Dealing With Con-Men

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One of the few benefits of growing up poor is that you are exposed at an early age to hustlers, grifters and criminals. Everyone has someone in the family who is working an angle. It could be as simple as a disability fraud or as complicated as running drugs. Maybe it is just turning people’s virtues into vices in order to con them out of a few bucks. At the bottom of the economic scale the paydays are small, but the stakes are always high. That brings out the best in a hustler. They trust no one and they are always working some angle.

The thing you learn early on is that there is no beating these people at their game. You can be the smartest guy in the world, but you do not think like a hustler. The grifter has a different mind. They are motivated by different desires. More important, they are always working some angle, looking for a flaw, a weakness they can exploit. It is not what they do, it is who they are. Lying is as natural to them as breathing. The best thing to do is put as much distance between yourself and them.

That is a lesson, I suspect, the people around Barak Obama wish they had known back in 2008 when they decided to have Hillary Clinton as their Secretary of State. They thought they had found a clever way to keep the Clintons in a box after the election. They did not want them running around criticizing Obama to their friends in the press, so they put her in a job that would keep her inside the tent, but outside the country most of the time. After all, the action was going to be on the domestic side. What harm could she do?

That would keep Hillary from running against them in 2012 and it would make it impossible for Team Clinton to criticize Obama. They also had the issue of campaign debt. Team Obama promised to help Team Clinton pay off the debt so she could have a chance to run again once Obama left office. This looked like a great way to sideline the greatest threat to Obama’s position in the party and within the Cult of Modern Liberalism. It looked like a modern way of having the defeated king join a monastery.

The Clintons, being what they are, immediately looked for how they could exploit this new appointment. The news tells us that before she set foot in the place, she had her people working on the secret e-mail server. I would not be surprised to learn that when Team Obama was negotiating the surrender of Team Clinton, it was the Clinton side who suggested the job at State. They hit the ground running with their grift as soon as she got the job, suggesting they were a step ahead of Team Obama.

The reason you never try do business with a grifter is, in the end, they always find ways to compromise you. They keep working you and anyone around you so that at some point, you are left with two choices. One is you help them. The other is you hurt yourself. People being what they are, the default is to help, hoping that will be enough to be free of the problem, but that just gets you in deeper. It is why victims of con-men often refuse to go to the police. They either feel like morons or they fear they are compromised.

In this case, Herself was allowed to run this secret e-mail system, which the White House had to know about, but they looked the other way and now they are compromised. If they let the justice system take its course, Team Obama gets their dirty laundry exposed in the process, so they have to make all sorts of compromises to stymie the legal process. By looking past the server in the first place, they left themselves exposed and as a result, they have no choice but to help Clinton stay out of jail.

The meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch the other day is bringing out all the conspiracy theories, but all of them miss the mark. The point of it, from the perspective of Team Clinton, was to let everyone know that no one is without sin in this matter. My guess is Lynch was flattered to be invited to meet with her old boss and foolishly took the meeting. Clinton knows she is not terribly bright so he played on her vanity and used her to remind Team Obama of their exposure.

The lesson, once again, is that you never do business with con-men. Whatever choice presented, always take the one that gets as much distance between them and you. Team Obama should have left the Clintons out in the cold back in 2008, but they let themselves get talked into what they thought was a clever solution. Instead, they invited a cancer into their administration. Having Bill Clinton say bad things about Obama looks fairly good in comparison to years of blackmail from Team Clinton.

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Comments (Historical)

The comments below were originally posted to thezman.com.

