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Is this the best defense available? Republicans do it too so let's just look the other way. I understand somebody being paid by the Democratic party or one of

Is this the best defense available? Republicans do it too so let's just look the other way. I understand somebody being paid by the Democratic party or one of Hillary's SuperPACs to try to push this argument, but for a regular citizen to attempt it shows just how successful the suggested partisanship of the US political system is in dividing regular citizens to act against their own best interests.

epistasis 10y ago
If somebody says "it is obvious that this is illegal and the person should be in jail," and then somebody else says "well all these other people did it and they we're scrutinized for it but didn't go to jail," then perhaps the reasonable thing to conclude is that it is not an act that somebody should go to jail for. I mean, that's the only thing I can conclude. If you're assuming a priori that there's a crime, then you're putting the cart before the horse. When you're assuming that counter points can only come from some sort of paid posters, you're being disrepectful. This is why political topics are bad in HN. There's no news for nerds in here, just lots of people playing fast and loose with the facts to score political points.
- mladenkovacevic 10y ago
  then perhaps the reasonable thing to conclude is that it is not an act that somebody should go to jail for. I mean, that's the only thing I can conclude. If that's the only thing you can conclude than you're choosing to ignore circumstances and the complexity of real life situations. I am arguing that both Bush/Powell and Clinton's misuse of personal email servers should be investigated to the fullest extent and prosecuted without considerations for protection of reputations of those individuals. Any ordinary citizen trying to wiggle credible-sounding arguments for the other side is working against their own interest (unless they are being paid - which I am not accusing anyone of).
mikestew 10y ago
Is this the best defense available? It's not a defense, it's a counter to the idea that "if anyone else did this, they'd be fired and charged". Obviously that's not true, because (as noted in the comment to which you replied) others did it and no one was fired or went to jail.
- mladenkovacevic 10y ago
  If the OP meant that Hillary being a democrat is somehow uniquely protected from any prosecution then I agree that it is the other side of the coin of polarization of political opinion that divides the ordinary citizens and makes them weaker. But Powell and Rice, occupying the same level of power as Clinton during her term, I understood it as a condemnation of the privileges of political power in general and not a privilege of a particular political party.

epistasis 10y ago

If somebody says "it is obvious that this is illegal and the person should be in jail," and then somebody else says "well all these other people did it and they we're scrutinized for it but didn't go to jail," then perhaps the reasonable thing to conclude is that it is not an act that somebody should go to jail for. I mean, that's the only thing I can conclude. If you're assuming a priori that there's a crime, then you're putting the cart before the horse. When you're assuming that counter points can only come from some sort of paid posters, you're being disrepectful. This is why political topics are bad in HN. There's no news for nerds in here, just lots of people playing fast and loose with the facts to score political points.

mladenkovacevic 10y ago
then perhaps the reasonable thing to conclude is that it is not an act that somebody should go to jail for. I mean, that's the only thing I can conclude. If that's the only thing you can conclude than you're choosing to ignore circumstances and the complexity of real life situations. I am arguing that both Bush/Powell and Clinton's misuse of personal email servers should be investigated to the fullest extent and prosecuted without considerations for protection of reputations of those individuals. Any ordinary citizen trying to wiggle credible-sounding arguments for the other side is working against their own interest (unless they are being paid - which I am not accusing anyone of).

mikestew 10y ago

Is this the best defense available? It's not a defense, it's a counter to the idea that "if anyone else did this, they'd be fired and charged". Obviously that's not true, because (as noted in the comment to which you replied) others did it and no one was fired or went to jail.

mladenkovacevic 10y ago
If the OP meant that Hillary being a democrat is somehow uniquely protected from any prosecution then I agree that it is the other side of the coin of polarization of political opinion that divides the ordinary citizens and makes them weaker. But Powell and Rice, occupying the same level of power as Clinton during her term, I understood it as a condemnation of the privileges of political power in general and not a privilege of a particular political party.