothing but mean-spirited, bigoted Republicans picking on a woman. Sadly, that kind of vacuous thinking permeates todays Democrat Party.

Getting back to the private email server, the reason Hillary set it up in the first place was not just to skirt Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requirements, but to cover up how her business as Secretary of State was tangled up with the dirty dealings of the Clinton Foundation. The FBI is believed to be delving into the foundation, its donors and whether a clearcut quid pro quo arrangement existed between Hillary and Bill Clinton and foundation donors. But even if the agency finds fire where all of that smoke is coming from, don't expect it to recommend prosecution. One thing that really bugs me, though, is that the FBI did not question Hillary under oath, and did not record its interviews. Unbelievable, but then, it seems like nothing surprises me anymore under this corrupt administration.

Hillary is severely damaged goods, and she will continue to twist in the wind. Many independents will not vote for her, but not all of them will vote for Trump. Some will cast their ballots for third party candidates; others won't vote at all. And it is possible that a few Democrats will sit on their hands, utterly disgusted with their party's nominee. But what the Comey announcement and his subsequent congressional testimony definitely did was pour gasoline on the anti-establishment fire and further embolden the narrative that the system is rigged. This will bode well for the Trump campaign IF the GOP can get a clue about using data bases, computer technology and social media to get out the vote as effectively as the Obama campaign did in the 2012 election.

Now, regarding the men in blue... My prayers and condolences go out to the officers and their families. It was a truly heartbreaking atrocity, made even more so when we learn more about these upstanding men who gave their lives. While President Obama's critical comments about police and racism have certainly worsened things, he's not solely responsible for increasingly volatile relations between blacks and police officers. The tension and shootings such as the ones in Minnesota and Louisiana this past week stem not from government or the police themselves (yes, there ARE a few bad apples wearing blue, but they're in the minority), but from a breakdown in the family structure and a lack of morals.

As I stated last year, there are rogue cops who have committed crimes, and they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Better training and a more rigorous selection process for recruits probably need to be part of the equation.

But more often than not, blacks who are victims of police shootings could have avoided the confrontations if they had not already had a tendency to be confrontational as well as a track record for disobeying the law. The victim in last week's Baton Rouge slaying, Alton Sterling, had a lengthy criminal record, including impregnating a 14-year-old girl when he was 20. That doesn't justify his execution; it simply points out that a proclivity to flout accepted norms of behavior and disrespect law enforcement officials makes it more likely that a person could have a bad experience interacting with police officers. Why is this so difficult for the leftist activists to comprehend?

Although blacks only make up 13 percent of the population, they committed over 50 percent of the homicides between 1980 and 2008, according to U.S. Department of Justice figures. In more recent years, that figure has declined to about 30 percent -- still far higher than blacks' percentage of the population.

Out-of-wedlock births, children being raised in crime-ridden slums without fathers, failing schools and the myriad bad influences of the streets -- alcohol, drugs, gangs, prostitution, and a cancerous rap music culture that glamorizes violence and hatred for police have all contributed to the tensions between police and the communities they serve. Poor lifestyle choices invariably lead to painful longterm consequences.

So now we have millions of young people -- black, white, hispanic -- out marching against the police, and many of them are simply dupes for the left wing militants. They are ignorant, uninformed, easily influenced by demagogues. Threats have been made against police departments nationwide, and more demonstrations are planned. Welcome to the 1960s. There's nothing new under the sun, as they say.

The Republican Convention in Cleveland, coming up in a few days, also holds the potential for more unrest. Fasten your seat belts and hope for the best. It's going to be a rough ride.

 

On second thought, Comey might the right call on Hillary

The age of the internet has placed a premium on instant responses, but sometimes it's better to take some time to consider the entire situation before offering an opinion. 

My previous post was based on a combination of sentiment and a belief in fair play - which is to say emotions.  What I did not consider was the full slate of logical considerations.

Let's go through them together.

No one disputes that the evidence was there to charge her.  Indeed, one of things people remarked on was how thorough FBI Director James Comey was in outlining the strong case against her.  As everyone capable of sentient thought now knows, she's been lying about the whole affair from the beginning.  Those facts are not in dispute.

What we don't know (but Comey may) is how many of those classified emails came from the White House.

The Clintons always play hard ball and always have a backup plan.  I'd put the odds at roughly 100 percent that the Clintons had top secret emails from the White House in their possession that would be leaked in the event she was indicted.  In fact, I'd bet she made a point of cc'ing the White House numerous times just for that purpose.  Under no circumstances was she going down alone.

Two things flow from this.  The first is that close staff of the President would be compromised, which would not under any circumstances be allowed to happen.  Given that, the President would assert Executive Privilege over the entire thing, and would effectively stop the thing in its tracks.

Comey knows both of these things, and that's why he used the language about how difficult it would be to prosecute.

Finally, he also knew that if he recommended charges and the Justice Dept. shot them down, morale in the FBI would collapse.  He would probably be forced to resign and Hillary would still have walked.

But let's say the DOJ agreed to prosecute.  What guarantee would we have that they wouldn't lose the case on purpose?  In many ways, that would have been a far worse outcome.

Think about it.

If Hillary is under indictment, she gets to play the victim and Comey will get completely trashed.  At the same time, she would refuse to answer any and all questions even near it because it's a legal question and she can't comment.