49 Comments

JohnTyler #14321 July 3, 2016 6:19 pm 15
The biggest con job ever perpetrated in US history was by carried out by Barry Hussein Obama in getting himself elected as president.Think about it; as an adult he never held a real job. He was a glorified Teaching Assistant of law at U of Chicago, and then he was a “community organizer” (i.e., a paid rabble rouser and trouble maker). He would not have be hired as a manager at a McDonald’s because he had zero job experience (though he certainly would have qualified for their manager trainee program).Imagine if his resume was handed to the board of directors of, say, GE or IBM or Honeywell or Caterpillar or Verizon or Ford, etc. , as a potential CEO. His resume would have been trashed faster than white on snow.Why?Because he had ZERO job experience. He had zero accomplishments. He had done nothing at all other then graduate from college and law school.In the US Senate, he was basically invisible. He was a non-entity, an invisible man (sorry, Claude Raines; don’t mean to insult your acting skills !).His only gift was his ability to BS, his public speaking skills and knowing what to say to arouse the emotions (not the intellect) of the voters. That is it.Yet somehow, and with the great assistance of the stupidity of the voters, and probably to his own great surprise, he won the democratic nomination for president. Of course, the consistently and persistently stupid, incompetent, moronic republicans decided to run an incompetent boob of a dinosaur – McCain (who finished about dead last in his Annapolis Class) – against a smooth talking , con man like Obama.The rest is history.I am still convinced that Obama was more surprised than anyone on planet earth that he actually became president. He must still look in the mirror every day and wonder how on earth this was possible.Of course, the real frightening aspect of this is how it reveals the stupidity of the American voter. I hate to sound like an arrogant, know it all (I hate folks like that) , but any idiot could see he was a smooth talking, cheap, empty suit.Just for the sake of comparison, note that Adolph Hitler, in any free, honest national election in Germany, never exceeded about 38% of the vote; (the vagaries of the parliamentary system propelled him to the Chancellor’s spot). So when somebody says that a Hitler type could never become a US president, well, think again folks.The Clinton’s are also well known grifters, but of the ordinary, albeit very good, variety. Their genius is that EVERYBODY knows they are crooks, frauds, liars, cheats, dishonest scum of the earth, and yet this well known and accurate description of them has zero affect on their holding and gaining influence and power.I fear the American voter will again demonstrate their stupidity; this time by electing a criminal as our next president.
LetsPlay #14327 July 4, 2016 1:47 am 2
You are exactamundo right on. About the only comment I can make relates to McCain. I respect him for his service and his terrible time as a POW, but somewhere along the line he lost it as a politician with upstanding ethics and values and good judgment. But just to be clear, finishing last in a small class of rather exceptional company is nothing to sneeze at. He attended and finished college at West Point, a rather outstanding institution, and that is a significant personal accomplishment. Just to give him at least one Attaboy!
Joan of Argghh #14331 July 4, 2016 7:16 am 2
Any perception of McCain’s deviation from ethics would be a surprise to himself. His is the classic sense of entitlement owing to his ordeal as a victim of his nation’s war. Any personal gains or powerful position is his due. This was the tone-deafness of his candidacy: that he was expected to be something palatable to the “downline” of his party.
joe #14340 July 4, 2016 10:13 am 7
Obama is very talented at one thing –Ericksonian talking hypnosis.In short, the method is to “put to sleep” the conscious/analytical part of the mind ofWILLING SUBJECTSby droning inarguable platitudes until the conscious mind tires and allows “suggestions” to be implanted directly to the subconscious by a “trusted” source -unexamined by conscious thought. That rather long but very interesting PDF needs to be read in full to make a convincing case that this is aDIRTY TRICK, not skilled oratory.Notice that his method works best to whip up crowds that already agree with him. He’s very tiresome to listen to for those who don’t. It’s not like he makes skilful arguments, it’s not like he is a good orator –this is an underhanded manipulative tactic which needs to be recognized so that it can be ridiculed when it happens again. It is only good for inciting mobs of fanatics into thoughtless stupidity.Notice also his need for the teleprompter – his prepared talks are meticulously prepared psychological attacks.
Joan of Argghh #14329 July 4, 2016 6:48 am 14
I loved reading all of this and the comments, and then go to my Twitter feed full of mewling GOP’ers complaining about principles, as though such grand ideas mattered.I work for a lowly State government. My job on Tuesday will be to go in and inform my boss of the corruption I’ve uncovered between a State contractor and possibly State employees, and then for us to go to State lawyers who will tell us no matter how carefully we present evidence, we will be sued by same State contractor for discrimination– so we’ll just quietly cancel their contract. I stumbled into their careless mistake in their con, it was made before I learned we already are being sued by one of their own subcontractors for discrimination because of observed improprieties. And, like finding a little termite in one’s house, you just know the possibility of you, lowly employee, seeing one, means that they’ve highly infested the entire place.The well-meaning push to privatize government programs has allowed State employees to retire and to set up their own private honey-pot based on thequid pro quoof old friends still at the teats. The Clintons swim in these sort of waters like sharks. The extrapolation upon observation of all this leads all the way up to the highest offices in the land and is not dramatic hysteria. It’s business as usual.
