Townhall.com
Steve Soukup
January 14, 2018

Shortly after winning the election, President Trump told the New York Times that he probably would not make good on his promise to pursue a new criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s many shady deals, from her email server to her campaign apparatus to her and Bill’s massive and well-connected foundation. Trump declared that further investigation would be “very, very divisive for the country.”

Unfortunately for Hillary – and possibly for Bill as well – some things are beyond the control of even the most powerful man in the world. Some conservative members of Congress may force the Justice Department to take action against Hillary et al, whether Trump likes it or not.

The response from the Leftists to the new allegations against Hillary Clinton and her campaign has been utterly predictable.“She did nothing wrong,” they proclaim, and to investigate her now reeks of banana republic-style abuse of the justice system. But these Clinton defenders are mistaken on both counts. Hillary Clinton did much wrong, and to investigate those wrongdoings is not necessarily political payback. The questions raised by the ongoing various scandals are manifold, but perhaps the least asked and the rarely answered is the following: would such an investigation be good or bad for the country?

President Trump, for his part, has already said that such an investigation would be divisive, and thus bad for the country, particularly at this moment of extraordinary tension. One of Shakespeare’s most prominent and appealing heroines echoes Trump’s sentiments and argues them well. In The Merchant of Venice, Portia makes perhaps the most famous appeal to mercy in all of Western Civilization, pleading to Shylock about the nobility of said virtue, particularly when practiced by the mightiest among us.

To wit:

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:

‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown;

At the same time, however, no less than one of history’s greatest champions of justice and truth has argued that corruption itself is destructive and must be resisted.When the branches of a government are thought by the people to be deeply corrupt, the leaders of said government would be wise to take any opportunity to prove otherwise. In 70 B.C., the Roman Republic was deeply corrupt, as many believe the United States is today. Marcus Tullius Cicero was then the prosecutor in a trial before the Senate, in which the Gaius Verres, the governor of Sicily, was charged with wholesale corruption.Like the Clintons today, Verres was rich and powerful.

Cicero took the floor to proclaim:

At this grave crisis in the history of our country, you have been offered a peculiarly desirable gift, a gift almost too opportune to be of human origin: it almost seems heaven-sent. For you have been given a unique chance to make your Senatorial Order less unpopular, and to set right the damaged reputation of these courts. A belief has taken root which is having a fatal effect on our nation – and which to us who are Senators, in particular, threatens grave peril. This belief is on everyone’s tongue, at Rome and even in foreign countries. It is this: that in these courts with their present membership, even the worst criminal will never be convicted provided that he has money.”

"That, then, is the dangerous crisis with which your Order and your courts are faced. Speeches have been prepared, laws drafted, with the purpose of inflaming still further this hatred that already rages against the Senate. And at this very juncture Gaius Verres has been brought to trial. Here is a man whose life and actions the world has already condemned – yet whose enormous fortune, according to his own loudly expressed hopes, has already brought him acquittal! I, gentlemen, am his prosecutor, and the people of Rome are strongly and confidently on my side. To increase the unpopularity of your Order is very far from my intention. On the contrary, I am eager to remove your bad reputation – which is as much mine as yours. And the defendant whom I am prosecuting, being the man he is, provides you with your opportunity to recover the lost prestige of these courts and to regain the favour of Romans and the outside world alike.

Verres has sacked the Treasury. He has devastated Asia and Pamphylia. His tenure of the city-praetorship was a record of robberies; and the province of Sicily found him an annihilating pestilence.Pronounce a just and scrupulous verdict against Verres, and you will keep the good name which ought always to be yours. Let us imagine, on the other hand, that his great wealth succeeds in undermining the conscience and honesty of the judges. Well, even then I shall accomplish one thing. For the general conclusion will not be that the judges failed to find a guilty defendant – or that the defendant lacked a competent prosecutor. On the contrary: the deduction will be that there are no good judges in the land."

Cicero was right, of course, as even Verres conceded, leaving the country voluntarily. Magnanimity and mercy are useful and important virtues.But in this case, the very reputation of our republic, that which Abraham Lincoln called the last, best hope of man, may well be at stake. We love Portia, but the Clintons’ wrongdoing must be pursued. And if it’s proved as well, they must be punished. All the mercy in the world cannot buy back the loss of honor, integrity, and equality before the law.

Link

The answer is simple if true principles reign. Corruption such as theirs is what makes 3rd world cesspools out of once great nations. Corrupt govt. and immoral populations sink into failed States. Failed States starve and suffer from the bottom up. So if you are low in the social order, you should be screaming for justice the loudest. Either that or prepare for the worst as it comes exponentially.

Quick answer before reading the article: Only if it is Antarctica or maybe somewhere in Benghazi.

ETA: Okay read it. I agree, Antarctica is too good for her. Just bury her under the jail.

If that cesspool of political and CRIMINAL corruption is not cleaned up, and the perps actually get punished, then how is our nation any better than any of those 3rd world holes?

Some people are above the law in this country?

How about when criminals use the old "Klinton: defense? As in, "well, they got away with it and what I did was much smaller and a lot fewer people got hurt"?

We have a law abiding nation, or we do not. Selective prosecution based on how rich, or politically powerful, the perps are, is just one more evidence of how far our nation has deteriorated.

Is the fear that all those "threads" are so interwoven into our government that it might destroy the nation? I submit that not cleaning up that sewer, no matter where it leads will surely destroy our nation.

Will it be painful for the public to experience the draining of that swamp? For some, certainly. For others, a learning experience, and for yet others a joyous experience that shows that our founding principles have again won out and are in place.

Link to original video: https://youtu.be/ZiexFdVQV0c

Mercy, in this context is only applicable if first there is justice. Investigate, try and convict if possible. Then we can discuss mercy.

Open the curtains and let the sun shine in. Expose the corruption, and if possible obtain judicial confirmation through a conviction. Mercy is only a forgiveness or mitigation of punishment; it is not an excuse from the conduct.

We are either a country of laws, or we are not.

If the Trump administration sweeps this under the rug then they have just become another part of the swamp.
This needs to be as above board as possible. After that, follow the evidence wherever it goes.

Did she herself not say in an off stage rant that if she lost, they would all hang from nooses.

If she thinks so, who am I to correct her?

When Lady Justice removes her blindfold and determines Justice is applied according wealth, power, or other status, we as a society wil fail. Justice will no longer be fair and impartial. No person no matter who they are, should be above the law. Because followers of Hillary are upset that their golden child is facing justice should not matter. Will it divide the country not any more then it is divided now. What it will do is show others that no one is above the law and if you break the law you should be prepared to face the consequences of your actions.

When I was ticketed for speeding 20 years ago, I would not tell the trooper I was a police officer. Something I believe in your choices/actions have consequences either good or bad determined all on you.

Free Falling.

nope

whats the point of having laws if they can be simply ignored

I just decided that I think bank robbery is legal so we should all go rob banks...

why banks?

thats where they keep the money


she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for each and every offense

make an example of her and her ilk so that we can start to clean up the country

she is a shit stain that needs to be wiped up

They benefited from their crimes, so should they suffer for them.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Shugart:


Link to original video: https://youtu.be/ZiexFdVQV0c

I remember that movie.
Also the Porsche has a nice clean straight drivers side driving away but all smashed after Arnold pushes over the car and gets in.

Is that a legitimate question?

quote:

"...even the worst criminal will never be convicted provided that he has money.”

The fact that their crimes were not prosecuted when first discovered is just more laws broken/ignored.

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:
We are either a country of laws, or we are not.

Nothing more than this needs to be said.

If Sessions won't take charge then Trump needs to replace him with someone that will, period!

Jim