A Great Question, Rephrased

Roger Simon wonders:

What Happens if Hillary Isn't Indicted?

I can help here: What Happens After Hillary Isn't Indicted?

Team Hillary has successfully created a bit of a hostage drama. By clearing the field and keeping all credible alternatives nominees at bay, it will now be difficult for Dem party leaders to let the mere rule of law knock down their only credible Presidential candidate.

So what happens after the non-indictment? I think the analysis I can't find just now predicting Watergate style resignations will be the first step, as James Comey and top FBI leaders step down.

James Comey is a bit of a left-wing darling since he stood up to Team Bush/Cheney during the hospital room drama involving re-authorization of an NSA surveillance program, not to mention his part in siccing Special Counsel Fitzgerald on Cheney et al in the Plame "investigation".

Bygones. Depicting Comey as an eternal partisan hack will of course be Job One for the White House and the legacy media, and 2004 was a long time ago. Since Comey has been on the wrong side of the "Ferguson effect" question and the screening of Syrian refugees, a good progressive thrashing is overdue.

And after the Hillary non-indictment and the mass FBI resignations? Well, timing is everything - can AG Lynch really delay a decision not to indict past the election? With the leaks we have been seeing it does seem as if the kettle is about ready to whistle. If Comey recommends an indictment in February, can Lynch sit on that for nine months with no leaks? Please.

From a different direction, it is possible that White House and Hillarity! strategists (who are surely not monolithic on this) were hoping that Hillary would somehow catch fire and engage the public in a manner similar to Obama in 2008. If Hillary were touring the nation to the roar of adoring crowds then squashing the FBI recommendation might seem to be manageable. Or does someone think that the Obama Express could have been derailed in the summer of 2008 by a mere scandal?

But that hope should have been viewed as a longshot. Hillary's the One! Respected but not loved, no more endearing a campaigner than she was eight years ago, and not likely to be widely missed if she went away.

So now Dem thinkers can contemplate Hillary losing Iowa, losing New Hampshire, then facing a quashed indictment recommendation and major resignations at the FBI. Feeling the Bern?

In terms of timing, either the DoJ needs to tear off the band-aid like, yesterday, or risk creating a situation where Bernie Sanders has a straight path to the nomination and an establishment warhorse like Biden has no time left to get in the race. Or they can try to hold off on refusing an indictment until Hillary has won a few primaries somewhere, which may not be until March.

Well. The rules maven of the DNC will surely find a way to roll in Biden if Hillary's situation becomes sufficiently dire - surely the current rules allow for mid-course adjustments of a candidate has a disqualifying medical crisis, and those exceptions could probably extended to indictments or the threat thereof. One result will be a divided, dispirited party and a lot of disillusioned Sanders supporters.

Comments

[lyle]

I share this angst:

http://spectator.org/blog/65247/year-today-or-why-im-not-looking-forward-january-20-2017

There is the possiblity that Trump's support could prove a mile wide, but an inch deep. In which case it would probably come down to Cruz or Rubio. Neither are perfect (no one is), but at least they can be accurately described as conservatives. But right now the Republican nomination is Trump's to lose.

In which case, a year from today, I will be an unhappy man. What makes me unhappiest of all is the thought that we will get the President we deserve.

If this unhappiness comes to pass, I shall watch this scene from The Marx Brothers' Duck Soup. Freedonia is in crisis and only Rufus T. Firefly (played by Groucho, of course) can save them.

During Firefly's inauguration he warns, "The last man nearly ruined this place, he didn't know what to do with it. If you think this country's bad off now just wait till I get through with it."

I strongly suspect the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States will not be nearly so amusing.

[lyle]

Congrats to your daughter, NK.

[Old Lurker]

I will work on that, JiB. I really do try to not let any glimmer of hope ruin my mood.

I am a little worried about how much snow will land on the Ledge this weekend. I told my parking lot contractors they will have to come collect their checks from me out on the Ledge since that will force them to dig me out.

How is the knee today?

[Rick Ballard]

NK,

Congratulations to your daughter, that's great news for her.
------------
Red Witch is very akin to a slowly starving poisonous viper, she's notoriously vicious and used to have a long memory. Why shouldn't she be allowed to finish starving, given the risk of trying to handle her?

[Old Lurker]

NK, that is GREAT news for her.

Good job parenting.

[Beasts of England]

Althouse made Mahon's same top of the ticket predictions last week.