Audacious Epigone #14307 July 3, 2016 11:26 am 12
Having her in the administration at all immediately subjected Obama to perpetual potential blackmailing. Her access alone meant that she’d have dirt on the administration from the get-go. It precluded him from ever being able to seriously stifle her ambitions because she could say “If I go down, I’m taking you with me”. Mutually assured destruction. She does not, in contrast, have to worry about anything like that from Bernie, who is (an occasionally expedient) true believer rather than a con (wo)man. Per usual you’ve fleshed it out more lucidly and articulately than anyone else has.
Etcetera #14309 July 3, 2016 12:09 pm 4
Excellent blog posting, though I agree with Guest on the tactics.Leaving the Clintons out means they will undermine Obama at every opportunity, enough that he loses re-election in 2012, maybe after a primary challenge from Hillary (and he might have actually lost to that). What he got instead was some foreign policy messes and possible complicity in the email server scam, though in this case the fall women will wind up being Lynch.Now if I were in Obama’s position, I would have preferred to be a one term president anyway. I think his administration and Dubya’s mainly demonstrates how much of a figurehead the president has become. But understandably he wouldn’t have been thinking this way in 2008.The most effective way, in a passive- aggressive manner that suits his style, that Obama could sabotage the Clintons would be to pardon both of them in October.
Lorenzo #14302 July 3, 2016 10:23 am 8
I’m just shy of 70 years old and the only reason I wish I were 20 again is to be around to read the unvarnished history of the Clintons, Obama and what they had on each other.
Guest #14306 July 3, 2016 11:25 am 7
Great essay. Three things to add:1. There have been precisely zero tangible consequences for the Obama administration for having Hillary in the administration. Lots of sideshows, but zero consequences. I can’t say it was an error for the Obama administration.2. The Clinton administration will nominate Loretta Lynch to the Supreme Court. I am sure Bill conveyed to her the degree to which Hillary supports having an African American female on the Court during the conversation in Phoenix.3. In some weird way this might be great for Trump. The Democrats don’t even try to hide the corruption anymore. It’s in your face in a “whatcha gonna do about it” way. Trump should be quite effective at playing that card.
thezman #14310 July 3, 2016 1:07 pm 3
I think if Team Obama had deep worry about what Team Clinton had on them we would have seen a full court push by Obama to help Hillary. After all, getting her elected would solve that problem forever. Instead, I think they are just trying to avoid answering embarrassing questions about how they allowed this to go on. That would explain the lack of enthusiasm from Team Obama. Who knows? Maybe they have the goods on her and are looking to do a Boris Johnson on her. One day, she is indicted. The next day Biden and Fake Indian says she has to step aside and then the party rallies behind a new candidate just in time for the convention.
Guest #14311 July 3, 2016 1:45 pm 14
“Instead, I think they are just trying to avoid answering embarrassing questions about how they allowed this to go on.”Serious question, as I rarely watch television: has anyone in the MSM press (aka Democratic Party operatives with bylines) shown any inclination whatsoever to pursue this issue, much less ask embarrassing questions, of the Obama administration?I have practiced law for over 20 years, and I have to say that the spectacle of the Attorney General of the United States holding a private meeting with Bill Clinton while Hillary Clinton is under investigation by the FBI is perhaps the most egregious conduct I have ever seen. This makes the Saturday Night Massacre look like child’s play. The career prosecutors in the DoJ and the investigators in the FBI have to be utterly and completely demoralized by this course of events. I predict leaks of damaging documents, resignations, and press conferences by former FBI agents.If the Republicans in the Senate had any cajones they would be calling for Lynch to resign or face impeachment.
thezman #14312 July 3, 2016 1:55 pm 0
I don’t watch TV new either. The general stupidity of media types is quite astounding when you’re exposed to it. Most of them are drunks. The people in the media rooms of DC are buddies with the spokespeople, having worked with them or partied with them.Years ago I was in Chicago when Bush came in for a fund raiser at my hotel. The places was swarming with secret service agents. I actually got stuck in an elevator with a sniper teams heading for the roof. Funny guys. In the bar, Tony Snow was there holding court with the media team. It was one big party.
