Hillary

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[Peacedog]

Assuming she does not win the general election it will come down to an Obama pardon.

Obama has a rumored hatred of the Clintons in general. Will he view this as a potentially embarrassing end note on his tenure as president or not? I think that is the real question.

If a Republican is elected president, she may well be charged at some point assuming a presidential pardon has not been handed out. Most federal felony charges have, at least, a seven year statute of limitations associated with them, so the next guy in the drivers chair will be well within the time limit if a presidential pardon is not handed out.

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[Orpheus]

At this point I just don't see how she will not be charged.
I know the Clintons always get away with everything, but the evidence is just overwhelming.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/us/politics/22-clinton-emails-deemed-too-classified-to-be-made-public.html?_r=1

Just out of curiosity, did you read the article?

It noted that the documents were not classified when she sent the information out via email. The information was subsequently classified after they were sent, some not until many years after. These were classified at the request of agencies distinct from the State Department, possibly due to reasons the Department was not privy to. It seems unlikely that a crime has occurred under current laws. Additionally, there is no indication any of the information was compromised.

If it was a crime, is this really something that you would want charges brought over? If so, think of the opportunities for abuse. A new president ascends to power, and immediately classifies millions of documents. Charges are then brought against political enemies who sent now classified information out via routine business networks.

Think about how intensely you would want this prosecution if it wasn't Clinton. For example, Colin Powell also used private emails for routine State Department business. I would wager that those emails contain some now classified information.

With that said, Clinton deserves to get beaten over the head with this issue throughout the election. It is concerning that any official State Department communication was occurring on non-government devices, particularly the Secretary of State. And if she knowingly sent out any classified material, she deserves to be prosecuted for it.

[vadaga]

speaking of Colin Powell, there is somebody I wish would get into the presidential race...

[Steve James]

With that said, Clinton deserves to get beaten over the head with this issue throughout the election. It is concerning that any official State Department communication was occurring on non-government devices, particularly the Secretary of State. And if she knowingly sent out any classified material, she deserves to be prosecuted for it

Well, yeah, she could be charged and prosecuted. However, if she were President when this happened, it would be considered a mistake, not a crime, and probably wouldn't rise to the level of a "high crime or misdemeanor." What would be her punishment now? Jail? Nah, the whole point is to argue that she's dishonest (because of what she did "after" the emails were sent), and therefore unqualified to be President. Anyway, I don't think she'll resign or drop out because of the emails. And, I don't believe that m/any people who ever supported her will stop because of an email scandal. People against her will yell and scream about how corrupt and dishonest she is. But, that's a joke considering the history of her strongest opponents on the other side. The only two who seem to have a semblance of it are Kasich and Bernie.

Sorry, "character" in not their strong point. Did you hear how Ted Cruz's people sent out emails saying that Carson was quitting while the caucuses were going on? That was some slick far above tricky Dick's dirty tactics. What's beautiful is that, inevitably, these tricks turn around and bite their users in the ass. So, I think the upcoming Cruz-Trump contest will be better than watching Survivor or Big Brother (not that I do).

[Peacedog]

The short answer on Powell is age. He is 78 years old right now. He would be almost 80 when he got into office.

Also, and this is pure heresy, but apparently his wife was none too happy when he took the State Department job after 35 years in the Army. I suspect any further political aspirations took a back seat to family issues.

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[vadaga]

Peter van Buren has some good articles talking about Hillary and e-mails as I recall

http://wemeantwell.com/blog/category/questions-for-clinton/

[Orpheus]

Here's the deal: last Friday the State Department revealed (on a Friday, as usual) that it found 22 emails on her server that were labeled Top Secret when she got them.
When she received them, they were marked Top Secret.
But Monday afternoon, after her campaign workers lobbied their former colleagues at the DoS, the State Department said that they weren't all labeled Top Secret.

Do you have a link? If two different statements were released with a three day gap in between, then a record of the original statement should still be out there.

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[Steve James]

Look at Iowa; Hillary barely beat Bernie Sanders (by a coin toss) and she's had her campaign machine in place since 2008.
She should have been able to beat an acknowledged socialist easily, but instead she is feelin' the Bern.
People don't find her trustworthy.

Iowa was a tie, though Hillary was declared the winner. The best complaint about a coin toss is that it's arbitrary and can go either way. The contest has just started. If it comes down to a close call at the end of the campaign (after Super Tuesday, for ex), then the issue may be decided at a convention. In which case, there's a chance that someone might drafted.

Anyway, afa as Bernie's "socialism," that criticism only works if socialism is demonized, which is easy to do by pointing to "communist" countries --but never to our own "socialist" programs -like subsidizing ranchers, oil producers, and "social security," or to European "socialist" countries, or even to Canada --unless to argue that they are all failing or will fail.

So, the suggestion (and oft repeated claim) that Americans somehow shouldn't or won't vote for someone because he's a "socialist" is just a talking point that doesn't mean anything because, if fact, people did vote for Bernie. And they, young people specifically, caucused for Bernie because of what he says, not how he defines himself -politically or religiously or ethnically.

Bernie thinks that the banks should be broken up, that we shouldn't subsidize profit making entities that end up paying no taxes, and that Americans should all have medical insurance. There are just lots of people who agree and don't really care about the labels.

Afa people finding Hillary untrustworthy, who trusts Ted Cruz or Donald Trump? Trump just tweeted about how slimy Cruz is (something Stevie Wonder could see). Watch the way they treat each other, and treat "others," and it will illustrate their characters --because "Trust" is a character issue. I don't trust Hillary, but I'd be much more comfortable with her hand on the nuclear button. She's dull as hell, but I wouldn't be worried.

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[Steve James]

If you don't want to debate it, why use it as an argument? Yeah, Bernie is an independent. And, I also know lots of people (but, I won't dignify the term "liberal,") who voted for Obama and prefer Bernie over Hillary. I even know some people (whom I won't call "conservatives") who voted for Trump, but would vote for Bernie. And, the "progressives" I know are all behind Bernie.

At any rate, I can't speak for democrats because I'm an independent, anyway. And I don't happen to know Trump or or Bernie's position on abortion. I know that Cruz and Rubio are against abortion even in the case of rape, incest, or possible injury to the mother. But, to you general point, even if trust is an issue, if it's Hillary v. ANY Republican candidate, I don't think any democrat voter will "trust" the Republican candidate more. Of course, either way, I don't think many republican voters will turn to Hillary before or after her election. It'll be 8 more years of complaints, which is a great argument for electing Bernie.

[shawnsegler]

I'm as liberal as they come, but Hillary is bought and paid for.

I recommend this book for those on the fence about the Clintons. The Hitch was a ruthlessly moral man who told it like it was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_One_Left_to_Lie_To