Americans deserve better than Trump-Clinton mess
The 2016 presidential race is so far down in the dumps that it counted as good news Tuesday when a leading candidate found out she’s likely not going to get charged with a crime.
Hooray for Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Meanwhile, her leading opponent was still blaming the media (surprise!) for publicizing the blatant anti-Semitism behind a message he sent out on social media over the weekend.
Good job, Republican Donald Trump.
Finally, a former president looked like a politically blundering naif late last week when he abruptly met with the U.S. official ultimately in charge of an investigation into his wife’s potentially criminal case.
Welcome back to the 24-hour news cycle, Democrat Bill Clinton.
America deserves better than these kinds of questionable behaviors by the two presumptive presidential nominees and a guy who once sat in the White House.
And yet, these events will change little in the 2016 race.
Hillary Clinton is guilty of questionable behavior and hiding the full truth from the American people during the federal government’s investigation of her use of a personal email server to handle classified information.
But she didn’t do enough wrong to merit being charged with a crime, FBI Director James Comey said.
That’s the right call, and Clinton’s supporters will breathe a sigh of relief. However, Republicans and Trump will continue to seize on her bad judgment and the low level of trust many Americans have in Clinton.
But bad judgment could be Trump’s middle name, based on the months-long string of mean-spirited, often off-based attacks he’s directed at his GOP opponents and, now, Hillary Clinton.
His use of a tweet that featured a six-pointed star on top of cash and the words “most corrupt candidate ever” about Clinton was essentially lifted from anti-Semitic sources.
Trump lamely claimed his message showed a “sheriff’s” star. Oh, really? So he was implying that sheriffs are corrupt? Or maybe that sheriffs support Clinton? What utter nonsense for another guy mistrusted by many Americans.
Democrats will rightfully pound away on this embarrassing behavior by Trump, though this incident will not shake the faith of his true believers.
Finally, Bill Clinton briefly brought all sides together in condemning him for his short meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch at the Phoenix airport. Clinton’s actions were unseemly and stupid, given that Lynch’s office oversees the FBI.
Voters still have to endure four more months of this dispiriting campaign before they select the next president. Maybe the last few days will represent the low point of this summer.
But probably not.