Aggie #14314 July 3, 2016 2:19 pm 2
Too bad Hunter S Thompson isn’t still around to cover the Great Race. From his life perspective, he would have had a hard time picking the one that isn’t a villain.
Samuel Adams #14316 July 3, 2016 3:35 pm 1
Funny, thinking the same thing. On a cab ride from Little Torch to Key West, got a retired charter captain as a driver, he used to hang and drink with him on Boca Chica back in the 60s and 70s, first thing he said was “damn he shouldna shot himself, he was made for this”. Read the Proud Highway if you get a chance. The man kept an onion skin of every letter he wrote. They are fascinating.
thezman #14317 July 3, 2016 4:51 pm 9
I wonder if the backwoods antics of the Clintons may turn out to be their biggest liability in 2016. In 1992, the world looked pretty good to most Americans. Despite the howling from the press, the economy was good. The Soviets had collapsed and American was ready to enjoy the peace dividend. Rolling the dice on a couple of Boomer carnies sounded like a hoot to a lot of people. Let’s not forget that Clinton did not win in landslides. In 2016, the electorate is not ready for a party.
Severian #14334 July 4, 2016 9:13 am 2
Alas, the same could be said for Trump — are the American people really willing to roll the dice on a reality tv hustler? (Ye cats this election is fascinating. Any traditional Dem politician would wipe the floor with Trump, just by positioning himself as the safe choice. But not only is HRC the worst candidate in the known universe, she’s uniquely awful stacked up against Trump. Failed reality tv hustler, or Tracy Flick with a hit squad? Pass the popcorn).
notsothoreau #14373 July 5, 2016 2:51 pm 0
Yes, they are more than ready. For all his faults, Trump loves this country, admits that trade deals have hurt our citizens and says that Muslim fundamentalists are a danger to this country. That is enough.
notsothoreau #14374 July 5, 2016 2:56 pm 0
The media is too busy convincing themselves that a six pointed star = anti-semitism. You have Chuck Todd on the CBS Sunday political show. He is the most worthless commentator I’ve ever seen. John Dickerson is slightly better. If there is any big question, they trot out McCain and Graham to tell us what the Repubs are thinking.I watched part of the FBI announcement that they won’t recommend prosecution. What is the point of saying all the violations she committed, the ways she compromised national security, then saying they won’t prosecute? If Hillary is elected, we have moved to the point to where the only thing that will stop it is bureaucrats hanging from lamp posts.
Meema #14338 July 4, 2016 9:43 am 6
Astute assessment and comments. This is a topic that causes internal bleeding in me. Ten years ago, like most normal people I really had no idea what damage a psychopath can do. Nor was I prepared to recognize one, which is standard condition that grants grifters the ability to move so freely about in our clueless society.The word ‘sociopath’ is commonly used to identify those who lie, cheat and otherwise con others but it’s a general and somewhat vague term. Psychopath has usually been reserved for the mentally insane and a designation for those with disordered brains. But there is a wide range within the realm of psychopathic behaviors from the obnoxious but fairly harmless flimflam man to the serial killer. Dr. Robert Hare is a reliable source on this study.The point is that we are, as a society, ripe for the picking because we don’t know the difference between normal and abnormal so the genuine, ASPDs and Narcissists who are defined by their lack of conscience, but who know how to fake it well enough to schmooze their marks are able to rise to the highest position of power.My learning curve into the way psychopaths always reside inside their own alternate reality and their acute ability to read others and then convince them of anything they wish gives me a leg up in identifying Obama and the Clintons. One common attribute is the bold lie. Lie big and you knock people off center. They think, ‘that has to be true because it can so easily be proven wrong’ or they think, ‘that must be true because who could make up such stuff?’Unfortunately, my report from the trenches of being at war with a raging undiagnosed psychopath, is that they get away with it more often than not. The best numbers suggest the general population is made up of varying degrees of psychopaths in 4 to 6 percent with prisons hosting 25 percent. I personally think it is higher than that now. Regardless they do much harm and rarely get held accountable. I have interviewed dozens of people who have been cheated and then turned around and did business again with the one who is the focus of my research. He destroys and then walks away unscathed, and soon finds another sucker. He is legion.I’m sorry this is so long but trust me it could be longer. I just want people to know that the one thing I have learned as a tool for dealing with those who live to harm others, never let them see fear. Never believe them no matter what. Never give an inch. The one thing they seem to be afraid of is exposure. Take from that what you will.
