Lock her up? Nevermind.

[Jamisjockey]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-wont-try-to-prosecute-clinton-after-all-aide-says-150537237.html

 

Called it. 

[DittoHead]

I wonder how many people really believed that he would lock her up. Not many I would hope, but I'm sure it felt nice to chant along and vent some frustration.

[TommyGunn]

He doesn't have the authority to lock her up.    Maybe he can use his "bully pulpit"  to have an investigation started.....then guess what?   The demorats circle their wagons -- as they did around her husband during impeachment --  and instead of pushing his agenda forward,  President Trump has to deal with demorats gone all honeybadger on him and his agenda, and defending their own....

No.....Trump decided on brewing the bitter dregs of practical politics. ......

[Jamisjockey]

He doesn't have the authority to lock her up.    Maybe he can use his "bully pulpit"  to have an investigation started.....then guess what?   The demorats circle their wagons -- as they did around her husband during impeachment --  and instead of pushing his agenda forward,  President Trump has to deal with demorats gone all honeybadger on him and his agenda, and defending their own....

No.....Trump decided on brewing the bitter dregs of practical politics. ......

I think you really meant that he had already decided he wouldn't push anything on his lifelong friend, Hillary.

[AJ Dual]

A few random thoughts.

1. The words he used do not 100% declare that nobody would investigate/prosecute her. Congress has some powers in this regard, so would a special prosecutor, or someone lower down in the DOJ that people consider to be just "the government" and not "the administration" could do it. There's tons of wiggle room there if we want her prosecuted and Trump wants to keep the White House at arms length.

2. There is the issue of even when they deserve it, that prosecuting a presidential challenger, or someone from the previous administration, has a third-worldy or coup-d'etat air about it. As egregious as her behavior was, I might be persuaded that the dog & pony show of prosecution and trial may be more damaging to the Republic as a whole than not seeing justice done in her case would be.

[Scout26]

Again, a pardon would be in order.

[just Warren]

I wrote this a while back:

What if the point of the trump campaign was to make sure that someone won who wouldn't prosecute the Clintons?

There's a chance that Trump is in cahoots with the Clintons and ran just to knock out the other Rs, most of whom would gladly send Hillary and others to jail.

Remember Trump is a left-of-center urban Democrat who wrapped himself in Republican populism to run and win. He's been lying from the outset. So if he has been lying and we don't know what is really driving him, why couldn't he be an op of theirs? His daughter is best friends with their daughter, the families have hung around with each other for years. He's an authoritarian/fascist, she's a fascist-authoritarian. They mesh perfectly.

/tinfoil

Hmmmm...maybe tinfoil is not needed.

[Perd Hapley]

He doesn't have the authority to lock her up.    Maybe he can use his "bully pulpit"  to have an investigation started.....then guess what?   The demorats circle their wagons -- as they did around her husband during impeachment --  and instead of pushing his agenda forward,  President Trump has to deal with demorats gone all honeybadger on him and his agenda, and defending their own....

No.....Trump decided on brewing the bitter dregs of practical politics. ......

Bitter dregs? Not sure if serious. I think you're correct about Trump & Company deciding it's best to move on from Clinton, and get things done.

I wonder how many people really believed that he would lock her up. Not many I would hope, but I'm sure it felt nice to chant along and vent some frustration.

Huh? Is that some kind of dig at people who wanted a criminal as disgusting as Hillary Clinton to finally face the justice she so clearly deserves, instead of getting the highest office in the land?

[DittoHead]

Huh? Is that some kind of dig at people who wanted a criminal as disgusting as Hillary Clinton to finally face the justice she so clearly deserves, instead of getting the highest office in the land?

Nope.
More of a dig at the people who got caught up in the fantasy that Trump was selling.

[Perd Hapley]

A few random thoughts.