The Obama administration would do the exact same thing.  "We never comment on pending litigation."  It would effectively disappear as an issue until such time as the DOJ blows the case on purpose.  For those that doubt this would happen, just look at how many times the government loses cases on purpose to environmentalists and are forced to impose penalties on themselves that they could otherwise never get through Congress.  Happens all the time.

Given the obstacles in front of him, Comey did the unexpected and in the process hammered home three potentially lethal points that Hillary won't be able to deny:

1. She got special treatment.  Comey came right out and said it.  She can't say she's for the little guy when everyone has indisputable proof that other people are in jail for what she did.
2. She screwed up royally.  The only case that the NeverTrumpers have is that she is more competent than Trump.  That case has just been destroyed.  She tried to hide behind the "tech-challenged granny" defense and Comey threw it back into her face.
3. The is a blatant, bald-faced liar and the supercuts of her lies are all over the place.  These aren't just any lies, either, they are lies about her performance on the job.  She lied about her core competence.

The beauty here is that there's really no way out of those last two points because the instant she says she knew what she was doing, she's confessing to the crime.

This is why Comey's emphasis on "intent" was so clever.  Hillary has to suck up the next four months of jokes about her incompetence and how the Russians and Chinese read all her email because the instant she disputes that she was clueless, Comey and change his tune.

As Scott Adams would say, I was thinking two-dimensionally.  Comey was operating in three. 

Maybe the Republic's got some hope after all.

American Rule of Law, R.I.P.

Huh, so the Republic lasted exactly 240 years.

The cause of death was pronounced by FBI Director James B. Comey.  From his discussion of why Hillary will get off without charges:

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.

Yep.  If you’re a little person, we’d nail you to the wall, but Hillary isn’t, so she skates.

Nice that he waited for the day after Independence Day.  It's a bummer to die on your birthday.

Happy Birthday America!

Today is the United States' 240th birthday, and as an interesting side note, it was 190 years ago today, July 4, 1826, that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both passed away.

Although Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, it was actually several weeks until the colonies signed off on the document. And the Revolutionary War, already in progress, would take another 5 years to resolve.

The Declaration of Independence discusses God-given rights being denied by the British oppressors, and these rights were later enshrined in the U.S. Constitution (adopted in 1787) and Bill of Rights (1791). What millions of people throughout the world do not seem to understand or appreciate is that freedom is a scarce commodity in the context of world history.

The brilliance of the British Enlightenment thinkers (John Locke, Adam Smith, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Francis Bacon, et al), along with the spirit of the Magna Carta, adopted in 1215, inspired the Founding Fathers. 

Freedom, individual initiative, innovation, productivity and optimism have been hallmarks of the Great American Experiment, helping us to become the greatest nation in world history, with power, prosperity, wealth and a standard of living undoubtedly exceeding the Founders' wildest dreams.

But growth -- in corporations, institutions and especially government -- left unchecked, unmonitored and allowed to pursue its own ends, often has dire consequences. ("Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," as Lord Acton so eloquently put it.)

Today, our nation stands at a crucial crossroads. Those who favor a bigger, more influential federal government often do not appreciate individual liberty, and subscribe to the false promises of collectivism. Or even if they are aware of individual rights being trampled on, they could care less as long as they are among the power elite who make the rules and rake in the cash.

Our K-12 schools and universities have thoroughly indoctrinated millions of gullible people ranging in age from grade schoolers to middle-aged Baby Boomers. Meanwhile, even a conservative Supreme Court, something looking less likely by the day, cannot rein in an out-of-control administrative state that often takes on a life of its own as it drafts and promulgates untold regulations that typically exceed what legislators and justices ever had in mind. The EPA and IRS are prime examples.

And special interest groups looking for a piece of the pie (or a ride on the gravy train -- pick your metaphor!) often seem to care only about themselves. Trial lawyers, public employee unions, environmental extremists, abortion purveyors, you name it.

If the American public elects Hillary Clinton president, she will forever change the fabric of this nation by A) Opening up the floodgates to allow millions of non-assimilating immigrants in (the majority of whom will become Democrats; many of whom will have large families of future Democrats); B) appointing left-wing justices who will restrict free speech of conservatives and trample on the 2nd Amendment; C) ensuring that federal mandates subjugate religious rights, as with Obamacare and its abortion/contraceptive mandates for religious-based organizations; and D) lowering the bar big time on voting requirements. No photo IDs will be required anywhere, convicted felons and even immigrants who have not achieved citizenship will be allowed to vote.

We will never have another Republican president of Hillary is elected, mark my words. And it will be only a few short years until the Democrat vice grip takes over the House and Senate permanently. We will become like a giant California, with high taxes, illegals preying upon law abiding citizens, citizens finding it expensive and extremely difficult to obtain firearms to defend themselves, water shortages, an even higher poverty rate, housing costs spiraling out of control, restrictive nanny state regulations creeping into our daily lives, and unfunded pension liabilities for public employees threatening future budgets. And it goes without saying, we already face unfunded Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security liabilities north of $100 trillion.

I don't even want to speculate on how disastrous our foreign policy will become. But I fear we are a nation in permanent decline, and will continue down that path -- unless millions of people quickly yank themselves away from their smart phones, video games and pleasure seeking and resolve to take ownership of this incredible nation. Time is short, and the potential for the loss of a great civilization is both real and sobering.