james wilson #14341 July 4, 2016 12:42 pm 2
I only wish that people would understand that it is not psychopaths, con-men, and grifters who are twisting democracy, but rather that they are the ones who recognize universal suffrage democracy for what it is. Responsible men have been fixing what is broken so long that it does not occur to them that this beast is designed for the result they think they are fixing. Malcolm Muggeridge, as linked by Gerardhttp://tcjfs.tumblr.com/post/144019583614/the-great-liberal-death-wish-1966
eclecticmn #14342 July 4, 2016 1:04 pm 3
Sorry to read this Meema. You don’t see them coming but most people do not. Not me. Your point about exposure is very true. If you Google the words “narcissist duck halcyon” it will bring you tohttp://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/howto.html. “How to recognize a narcissist :Never love anything that can’t love you back” I almost fell off my chair when I first read this site. It described my ex, without the delusions of grandeur and high self-opinion parts.My only contribution here is this: Do not count on an attorney to back you up in dealing with someone with NPD. The attorney may well sell you out because they realize that the NPD party is so belligerent that the monetary cost will be too high and they withdraw or suggest a very crappy settlement. I have seen this happen twice, once to someone else. NPD people show very well, often better than their victims. Look at the time and money required to drag evidence from Hillary. Compare to the sense of shame and resignation of President Nixon. Also, when the MPD person flies into a rage many attorneys and judges will assume you must have done something wrong, because no normal person would become that angry over something small or true.
Fuel Filter #14301 July 3, 2016 10:22 am 6
Excellent write-up!She’s gonna skate. No doubt in my mind.If an indictment is forthcoming it will expose Dear Leader as an accomplice. This is the ultimate dirt the Clintons have on him. He is completely compromised.This has been a dog-and-pony show from the start.The only thing that’s going to keep her from 1600 is Trump, and with the trail of Clinton bodies have in their wake his assassination would not be out of their equation (which the globalists would love). Trillions of dollars in trade for the elite and more power than ever over hundreds of millions of Americans, via stacking the SCOTUS and lower judgeships, are at stake.What’s one guy in the scheme of those things?
thezman #14304 July 3, 2016 10:51 am 15
I’ve always thought that Team Obama was playing this as water torture in order to scuttle her presidential ambitions. They can’t take her out directly because they are dirty and it would look bad in the Cult. Instead, making it look like she is a bungler who lose the election gets rid of her and keeps their hands clean. That may still be the case, but I now suspect they feel they need to keep her out of jail. Having the FBI do this over a holiday weekend is suspicious. It’s what you do when you want minimal coverage. Then again, maybe the FBI had to agree to it to get the voluntary interviews.That’s what I suspect we’ll hear from Team Clinton. They will say the word “voluntary” in every sentence, attempting to make that the story. Herself will claim she has been nothing but cooperative and the FBI is now harassing her because they have nothing and they are right-wing zealots. Again, Team Clinton took this meeting because they had a caper brewing and this works in their favor. I’m guessing they are plotting to make the FBI director the new Ken Starr.One way to handle grifters is to always do the opposite of what they want. I’ve done this with people I’ve suspected of being hustlers and in every case they got sick of me and left.
bangagong #14313 July 3, 2016 2:11 pm 6
Have you heard about this guy Ashe who died suspiciously ?? He was going to testify against the Clintons or was going to be questioned anyway. Said he died of a MI but was found to have his throat crushed. They attributed his throat being crushed from “a weight lifting accident” ( a barbell fell on his neck???)
Dutch #14324 July 3, 2016 10:19 pm 1
Team Obama may be waiting to see if Hillary can actually win. If it appears not, she steps (gets pushed) aside and Joe Biden steps in. Looks like a tough call at this point, so all sides are positioning. Joe is a real tabula rasa, so keeping him out of the fray as long as possible also has some benefits for the Dems.
