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2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumThe Wages of Derp are Derp. Lots of it.
The first has to do with the purported looming indictment of Hillary Clinton. Over the weekend there was a stir because a New York Times reporter, Peter Baker, told CNN's Sunday morning show that Democrats are "quietly absolutely petrified" of a mid-summer indictment. This 'hot take' was immediately picked by Mike Allen's Politico Playbook. The stage was then set for yet another DC bubble derp freakout. Are Democrats "petrified"? I think that's an overstatement. But are some nervous? I have no doubt they are. But I know people are stocking up on ammo for when ISIS mounts an operation against their house. For most people fear is generated by press coverage, often ignorant or tendentious press coverage. And with the breathless coverage of developments that more or less obviously have no legal impact whatsoever, I don't doubt that many are nervous.
Here's the reality. Who knows what we will learn in the future? And this has nothing to do with the political impact of the "emails controversy". But as a legal matter, the chances of Hillary Clinton facing any kind of indictment are very, very low.
...
So why the press coverage? I think it's a combination of reasons. The most irreducible and perhaps most significant is simply prestige reporter derp and general ignorance of the legal system. Second is journalists' perennial inability to resist a process story. And third, let's be honest, wingnut page views.
As I've said, the political calculus and potential political damage is a different matter altogether. There is little doubt that this whole on-going controversy, along with stuff in the background about the Clinton Foundation, have hurt Clinton badly on public estimations of her honesty and trustworthiness. But again, on the possibility of an indictment, most of this chatter is just plain ridiculous - a mix of ignorance and tendentiousness.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-wages-of-derp-are-derp-lots-of-it
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The Wages of Derp are Derp. Lots of it. (Original Post)
geek tragedy
Feb 2016
OP
yeah, the whole "speculate on Clinton going to jail" thing is its own subgenre of derp nt
geek tragedy
Feb 2016
#2
emulatorloo
(44,172 posts)1. Wonkette for the light-hearted version
Hillary Clinton Definitely Going To Email Jail This Time For Sure
By Doktor Zoom - January 30, 2016 - 12:13pm
http://wonkette.com/598345/hillary-clinton-definitely-going-to-email-jail-this-time-for-sure#kkEfU4SQHKhtkjM7.99
Better call the House Select Committee on Benghazi back into session, because with just days to go before the Iowa caucuses, theres finally some huge shocking news about Hillary Clinton and all the Top Secret emails on her private server, which as everyone knows is the one issue that Americans simply cant seem to stop talking about, at least after theyve exhausted talking about the weather, sportsball, television, movies, their children, cat videos they saw on YouTube, and whether this milk is giving their coffee that funny taste. The carton says its not expired yet, but it might be a little off. Here, smell it, what do you think? And then right after that, Hillarys emails.
What happened was that before releasing Januarys monthly stash of emails Friday, the State Department announced that it was withholding 22 of the emails because they contained information that has been reclassified as Top Secret, although State Department spokesman John Kirby pointed out that these documents were not marked classified at the time they were sent. Its also not clear whether the newly reclassified emails were sent by Clinton, or had been sent to her by other State Department staff; the New York Times notes that the bulk of emails released from Clintons server so far were messages written by other State Department officials and forwarded by her closest aides.
Still, they were on her private server, and theyre now marked classified, so the only logical conclusion is that Hillary Clinton is a spy. Be careful, her bowtie is really a camera.
<snip>
So anyway, Hillz, it was nice knowing you, bummer about how this HUGE SCANDAL will finally murder your campaign just like you personally strangled Vince Foster while not declaring your tax losses on Whitewater and planning the attack on Benghazi. Maybe if youre lucky, you really will get another 11 hours of grilling from House Republicans, seeing as how that made you look great last time.
---------------------------
Much more at link, with lots of fun poked at Republicans.
By Doktor Zoom - January 30, 2016 - 12:13pm
http://wonkette.com/598345/hillary-clinton-definitely-going-to-email-jail-this-time-for-sure#kkEfU4SQHKhtkjM7.99
Better call the House Select Committee on Benghazi back into session, because with just days to go before the Iowa caucuses, theres finally some huge shocking news about Hillary Clinton and all the Top Secret emails on her private server, which as everyone knows is the one issue that Americans simply cant seem to stop talking about, at least after theyve exhausted talking about the weather, sportsball, television, movies, their children, cat videos they saw on YouTube, and whether this milk is giving their coffee that funny taste. The carton says its not expired yet, but it might be a little off. Here, smell it, what do you think? And then right after that, Hillarys emails.
What happened was that before releasing Januarys monthly stash of emails Friday, the State Department announced that it was withholding 22 of the emails because they contained information that has been reclassified as Top Secret, although State Department spokesman John Kirby pointed out that these documents were not marked classified at the time they were sent. Its also not clear whether the newly reclassified emails were sent by Clinton, or had been sent to her by other State Department staff; the New York Times notes that the bulk of emails released from Clintons server so far were messages written by other State Department officials and forwarded by her closest aides.
Still, they were on her private server, and theyre now marked classified, so the only logical conclusion is that Hillary Clinton is a spy. Be careful, her bowtie is really a camera.
<snip>
So anyway, Hillz, it was nice knowing you, bummer about how this HUGE SCANDAL will finally murder your campaign just like you personally strangled Vince Foster while not declaring your tax losses on Whitewater and planning the attack on Benghazi. Maybe if youre lucky, you really will get another 11 hours of grilling from House Republicans, seeing as how that made you look great last time.
---------------------------
Much more at link, with lots of fun poked at Republicans.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)2. yeah, the whole "speculate on Clinton going to jail" thing is its own subgenre of derp nt