Neoconservatives outraged by FBI verdict on Hillary Clinton: Daily Bullshit, July 6, 2016 (updated again and again)

Updated for confirmation that the Department of Justice will not prosecute Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified information.[1] Updated again (twice) for articles on the Chilcot report,[2] on which I’m expecting much more tomorrow.


Hillary Clinton

As Andrew McCarthy puts it, the FBI

has told the public that because Mrs. Clinton did not have intent to harm the United States we should not prosecute her on a felony that does not require proof of intent to harm the United States. Meanwhile, although there may have been profound harm to national security caused by her grossly negligent mishandling of classified information, we’ve decided she shouldn’t be prosecuted for grossly negligent mishandling of classified information.[3]

There are lots of neoconservatives at the National Review and one wouldn’t expect them to be happy with how Hillary Clinton handled her email. That said, all I’m seeing among Clinton’s apologists in response so far are variations on the “vast right-wing conspiracy” that the Clintons blame for all their troubles. That’s not a substantive defense.

In my dissertation, I criticize conservatives for devaluing evidence in favor of ideology.[4] I can’t say that today. There may be a substantive refutation to what these conservatives[5] are alleging. I’m not seeing it. Rather, it’s the folks on the left who are overlooking evidence in favor of the preferred candidate. And yes, I’m still waiting for Jonathan Turley to check in (actually he has, from Alaska, where he doesn’t seem to be paying much attention[6]).

Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, “No Prosecution of Clinton, Attorney General Says,” July 6, 2016, http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/no-prosecution-clinton-attorney-general-says

Jon Gabriel, “Hillary Clinton: Too Big to Jail,” Ricochet, July 5, 2016, https://ricochet.com/hillary-clinton-too-big-to-jail/

Andrew C. McCarthy, “FBI Rewrites Federal Law to Let Hillary Off the Hook,” National Review, July 5, 2016, http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/437479/fbi-rewrites-federal-law-let-hillary-hook


Chilcot Report

It’s been pointed out previously that, among her many foreign policy mistakes, Hillary Clinton enthusiastically supported the Iraq War.[7] Now, “[t]he damning judgements kept coming [in the Chilcot report on the decisions that led to British involvement in the invasion of Iraq], delivered in the cool, temperate prose of Whitehall, but no less searing for that.”[8] Such judgments are even more damning against George Bush and that Hillary Clinton supported Bush is more evidence of the neoconservative consensus that rules Washington, D.C.

Jonathan Freedland, “Blair’s Iraq war legacy leaves him damned for all time,” Guardian, July 6, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/blairs-iraq-war-legacy-is-now-damned-for-all-time

Luke Harding, “Tony Blair unrepentant as Chilcot gives crushing Iraq war verdict,” Guardian, July 6, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/chilcot-report-crushing-verdict-tony-blair-iraq-war


  1. [1]Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, “No Prosecution of Clinton, Attorney General Says,” July 6, 2016, http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/no-prosecution-clinton-attorney-general-says
  2. [2]Jonathan Freedland, “Blair’s Iraq war legacy leaves him damned for all time,” Guardian, July 6, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/blairs-iraq-war-legacy-is-now-damned-for-all-time; Luke Harding, “Tony Blair unrepentant as Chilcot gives crushing Iraq war verdict,” Guardian, July 6, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/chilcot-report-crushing-verdict-tony-blair-iraq-war
  3. [3]Andrew C. McCarthy, “FBI Rewrites Federal Law to Let Hillary Off the Hook,” National Review, July 5, 2016, http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/437479/fbi-rewrites-federal-law-let-hillary-hook
  4. [4]David Benfell, “Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration” (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126).
  5. [5]Shannen W. Coffin, “FBI Director Comey Is Wrong: The Case for Prosecuting Hillary Clinton Is Strong,” National Review, July 5, 2016, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/437493/hillary-clinton-email-scandal-fbi-director-comey-built-strong-case-decided-against; Jon Gabriel, “Hillary Clinton: Too Big to Jail,” Ricochet, July 5, 2016, https://ricochet.com/hillary-clinton-too-big-to-jail/; Andrew C. McCarthy, “FBI Rewrites Federal Law to Let Hillary Off the Hook,” National Review, July 5, 2016, http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/437479/fbi-rewrites-federal-law-let-hillary-hook; James Taranto, “Laws Are for Little People,” Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/laws-are-for-little-people-1467742661;
  6. [6]Jonathan Turley, “Day Eight: Whittier,” July 6, 2016, http://jonathanturley.org/2016/07/06/day-eight-whittier/
  7. [7]Medea Benjamin, “Hillary Clinton Hasn’t Learned a Thing From the Iraq Experience,” Truthdig, October 29, 2015, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/hillary_clinton_hasnt_learned_a_thing_from_iraq_20151029; Marjorie Cohn, “Want Endless War? Love the U.S. Empire? Well, Hillary Clinton’s Your Choice,” Truthdig, February 1, 2016, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/want_endless_war_love_the_us_empire_hillary_clintons_your_choice_20160201; Daniel Larison, “Clinton’s Reliably Bad Foreign Policy,” American Conservative, April 12, 2016, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/clintons-reliably-bad-foreign-policy/; Jackson Lears, “We came, we saw, he died,” review of Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, and HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton, by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, London Review of Books 37, no. 3 (February 5, 2015), pp. 8-11, http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n03/jackson-lears/we-came-we-saw-he-died; Lauren McCauley, “Critics Aghast at ‘Disgusting Speech’ Clinton Just Gave to AIPAC,” Common Dreams, March 21, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/03/21/critics-aghast-disgusting-speech-clinton-just-gave-aipac; Robert Scheer, “Go Ahead, Back Hillary Clinton and Forget All About Her Record,” Truthdig, October 9, 2015, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/go_ahead_back_hillary_clinton_and_forget_all_about_her_record_20151009; Stephen Zunes, “Hillary the Hawk,” Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Winter, 2016, http://www.thecairoreview.com/essays/hillary-the-hawk/; Stephen Zunes, “The Five Lamest Excuses for Hillary Clinton’s Vote to Invade Iraq,” Foreign Policy In Focus, January 26, 2016, http://fpif.org/five-lamest-excuses-hillary-clintons-vote-invade-iraq/
  8. [8]Jonathan Freedland, “Blair’s Iraq war legacy leaves him damned for all time,” Guardian, July 6, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/blairs-iraq-war-legacy-is-now-damned-for-all-time

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