[NK]

I get no credit for the parenting..... just ask my children..... and my dogs...... and my wife.

[Beasts of England]

Impressive news, NK!

OL owns a parking lot? Who knew...

[NK]

Mahon is Althouse?

[Old Lurker]

How could the Reps go from two anti GOPe guys leading all others by Yuuuge margins, to then settle for Ryan?

My Ledge is not enough.

[lyle]

Apparently Mahon and Althouse have been reading this:

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-on-the-right/011916-790526-nomination-of-an-anti-trump-will-doom-the-gop.htm

Ginsberg admits he wants to change the infamous Rule 40, which he wrote in 2012 to prevent a second candidate (Ron Paul) from being placed in nomination at Mitt Romney's convention. If no candidate wins on the first ballot, delegates are no longer bound to vote for their state's primary winner and are free to support a "dark horse" who never competed in a presidential primary or participated in a TV debate.

That's how "dark horse" Paul Ryan could become our nominee. Such an outcome could destroy the Republican Party and guarantee a Democratic victory by causing disheartened grassroots voters to stay home and tempting an aggrieved candidate to mount a third-party or independent presidential campaign.

Or Schlafly has been reading Mahon and Althouse.

[Old Lurker]

I own Shopping Centers, Beasts. They have parking lots...

My insurance carriers prefer that I make them safe in storms.

:-)

[Marlene]

Congrats NK!

[NK]

Le Donald-- I had never seen his 2013 DeBlasio quote before yesterday. It was so vomitus; even Mayor Bane's friends know he is an idiot.

[Jack is Back (but On Alert with his Percocet and Prune Juice )]

NK,

For the subject matter I never knew Pratt was a considered venue but Edinburgh sure has the reputation. IIRC, Prince William and Kate were in that undergrad program there. Terrific achievement by daughter. Proficiat!

[Old Lurker]

Light reading out here on the Ledge is inching me closer to the edge:

At Fox News:

"A report that claims that there is a crisis in civic education in the United States says that nearly 10% of all college graduates think that TV's 'Judge Judy' is on the Supreme Court.

It was one of several alarming statistics from the report by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

It commissioned a survey this past summer of recent college graduates. High school civics curricula was used to form the questions.

Among the findings:

• Only 28% of college graduates could identify James Madison as the Father of the Constitution.

• More than half of college graduates didn’t know how the Constitution is amended.

• Almost 40% of college graduates didn’t know that Congress has the power to declare war.

• Almost half could not recognize that senators are elected to six year terms and representatives are elected to two-year terms.

• Less than half of college graduates knew that presidential impeachments are tried before the U.S. Senate."

[Marlene]

We took a walk on Venice Ave. with the dog this afternoon (the Venice in Florida). I browsed in a few shops while hubby sat on the benches outside with the other old guys. Ha. It is so dog friendly here that while I browsed in the shops,hubby and doggy made new friends. A man walked by with a gorgeous Newfoundland and the little dogs were in awe. That must be the largest breed of dog? He was a gentle giant,didn't bother the other dogs at all.

[NK]

Pratt-- when I moved to Bklyn in '83 Pratt had devolved into an all dude engineering school b/c they couldn't get gals and light design types to go to Ft Green, it was a very dangerous place at the time. Pratt had frats in Bklyn Heights brownstones at the time. Times change. A senior of counsel atty here who came out of the City Planning Commission, says Pratt is the place for historic architecture for NYC gov't and firms based on numbers of people, Columbia is more academically rigorous, but much smaller. So it is a real choice if she wants to stay in NYC. BTW William and Kate met at St Andrews Univ 60kms from Edinburgh; my daughter did the autumn 2013 semester at St Andrews U which was its 500th Anniversary, and yes Will/Kate visited. Fun Fact-- actor Hugh Grant is banned from St Andrews Univ property http://www.thesaint-online.com/2013/09/an-open-letter-to-hugh-grant/

[lyle]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-scarlet-a-1453313382?tesla=y

Taranto goes droll:

One line in Brooks’s latest column caught our attention: “As the political scientist Matthew MacWilliams has found, the key trait that identifies Trump followers is authoritarianism.” Brooks elaborates:

[Trump’s] central image is a wall. With their emphasis on anger and shutting people out, Trump and Cruz are more like European conservatives than American ones.

