(This image of campaign symbols for 2016 is by DonkeyHotey.)I had thought the e-mail "controversy" aimed at Hillary Clinton was over. She had been investigated by numerous entities, and none of them could come up with any wrongdoing by Clinton. Clinton did admit that it would have been better if she had not used a private e-mail account while Secretary of State -- but even that was not truly out-of-line, since the previous Secretaries of State had done the same thing.
Now the media is once again trumpeting that Hillary may have done something wrong. It seems that someone in the State Department has decided that a few of those e-mails cannot be released, because they are now considered "top secret". That smells to me like the stuff that comes out of the south end of a northbound bull -- pure crap.And an equally bad smell goes to the timing of these "leaks" -- right before Iowa voters meet at the caucuses.
Donald Trump immediately tweeted about Clinton's trustworthiness, and I'm sure all of his GOP rivals will do the same. That's to be expected, since they are all terrified of having to run against her in the general election, and they are trying to throw as much mud at her as possible.
Credit goes to Bernie Sanders, because he hasn't joined the mud-slingers regarding the "e-mail scandal" (which is no scandal at all). Unfortunately though, many of his supporters are more than happy to climb down into the gutter with right-wingers, and they are trying to insinuate this reflects negatively on Clinton. It does not.
There has also been a "leak" saying the FBI was ready to indict Clinton over e-mail wrongdoing. These idiots don't even know the FBI doesn't issue indictments (that's the job of a grand jury). And there is no reason to think Clinton did anything wrong (or illegal).
Let me emphasize:
* Clinton did not e-mail any secret information.
* Clinton's use of a private e-mail server is not different from what past officials in both parties have done.
* Clinton broke no laws by using a private e-mail server.
* The FBI is NOT investigating Clinton for wrong-doing (but only checking to see if her e-mail account could have been hacked by others).
* This is not a scandal, but an effort to smear Clinton by those who are terrified to run against her.
If you (or your candidate) have policy differences with Hillary Clinton, then by all means, bring those forth so that can be discussed. That is what campaigns are for. But stop the efforts to smear her with this non-scandal. It just makes you (and your candidate) look bad. It smells of desperation.