1. The words he used do not 100% declare that nobody would investigate/prosecute her. Congress has some powers in this regard, so would a special prosecutor, or someone lower down in the DOJ that people consider to be just "the government" and not "the administration" could do it. There's tons of wiggle room there if we want her prosecuted and Trump wants to keep the White House at arms length.

This, too. I'm not sure what the statute of limitations would be on Clinton's crimes, but perhaps there's a plan to push her case out to later on in this term, or the next?

I wrote this a while back:

There's a chance that Trump is in cahoots with the Clintons and ran just to knock out the other Rs, most of whom would gladly send Hillary and others to jail.

You're joking, right? I could see maybe Cruz bringing her to justice. He's about the only one, besides Trump, I could see actually following through with it.

[Perd Hapley]

Nope.
More of a dig at the people who got caught up in the fantasy that Trump was selling.

Understood.

[Ben]

I understand where people are coming from on the "don't prosecute and/or pardon" side. The "perfect world" part of me would like to see her up the river. The pragmatic part of me understands how that could undermine a lot of good change.

My big problem is still that there are the people who did far less. Trump says that she has suffered enough. That should apply to others prosecuted for less. Clinton knowingly broke the law. Many of those in jail or with hefty fines did not knowingly break the law. In at least one case, altruism and protecting life was the reason for the security breach (and I'm not even sure he knowingly transmitted classified data).

If Clinton has suffered enough, so have they. I would feel better about a Clinton pardon if the other cases were reopened and reevaluated.

[AJ Dual]

Here's the other side I see to this.

So she does get prosecuted. Over emails, the Clinton Foundation, or God knows what else is out there to nail them on.

It still sucks because Hillary winds up on some weak-ass Federal probation or house arrest, or some nominal country club short prison sentence. Great, we spend millions of dollars on a donkey-show, and tie up the thoughts and business and time of the entire country for months, or years... all for a slap on the wrist that wasn't nearly as painful to her as losing the Presidency was.

Worse, once she's prosecuted, she now has an effective "reset" on her criminal liability, because essentially it's all discharged by the conviction and whatever weak nominal punishment she gets. So now she's a martyr for the Left, and she has a clean slate in pragmatic terms with no leverage over her.

It might actually be better for her to hover in limbo forever, unpardoned and unprosecuted so she gets out, and stays out of politics and major exposure to the public eye forevermore.

[230RN]

AJ Dual opined:

It might actually be better for her to hover in limbo forever, unpardoned and unprosecuted so she gets out, and stays out of politics and major exposure to the public eye forevermore.

This is the way I started to think after my initial "oh, boy, oh, boy, gotcha now!" hand-rubbing moustache-twisting phase passed.

Better to keep it in reserve, and not to martyrfy her.

But it still rankles me that others lower on the totem pole got sat on.

Terry, 230RN

[Blakenzy]

My very first impression of "political" Trump was that of a used car salesman. Saying what ever he thought it was you wanted to hear, regardless of how ridiculous it may sound (yeah! you can put a V8 in this Prius!)

So during the primaries I didn't quite have any interest in him. However... enter Hillary, and it quickly became AOBH (any one but Hillary), because Hillary meant #NuclearWarBenghaziTerroristFundingGunBanClintonDynastyRULES in my opinion. So I became a fan, and I began to listen, and hey... this isn't too unreasonable.

What Trump said about Hillary, and what he would do with her was righteous. I agree with prosecuting people who abuse their position of power. I would have really liked to see that happen. I strongly diagree with the notion that enforcing the Rule of Law on Power Players would damage the Republic, or make the US a banana exporter. Quite the opposite!

However remembering the used car salesman in him, I kind of doubted he would follow through on such a thing, even more so after seeing him in prior buddy-buddy social pictures with the Clintons. What is more, you have to remeber that in order to govern efectively, he would need the cooperation of the "Swamp" to some degree. Still, hearing this news of no-prosecution is a disappointment, albeit somewhat expected. He DID praise H Clinton's 30 years of public sevice after he won

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs

So, Trump could be that Molotov Cocktail burning everything down, but he would kill his position of power in the process. And Trump all about self aggrandizing, not self sacrifice.