Guest #14336 July 4, 2016 9:33 am 5
The smart play for Trump after the now-inevitable announcement that Hillary will not be indicted is to call a press conference and to announce publicly that the investigation was obviously tainted by the actions of AG Lynch and commit to the voters that the Trump administration will re-open the investigation free of political interference. This would make Trump appear Presidential, while reinforcing the corruption of the Clinton crime family.It also forces Hillary Clinton to seek a pardon from Obama, which is a win/win situation for Trump. If Obama grants a pardon then it’s obvious that Hillary must have been guilty–only guilty persons require a pardon. If Obama doesn’t grant a pardon then it’s equally obvious that Hillary must have been guilty as she is undeserving of a pardon. Either way, Trump wins. And as a bonus it places Hillary squarely on her knees in front of Obama.Trump is all-in now. Hillary will destroy him if she is elected. Trump has got to go for the jugular.
thezman #14339 July 4, 2016 10:08 am 3
He should probably start talking about asking Congress for a special investigator. That underscores the presidential aspect of it. He could also throw in the IRS scandal if he chose. That way it could all be tied into the theme of reforming Washington. Trump as agent of reform lets him keep the focus on the issues that plays to his advantage. Immigration, Trade, Taxes, Corruption. There’s something for everyone.
Severian #14335 July 4, 2016 9:29 am 5
I love this! Like most folks, I keep making the mistake of trying to evaluate the Clintons (and Obama) as if they are normal politicians with understandable motives. They aren’t. That’s the thing about grifters, and narcissistic shit-stirrers in general — they can’tnotscam, even when the material benefits of playing something completely straight far outweigh the benefits of the scam. (Jonah Goldberg, of all people, used to say that Bill Clinton would rather climb a tree and lie to you than stand still and tell you the truth, even if you asked him something totally innocuous like “where’s the nearest McDonald’s?”). The nearest analogy I can think of is old commies like Stalin,Mao,Kim — if you assumed they were normal dictators, they’d fool you more often than not, because they’d do something wildly counter-intuitive and self-destructive because it “builds socialism.” That being the case, it’s entirely possible that Bill and Hillary just screwed the pooch – they’re trying to play an angle, any angle, because they can’t quit scamming, even if it kills them.
James LePore #14320 July 3, 2016 5:40 pm 5
If the goal is to have Hilary walk cleanly, how does this meeting help her? It screams the fix is in. Even if Comey recommends no charges, it now looks like he was gotten to somehow. If he recommends charges, but Lynch decides not to prosecute, all suspicions of a fix are confirmed. It doesn’t add up. If Bill was offering Lynch the Supreme Court, he could have done it on the phone. I believe he believed the meeting would never be discovered. He’s done this type of under the radar runway run-in before. He got unlucky this time running up against a good local reporter. He is the supreme narcissist and egomaniac. He thinks he can get away with anything. He has, hasn’t he, all his life? I believe he did offer Lynch something big, or slyly threatened her (i.e., Obama) in some way. The Clintons are the nastiest politicians of all time. They have something on everyone. Now he figures the media and the big Democrats will cover for him and Hilary and he’s right, they will. Do not expect the fall of the house of Clinton over this a la the Saturday night massacre. This is Clinton/Obama, not Nixon. Comey may resign, but he will be vilainized, not lionized by the press.
thezman #14322 July 3, 2016 8:04 pm 6
No one in the story is worried about their honor so it is hard to know how to read any of it. The AG does not go anywhere with the White House knowing so it could have been someone from Team Obama who tipped off the press. For all anyone knows, Lynch could have dropped off the list of questions the FBI was going to ask Cankles on Saturday.That said, these people are not that clever. They make mistakes too. It does compromise the AG as she looks like a fink if she blocks an indictment. It’s entirely possible here career just ended.
James LePore #14323 July 3, 2016 9:29 pm 5
Right, it is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. I try to look for the simplest answers as they are many times accurate, but this defies logic. I like the idea of giving Bill the list of questions as it’s so stupid and insane it might be true. Ditto the O Team tipping off the press. Are we dealing with evil geniuses or with the Keystone Politicians? Your guess is as good as mine. The most insane part is that the media love the Clintons and Obamas. We are through the looking glass with these people.
