William Saletan nicely summarizes yesterday's interrogation of Hillary Clinton at the Benghazi hearing:
Eleven hours after the hearing began, [Chairman] Gowdy gave up. Clinton was exhausted but still in good humor. Her inquisitors, however, were furious. After all the subpoenas, emails, and testimony, the evidence had once again failed to match their beliefs. But the committee did its job. It clarified the truth about Benghazi: Hillary Clinton did nothing wrong. And Republicans can't stand it.
And even a lot of right-wing pundits today are saying the whole thing was a farce and a waste of time. I haven't been a huge Hillary fan but her performance before the committee — and for that matter, her last debate appearance — have sure raised my opinion of her.
I'm reluctant to believe that any non-incumbent could nail their party's nomination down this far before the convention but I'd sure lower my hopes if I were a Bernie Sanders supporter…which I suppose in some ways, I am. (I'm kinda thinking Sanders would make a better Attorney General — or whatever cabinet post deals with corporate crime — than president.) And hey, Lincoln Chaffee has dropped out of the race, leaving Clinton and Sanders to duke it out to pick up his supporters — a guy named Ernie and a 92-year-old woman in Bayonne.
Seems to me the Republican party long ago decided they couldn't beat Hillary Clinton on policies so they need to beat her on scandals. They kinda did this with Bill, too. I am amazed how often since the Clintons became prominent politicians, I've been told by conservative friends or read that Bill and/or Hillary were going to jail within the next month or two. They were going to jail for Whitewater. They were going to jail for having all sorts of people murdered as part of their drug-running operation in Arkansas. (That was Jerry Falwell's Clinton Chronicles video that insisted there was incontrovertible proof.) Bill was going to jail for the Monica thing. Hillary was going to jail for Filegate, Travelgate and having Vince Foster murdered.
It goes on. Ben Carson said the other day on the radio that Hillary wouldn't be the nominee because she'd be behind bars. (He then went on to predict Joe Biden would be the nominee. An hour later, Biden announced he wasn't running. This isn't my joke but someone the other day complimented Carson on the fine work he was doing to destroy once and forever the stereotype of the Smart Brain Surgeon.)
And this week's National Enquirer has a headline story that there's finally proof Hillary covered up something-or-other in the Vince Foster matter and is going to jail. They'll sell a lot of papers and then nothing else will happen except maybe that Hillary will go on to a higher office. That's how this always works.