Which “European conservatives” does Brooks have in mind? He doesn’t say, but “authoritarianism” primes readers to think of names like Mussolini, Franco and Le Pen as opposed to, say, Angela Merkel.

You can see where the “authoritarianism” factoid would be useful for Brooks’s anti-Trump “conspiracy.” If you’re a Trump-curious reader of David Brooks—they must exist—it is a strong appeal to social-acceptability bias. It’s not an argument against Trump per se, but against his supporters: They’re the wrong kind of people, and you wouldn’t want to become one of them.

But is it true? Brooks helpfully includes a link to the MacWilliams study, published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Politico.(MacWilliams turns out to be an aspiring political scientist, a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.)

Sticking with the Groucho theme a bit longer, I'll paraphrase him: I don't want to belong in a political party that would have Brooks as a member.

[Jack is Back (but On Alert with his Percocet and Prune Juice )]

OL,

Knee is getting better but I still can't get down the stairs. I am a prisoner in my bedroom. But I have a great shower, coffee maker, 50" LED TV, a comfortable chaise and wonderful bed. Have to get a better little silver bell and a wet bar.

Mrs. JiB is not amused and thinks I am a wimp for not doing the "no gain, no pain" rehabilitation regime. But it is honestly damn painful to put any weight on and I am not using a frame of crutches on those stairs. No way!

[lyle]

OL @ 4:15:

I'd wager every one of those college-educated nitwits vote D.

[Old Lurker]

JiB "better little silver bell and a wet bar. Mrs. JiB is not amused"

I told Mrs. L of your ailments and my advice for receiving proper care. Almost cost me a night on the couch.

[Old Lurker]

Tru dat, Lyle. We are so screwed.

[DebinNC]

[Trump’s] central image is a wall. With their emphasis on anger and shutting people out, Trump and Cruz are more like European conservatives than American ones.

Too bad we can't fast-forward to Europe 2018 and see how Merkel's "welcome one and all" worked out.

[pagar a bacon, ham and sausage supporter]

Well, they know enough to get someone else to pay for it. IMO, someone probably means taxpayers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/thousands-apply-to-u-s--to-forgive-their-student-loans--saying-schools-defrauded-them-133720706.html

Do taxpayers ever get to say that?

[lyle]

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430023/sarah-palin-donald-trump-endorsement-iowa-inevitable

The Brit exquisitely cuts to the chase.

[NK]

JiB-- get well soon!

[Mahon]

Actually, Jack, I think I'm looking on the bright side, considering. Although I would be more than fine with Cruz/Fiorina (or Haley or Martinez; I assume it has to be a woman.) Whatever happened to Walker, or Perry, or God help us Jim Webb? Apparently anyone who could actually do the job is somehow beyond the pale.

[Old Lurker]

Cruz-Carly has always been my wish.

[Miss Marple]

pagar,

I think college tuition would drop if the schools didn't get to charge whatever they wanted, knowing the kids would borrow it.

I have long advocated a "truth in educational lending" bill which would provide kids with the number of jobs in their field, the average salary, etc.

[Old Lurker]

Best fix is to force the colleges to share in any losses incurred by lenders, MM.

[jimmyk]

Why "share," OL? I've said for years colleges should co-sign the loans.

NK, congrats on your daughter's acceptance.

[Jane]

Dem VP in waiting imo HUD Sec. Julian Castro

That's what I've heard too Deb. The funny part is he is considered the dumbest person in public office, even worse than the Guam tipper.

[Dave (in MA)]

I endorse OL's ticket, but would happily vote for any steaming pile of manure if it was the opponent of the Pantsuit or Comrade Bernie.

[Destiny Ignatz]

--The funny part is he is considered the dumbest person in public office...--

Ed Markey is not amused. God help us when he attempts to regain the title.

[jimmyk]

Let's suppose we have a conservative R President, and both the Senate and House have R majorities. How long before we hear that the conservative agenda can't be implemented (including repeal of Obamacare) because the R's don't have 60 seats in the Senate? That they can't nominate a conservative to replace Ginsburg or Breyer or whichever lib justice croaks first? Never mind that none of this stopped the Dems from wreaking havoc.

[Miss Marple]

Kimberly Guilfoyle just lost it about Hillary's server and Juan's denial that there was anything illegal about it.

She started quoting the US Code and said "You can do all the jazz hands you want, but she broke the law!"

Later she said "Take THAT spaghetti and eat it, Juan!"

LOL!