Guest #14325 July 3, 2016 10:45 pm 5
From an attorney’s perspective, Bill Clinton did nothing wrong. At this point in time he’s a private citizen. At most, he carried a message from the Hillary administration to Loretta Lynch. Most likely the message was call off the dogs and you will be nominated to the Supreme Court.The conduct of Loretta Lynch, on the other hand, was egregious. She is either a complete idiot or she believes she is completely beyond reproach. My money is on the latter, and sadly she is probably correct. Nobody in the MSM will call her out for this. Again, the real culprits here are Republicans in Congress–they should be demanding her resignation on the threat of impeachment.
James LePore #14328 July 4, 2016 5:49 am 5
I agree. Lynch has the legal problem. She has also been exposed. She is a fool and obtuse, not the talented lawyer the press has made her out to be. For the Clintons, it’s just bad optics. Whatever the Republicans do, the media will make Lynch the victim. Can you imagine the play on words?
thezman #14332 July 4, 2016 8:03 am 7
This is the sort of thingthat makes me think that Team Clinton is working some angle that is not obvious right now. A big part of what the Clintons do is simple misdirection. They get you focused on one thing while they are doing something over in the shadows.Consider:A)The FBI indicts Hillary. Squares assume she steps aside, but they would be wrong. Instead, it will be a war against the FBI Director. Team Clinton will point to the “outrageous accusations against Lynch” as an example of how far the vast right-wing conspiracy will go to damage the Clintons. Remember, grifters always cast themselves as a victim.B)The FBI indicts some staffers and leave the case against Clinton unresolved. Team Clinton will announce themselves to be innocent and lament that mistakes were made and the vast right wing conspiracy is criminalizing politics. Hillary is the victim of a witch hunt – literally.C)This case remains unresolved. In this case, it very well may mean that the Bubba – Lynch meeting really was about nothing other than Bubba stirring the pot to see who started talking. Beating the bushes to see what runs out is as old as politics. Maybe this was simply about getting a heads up on when the FBI will come to a decision.D)There’s also the possibility that they screwed up. Bubba is old and he has lived a hard life. He’s 69 in earth years but 80 in grafter years. Hillary is a bungler and a drunk. They are no longer surrounded by A-list political talents. Nixon was a smart guy, but wildly misjudged the Watergate scandal. It would be ironic if Hillary was taken out in a similar fashion.
thezman #14330 July 4, 2016 7:07 am 7
Republicans are largely useless at this point. The ones in charge are thinking they may have to go back to being Democrats in the coming years so they are working hard to make friends in the other party.That said, this is one of the more mysterious scandals I recall watching. The usual pattern is the Left rallies to furiously defend their own. The Right sets off trying to sell books and magazines off it and maybe do some fund raising as well. The Left has been lackluster in defending Herself and the Right is almost disinterested. Maybe it is the Trump issue and the the fact the ruling class feels threatened by the popular revolt brewing. Maybe the way the administration is slow-playing this has everyone on their back foot.Either way, official Washington was more worked up over Benghazi than what looks like a massive breach of security. In the end, that may be the issue here. Having a former Secretary of State and current party nominee indicted on espionage charges is the sort of the thing that threatens national stability. This would dwarf Watergate as far as a scandal goes.
James LePore #14333 July 4, 2016 8:53 am 3
You’ve set out all the possible scenarios. I am hoping for option A. If that’s how it unfolds, it means that Comey has chosen to end his career in a savage fight with the Clintons. It would be the National Security of the United States vs. the Cult Leaders Bill and Hilary, a tremendous battle. It would be interesting to see who the media sides with.
LetsPlay #14346 July 4, 2016 9:31 pm 0
National stability? Are you kidding me? We are at war, literally with the left and we still persist in playing nice.
