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>2. Start blathering about Hillary's emails, as if that were somehow important. I am really tired of this twisted version of the relative privation fallacy. T

>2. Start blathering about Hillary's emails, as if that were somehow important. I am really tired of this twisted version of the relative privation fallacy. Trump is worse != Hillary was good Her email situation was, in fact, an issue. Worse than Trump? Absolutely not. But even in context it doesn't belong in "as if that were somehow important" territory. Under normal circumstances (had she been elected) we'd probably still be talking about it.

cmac2992 9y ago
We are still talking about it and she wasn't even elected. The emails should definitely have been a scandal. Being the leading story for a few weeks seems reasonable, but its being treated as a massive, important scandal years later.
- darepublic 9y ago
  How is it being treated as a massive important scandal? I can dig up mainstream articles that denounce the importance placed on it. Can you point me to a mainstream article of any recent origin that makes a big deal out of it?
  - cmac2992 9y ago
    Flip on fox. someone mentions it basically everyday. Fox is the most watched cable news channel.
    - jessaustin 9y ago
      The "We" above is rather inclusive then, isn't it? The only time I see Fox is when I visit my grandmother.
      - cmac2992 9y ago
        "We", as in discourse in the mainstream media, which includes fox and others who overplayed the story.
KirinDave 9y ago
If her emails were such an issue why have multiple members of the Trump Cabinet and House and Senate members been found to do the same thing and continue to do the same thing. Objectively: voters don't care. Mentioning it at this point is sheer deflection. If you need a go-to example, pick someone in power like Kushner or Pence.
- jessaustin 9y ago
  Did you expect no one to google it? Pence had private email while governor of Indiana. Through August 2017, Nepotistic Adviser (perhaps not his official title? I don't know) Kushner had had fewer than 100 emails sent from or to his server from official accounts, all of which are saved and can be produced. Meanwhile many tens of thousands (no way to know how many) of classified messages of the Secretary of State where available to any hacker but not to the oversight of the people and their Congress. It's no mystery why Comey said the stupid shit he said; if he had said nothing he would have had a mutiny on his hands.
  - KirinDave 9y ago
    Pence literally fought in court to keep his private election emails private and won. I was sort of hoping you'd Google that too.
    - jessaustin 9y ago
      OK now I have. Google recommended an article [0] which starts with the following: Vice President Mike Pence reportedly used a private email account to conduct public business, including homeland security matters, while he was governor of Indiana. Records of the emails were obtained by IndyStar through a public records request. See, in the second sentence, we learn how this was different from the Secretary's emails! On top of which, this is Indiana we're talking about. Not much of geopolitical import there. I certainly hope that VP has learned proper email discipline at this point. [0] https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/02/pence-used-personal-email-state-business----and-hacked/98604904/ https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/02/penc...
EnFinlay 9y ago
Not too long ago I would have whole-heartedly agreed with you, but I've since accepted that my opinion on her was strongly swayed by social media (specifically on Reddit) campaigns lead by Russian entities. How much do the e-mails matter? I don't know, it's hard for there to be an objective answer since these things matter as much as everyone talks about them. Everyone talked about the e-mails, but did that conversation cross the threshold from factoid to scandal due to malicious acts by Russia? Do the e-mails matter less than things happening in the Trump campaign at the time? It certainly seems that way, especially since there have been stories about Trump administration private e-mail servers that have barely made it into the news cycle (that's from memory, apologies if I'm not remembering that properly).

cmac2992 9y ago

We are still talking about it and she wasn't even elected. The emails should definitely have been a scandal. Being the leading story for a few weeks seems reasonable, but its being treated as a massive, important scandal years later.

darepublic 9y ago
How is it being treated as a massive important scandal? I can dig up mainstream articles that denounce the importance placed on it. Can you point me to a mainstream article of any recent origin that makes a big deal out of it?
- cmac2992 9y ago
  Flip on fox. someone mentions it basically everyday. Fox is the most watched cable news channel.
  - jessaustin 9y ago
    The "We" above is rather inclusive then, isn't it? The only time I see Fox is when I visit my grandmother.
    - cmac2992 9y ago
      "We", as in discourse in the mainstream media, which includes fox and others who overplayed the story.

KirinDave 9y ago

If her emails were such an issue why have multiple members of the Trump Cabinet and House and Senate members been found to do the same thing and continue to do the same thing. Objectively: voters don't care. Mentioning it at this point is sheer deflection. If you need a go-to example, pick someone in power like Kushner or Pence.

jessaustin 9y ago
Did you expect no one to google it? Pence had private email while governor of Indiana. Through August 2017, Nepotistic Adviser (perhaps not his official title? I don't know) Kushner had had fewer than 100 emails sent from or to his server from official accounts, all of which are saved and can be produced. Meanwhile many tens of thousands (no way to know how many) of classified messages of the Secretary of State where available to any hacker but not to the oversight of the people and their Congress. It's no mystery why Comey said the stupid shit he said; if he had said nothing he would have had a mutiny on his hands.
- KirinDave 9y ago
  Pence literally fought in court to keep his private election emails private and won. I was sort of hoping you'd Google that too.
  - jessaustin 9y ago
    OK now I have. Google recommended an article [0] which starts with the following: Vice President Mike Pence reportedly used a private email account to conduct public business, including homeland security matters, while he was governor of Indiana. Records of the emails were obtained by IndyStar through a public records request. See, in the second sentence, we learn how this was different from the Secretary's emails! On top of which, this is Indiana we're talking about. Not much of geopolitical import there. I certainly hope that VP has learned proper email discipline at this point. [0] https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/02/pence-used-personal-email-state-business----and-hacked/98604904/ https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/02/penc...

EnFinlay 9y ago

Not too long ago I would have whole-heartedly agreed with you, but I've since accepted that my opinion on her was strongly swayed by social media (specifically on Reddit) campaigns lead by Russian entities. How much do the e-mails matter? I don't know, it's hard for there to be an objective answer since these things matter as much as everyone talks about them. Everyone talked about the e-mails, but did that conversation cross the threshold from factoid to scandal due to malicious acts by Russia? Do the e-mails matter less than things happening in the Trump campaign at the time? It certainly seems that way, especially since there have been stories about Trump administration private e-mail servers that have barely made it into the news cycle (that's from memory, apologies if I'm not remembering that properly).