[Miss Marple]

Jamie McGeever Verified account
‏@ReutersJamie

Barclays cuts its official U.S. Q4 GDP growth forecast to 0.5% annual rate from ... 2.5%.

[NK]

@5:15-- the Senate and House have passed ObummerCare repeal, and it awaits Obummer veto, and Dems voting to refuse override.

[DebinNC]

Excellent! Make 'em own it.

[NK]

Interesting Limbaugh opinion:

https://www.facebook.com/RushLimbaugh/posts/1259442257404766

[jimmyk]

Not my point, NK, I'm looking to next year, and still wondering if they'll be able to do it.

[jimmyk]

Or, not so much "able to do it" as "willing to do it."

[DebinNC]

Rush: "Nationalism and populism have overtaken conservatism in terms of appeal."

[NK]

what they have actually done, bad and good is the best available evidence. Besides, repealing ObummerCare is now a very easy lift. The only tough vote is Dems in contested elections voting NO for override.

[DebinNC]

Rush went on today to explain the meaning of his "Nationalism and populism have overtaken conservatism in terms of appeal" post.

[Art in Newport]

.. Too bad we can't fast-forward to Europe 2018 and see how Merkel's "welcome one and all" worked out..

I think we'll be finding out this summer, Deb.

Europe's ability to absorb 'Refugees' is already maxed out, and 3M more are arriving in 2016.

[NK]

Merkel's Welcome?

New Year's Even in Cologne seems to have already answered that question, no?

[Rick Ballard]

The Germans were hoping for immigrants capable of performing at an eighth grade level and got immigrants who can't quite operate at a third grade level. The welcome mat will be rolled up and hidden before summer.

[Rocco]

I think Cruz could have some fun with Comrade Bernie.

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-enemies-within-trevor-loudon-exposes-bernie-sanders-as-a-hardcore-marxist

[anonamom]

I'm on Mrs. JiB's side--if your doctor didn't forbid you from weight bearing , cowboy up and go down stairs! Pain is just nerve impulses--little atoms of potassium, sodium and calcium crossing cell membranes--nothing more than that.
You think it tickles to pass a seven pound infant from inside to outside?
My best friend's second was eleven pounds--she did it.

(If you aren't supposed to stand on it though, don't)

Or you can sit down and go down on your rear. Nobody will see you.

Don't be laying around in bed--you don't need a blood clot or a pulmonary embolism.

[Jack is Back (but On Alert with his Percocet and Prune Juice )]

ananomom,

Hello from downstairs where I have been for awhile just waiting for you to pipe in:) Ortho said to not push it and that is what I was doing "not pushing it" But upstairs can get pretty boring.

Did you all see this?

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside:

Stephen Gutowski ‏@StephenGutowski 32m32 minutes ago
Bill Clinton will be in Vegas tomorrow. The AVN porn awards will be in Vegas tomorrow.

[NK]

AccuWeather still calling for a big snow fall Friday night-saturday: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/snow-storm-travel-disruptions-aim-for-nyc-dc-boston-philadelphia-friday-saturday/54870622

[Art in Newport]

.. The welcome mat will be rolled up and hidden before summer..

Rick, I guess I was thinking of 'warmer weather' when I said 'summer'. Right now the colder weather works to keep people indoors and slows travel on foot. Easier for Merkel & Co to remain in denial about what's happening. But when things warm up, everything will accelerate: The streets will be full of 'Refugees', and angry Germans.

[maryd]

JiB, I'm a veteran of a really bad hip fracture at a very young age, and a followup of two hip replacements. If nothing else works, do try anonamom's suggestion about going down the stairs on your butt. It really does work! If you have access to a good PT who will make house calls, take advantage of it.

[Michael (fpa Patriot4Freedom)]

JiB - Here's another vote for anonamom's advice re going up and down the stairs while sitting down on the steps.

You'll be able to prevent putting any weight on your knee, and you'll get in a good workout for your triceps as you press down with your arms to raise your backside off the steps.

Go for it!

[Pierre Pendre]

If Hillary is disqualified in 2016 by an indictment or something silly like that, can she still run again in 2020. Surely this couldn't be the end. Please.

[boris]

Wrenched my knee pretty bad in a bike accident some years back. Twist fracture on the smaller fibula too but not serious.

Going upstairs was no problem. Going downstairs hurt like the dickens. Discovered going downstairs backwards was pain free.