LetsPlay #14345 July 4, 2016 9:29 pm 0
When I was a young pup in business, my first marketing manager told me that he did not want an attorney who told him what he couldn’t do; he wanted someone who could tell him how to do something. Very simple to just say “he is a private citizen.” He is not just any private citizen. He is a former Potus, spouse (so to speak) of a current candidate for same office, a co-signee of the Clinton Fdn, and gives speeches making millions based on his position with the USA.When I first heard of this story, the thought that popped into my “non-legal” mind was tampering and hindering a Federal investigation. Even the “appearance” is supposed to have dire consequences these days. But I guess that depends if you are on the correct side and the media covers for you.You imply you are an A-toor-ney, so of all the blessed brains in your profession, you mean to tell me that no one can out smart BJ Clinton? Or Hillary? I think it is more a matter of people in positions able to do so simply choosing to do nothing because they don’t have the balls or the backbone to do the right thing. How many fu*king attooorneys are there in DC and around the country and in Universities and on our SCOTUS? No one can do anything?This is what makes me sick.
Guest #14363 July 5, 2016 9:32 am 0
I did not imply I am an attorney. I stated it explicitly in this post and in my post above. Based on the incoherence of your rant and the numerous spelling and grammatical errors therein, I am going to assume you were drunk when you wrote it. If not, seek help. Your mind is mush.
LetsPlay #14369 July 5, 2016 11:16 am 0
Thank you for clarifying. Now I aim my complete disrespect at your chosen profession at you and your ilk. I f’ng hate lawyers and have been fu*ked over by them before. I know you will say “but that was not me” but attooorneys have really screwed up this world more than any other profession I can think of and that includes prostitutes. At least they don’t screw you after you are dead.
LetsPlay #14386 July 5, 2016 9:36 pm 0
Dear Guest to ZMan’s blog: I apologize for my personal attack. I was upset after hearing the news that the FBI would not recommend charges against Hillary for her clear and “unintentional” misuse of classified emails (top secret government information). I worked for a government contractor as an engineer and held a classified clearance and I KNOW that any small infraction putting information entrusted to me at risk would have gotten me fired or put in the slammer.So upon further thought, I think and hope that the current sentiment around the world at “elites” will only backfire on the Clinton’s this time. I hope so many people will be sickened by her skating, again, and that no one in the Justice system did anything that the best thing would be to at least keep her out of the WH. Sorry.
CaptDMO #14315 July 3, 2016 3:22 pm 3
It’s been my experience that grifters/ parasites RELY on civility. Failing that, a threatening “tone”.“Attention” is the LAST thing they want.Assurance of incivility, and extra-legal “exposure” usually works for ME in convincing them to “move on” .SOME grifters are bigger than others. Simply move the decimal point as appropriate.Just remember there is no “shoot to wound”, and Do NOT “wound” a king.
joe #14337 July 4, 2016 9:41 am 2
Good point that – relying on civility. That’s what makes “People’s Court” so much fun to watch, the lying crap from the defendants being mocked by the judge. I think/hope the great thing about Trump will be his lack of civility to turds like these. It’s past time for the (D)irtbag party to be exposed for the gang of self serving crooks andpsychopathsthey are.
Shelby #14319 July 3, 2016 5:25 pm 2
Great topic, excellent writing. Let’s say there is a God and she is not elected. What happens then ? Do they just go away? And do you ever see either of them writing an end of life tell all book?
Terry Baker #14305 July 3, 2016 10:54 am 2
Zman – is it really that simple? Are these people that low down? And if both sides are playing Lynch for the sucker, why hasn’t she called their bluff and taken everybody down?
james wilson #14308 July 3, 2016 12:05 pm 6
I am convinced that the qualities which cabinet appointees are selected for are not intelligence or excellence. Obama, especially, wants all the heavy lifting done within the walls of the White House. The rest is for show.
LetsPlay #14326 July 4, 2016 1:19 am 2
“Good character” is also a quality not on the “required” list.
LetsPlay #14303 July 3, 2016 10:34 am 2
Of course, sneak attack in the airport. 30 minutes to discuss the grandkids and other trivia (loretta has no grandkids), and everyone assumes it was to discuss BJ protecting Hillary? What no one has said, knowing about BJ’s famous peccadillo, is “was loretta licking her lips after the meeting?”
Tuesday morning links - Maggies Farm #14353 July 5, 2016 6:21 am 0
[…] Dealing With Con-Men […]


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