[brimic]

She will probably die of natural causes before Trump's first term is over anyway.

[just Warren]

She will probably die of natural causes before Trump's first term is over anyway.

What's the ICD-10-CM for being stabbed in the heart with a wooden stake made from the True Cross?

[KD5NRH]

It still sucks because Hillary winds up on some weak-ass Federal probation or house arrest, or some nominal country club short prison sentence. Great, we spend millions of dollars on a donkey-show, and tie up the thoughts and business and time of the entire country for months, or years... all for a slap on the wrist that wasn't nearly as painful to her as losing the Presidency was.

Or sit back and wait while Anonymous/WikiLeaks/whoever locates, collates and explains all sorts of new evidence, leaving a big flashing neon sign pointing at the origins so the actual taxpayer cost of finding it is a tiny fraction of what it would be to do all the legwork from scratch.  Then feign shock and "well, I guess we do need to do something about this now."

[TommyGunn]

I think you really meant that he had already decided he wouldn't push anything on his lifelong friend, Hillary.

Really?   From  what I've heard, they're hardly friends.   If anything, lifelong  ENEMIES.  

Bitter dregs? Not sure if serious. I think you're correct about Trump & Company deciding it's best to move on from Clinton, and get things done.
.........

  I wasn't really being serious.....but I'm sure it will be bitter for those Trump supporters who were intent on seeing Hillary go to prison.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I'm of the opposite opinion about the potential damage to the country in regards to prosecution. It's not about Hilary and making it about Hilary is the problem.
When someone is suspected of breaking the law, they get tried and, if convicted, they get punished. Our legal system is the backbone of this damn country. Making her name and her status more important than that backbone is *NOT GOOD*.

I understand the politics of the situation. The fact that the politics outweighs the justice system is even more worrying to me. 

Yes, it will be an expensive dog and pony show which will cause a whole lot of bickering and dramatic BS that will shake up Capitol Hill and the rest of this country even more than the election, but looking at this long term... I think if they don't prosecute her, we are all going to really regret it in 10 or 20 years.

[TommyGunn]

I'm of the opposite opinion about the potential damage to the country in regards to prosecution. It's not about Hilary and making it about Hilary is the problem.
When someone is suspected of breaking the law, they get tried and, if convicted, they get punished. Our legal system is the backbone of this damn country. Making her name and her status more important than that backbone is *NOT GOOD*.

I understand the politics of the situation. The fact that the politics outweighs the justice system is even more worrying to me. 

Yes, it will be an expensive dog and pony show which will cause a whole lot of bickering and dramatic BS that will shake up Capitol Hill and the rest of this country even more than the election, but looking at this long term... I think if they don't prosecute her, we are all going to really regret it in 10 or 20 years.

As Rush Limbaugh pointed out,  if Hillary was jailed,  the demorats would go into honeybadger mode and every republican politician in high office would forever be ruthlessly hounded with investigations, impeachment attempts, and the like.
Regular politics would grind to a halt.

[DittoHead]

the demorats would go into honeybadger mode and every republican politician in high office would forever be ruthlessly hounded with investigations, impeachment attempts, and the like.
Regular politics would grind to a halt.

If that was a viable option, they could (and I assume would) do so regardless of what happens to Hillary.

[brimic]

As Rush Limbaugh pointed out,  if Hillary was jailed,  the demorats would go into honeybadger mode and every republican politician in high office would forever be ruthlessly hounded with investigations, impeachment attempts, and the like.
Regular politics would grind to a halt.

I am totally ok with that.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I am totally ok with that.

Yeah, I wouldn't argue with that either.

[mtnbkr]

Really?   From  what I've heard, they're hardly friends.   If anything, lifelong  ENEMIES. 

I know you posted in CAPS, which is your way of telling us you're serious and all, but what is your evidence? 

Chris