"No-More-Emails" Wins on the Applause-O-Meter -- Republicans Undeterred

 

what eye thynk:  My favorite debate moment came, as it seems to have come for many debate watchers, when Hillary Clinton was asked about Benghazi and the Republican e-mail witch hunt.  Her response and Bernie Sanders reaction were perfect. 

(Any underlines are mine):

Hillary Clinton:  I’ve taken responsibility for it. I did say it was a mistake. What I did was allowed by the State Department, but it wasn’t the best choice. And I have been as transparent as I know to be, turning over 55,000 pages of my e-mails, asking that they be made public. And you’re right. I am going to be testifying. I’ve been asking to testify for some time and to do it in public, which was not originally agreed to.

The four most important words in that statement: "do it in public."  The last thing Republicans wanted was to be backed into having her testify in public.  It is going to eliminate their chance to continue leaking selected (and conveniently misleading) statements in their on-going, tax-payer funded, politically motivated ploy.

Ms. Clinton continued:  But let’s just take a minute here and point out that this committee is basically an arm of the Republican National Committee. It is a partisan vehicle, as admitted by the House Republican majority leader, Mr. McCarthy, to drive down my poll numbers. Big surprise. And that’s what they have attempted to do.

Bernie Sanders:  Let me say something that may not be great politics.  But I think the secretary is right, and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.

We're also sick and tired of the House' refusal to accept the conclusions reached by their multiple committees that nothing illegal was done.  If you don't get the answer you want after seven committees have released their findings, creating an eighth committee and calling it "Select" fits the classic description of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Judging by the standing ovation Mr. Sanders received, there can be no argument that "the American people are sick and tired" of the subject.  Judging by the reactions of some of Republican candidates, they didn't get the message:

Donald Trump told MSNBC: I think Bernie, actually, for the sake of a good soundbite, let her off the hook.

Poor, sensitivity deficient Donald can't imagine standing up for anyone but Donald.

Jeb Bush told Fox:  If she wins the nomination and I win the nomination, trust me, this is not going to end.

Kevin McCarthy says so!  And the House Select Committee on Benghazi says so! 

Marco Rubio told Fox:  Well, they may not care about it, but the people in this country do because it goes right to the issue of credibility. 

How long has it been since any Republican demonstrated even the slightest sign of caring what the American people think?  Gun control? Nope.  Climate change? Nope.  Minimum wage? Nope. Voters rights? Absolutely nope.  The only reason this is still an issue is because the GOP cares about it, but for all the wrong reasons.

Mike Huckabee via Twitter:  It's not about your emails, it's about you hiding the truth...

Wanting to testify in public doesn't sound like "hiding" to me; but "Hallelujah! I love Jesus!" 

After the first Republican debate, Blue Nation Review wrote: "What was missing entirely was real solutions.  Solutions for climate change and creating jobs.  Solutions for criminal justice reform and the immigration crisis.  The Republican party showed us the best it had to offer Thursday night.  It wasn't much."

Essentially, with Donald Trump center stage, the Republican debates have produced one long, drawn-out, reality TV show audition tape.  

While Republican debates have seemingly been stalled in assassination mode, focused on tearing down each other and Hillary instead of offering real solutions to anything,  Democrats, on the other hand, talked policy, they talked ideas, they talked solutions.  

Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tweeted last night:  "Sorry there is no STAR on the stage tonight!" in a glaring example of how shallow the Republican campaign has been.

Americans aren't looking for a "STAR."  We're looking for a leader.