File under What a Coingkidink, Trump’s State Department has been notifying former Clinton aids that emails sent to Hillary years ago have be RETROACTIVELY CLASSIFIED and that the investigation into her private email server has been reopened.  Of course, this new very serious “investigation” has nothing to do with Trump’s woes, I’m sure.  Not passing the straight faced test, a senior State Department official said, “This has nothing to do with who is in the White House.  This is about the time it took to go through millions of emails, which is about 3½ years.” Uh-huh. Right.

This feels like yet another abuse of power by Trump’s goon squad, whipped back up to give him more manure to throw against the wall on Fox Noise.

Until 1968, Democratic Party bosses picked its candidates.  In 1968, Eugene McCarthy, who had won the most primaries, was pushed aside when party bosses picked Humphrey.  As we all know, Nixon beat Humphrey, which began our long national nightmare which ended in scandal and Nixon’s resignation in 1974.  In 1970, the party became democratic by giving the votes to the rank and file, but in 1972, the party nominated McGovern, who was slaughtered in 49 states by Nixon.  That’s when party bosses seized power again by inventing superdelegates, who had an outsized role in selecting candidates.  That outsized role was used to the extreme in 2016, which resulted in the second long national nightmare, the Trump era.  That happened when Hillary erected a huge wall of money and used that money to vacuum up almost all super delegates before the primaries even started in 2016, she abused Democratic Party rules to destroy the fundamental principle of our country – democracy.

Since the 2016 electoral disaster, the left side of the party has been at war with party leaders to get rid of superdelegates.  This weekend, they won a major battle when the DNC voted to reform the superdelegate system.  That reform took away the vote of superdelegates in the first vote in a contested convention. What that means is that if a candidate has enough votes to win the nomination without the superdelegates, they can vote.  If it hasn’t been decided yet, they have to wait on the sidelines on the first ballot.  This change, while not pure reform, is huge.  No longer can another candidate, like Hillary, use the party structure to suppress the vote of the rank and file before the primaries even start.  Because of this reform, party bosses like Donna Brazile, who had opposed the change are not happy.  Leaders like Karen Carter Peterson of Louisiana were outraged that their power to destroy democracy was being taken away.  Addressing the rules committee she said, “Are you telling me that I’m going to go to a convention, after my 30 years of blood sweat and tears for this party, that you’re going to take away my right?”  Well, Karen, if you mean your right to force your will over the voters, the answer is that you’re goddam right we’re taking away your right.  You abused that right, so now the people have taken that privilege away from you.  Welcome to democracy.

How do you like ‘dem apples?

There is a place for anger, and THIS is it.

UPDATED FOR COMMENTS ABOUT BERNIE NOT BEING A DEMOCRAT:

Note: My usual warning…If you are a strong Hillary supporter, and believe her political loss in 2016 was purely the result of misogynist pigs denying her her birthright, please, please, please DON’T read this.  You will hate it, guaranteed.  However, if you want a little inconvenient truth, buckle up.  This one is a bumpy ride, but there is something to learn here…

Remember how all you Hillary supporters dismissed everyone who criticized her during the 2016 election?  Remember the way you unfriended people like me on social media and labeled us misogynist pigs who were being too hard on her?  Remember insulting Bernie supporters and libeling him at every opportunity?  Well, I do, and I have something to say about that and more.

Yesterday, Donna Brazile, who is a really good person, above board, honest, and a loyal Democrat published an excerpt from her new book, Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House.  The excerpt described what she discovered when she took over the DNC after Debbie Wasserman Schultz was ousted during the Democratic Convention in the summer of 2016.  Her revelations about the state of the DNC is nothing short of shocking, but even worse, virtually all of the fears anti-Hillary folks had about how the nomination process was run were well founded. Hillary and her operatives HAD taken over the DNC and then proceeded to destroy every reform that had been implemented by Howard Dean and President Obama.

After Brazile took over the party, she first discovered that it had been deep in debt since the 2012 election and had been starved for cash since.  Worse, in September, she found the smoking gun.  She unearthed a document known as the Joint Fund-Raising Agreement between the DNC, the Hillary Victory Fund, and Hillary for America.  The document, negotiated between Robby Mook, Hillary’s campaign manager and the DNC,  handed FULL CONTROL of the DNC over to Hillary’s campaign office in August of 2015.  You read that correctly.  Hillary took full control of the DNC FIVE MONTHS before the primaries even started.  The DNC could do nothing without Hillary’s approval, including fund raising, staff hiring decisions, even press releases.

And file this under It Gets Even Worse; the money laundering charge that was asserted by Politico in May of 2016 was true.  We’ll let Brazile describe it herself –

“Individuals who had maxed out their $2,700 contribution limit to the campaign could write an additional check for $353,400 to the Hillary Victory Fund—that figure represented $10,000 to each of the 32 states’ parties who were part of the Victory Fund agreement—$320,000—and $33,400 to the DNC. The money would be deposited in the states first, and transferred to the DNC shortly after that. Money in the battleground states usually stayed in that state, but all the other states funneled that money directly to the DNC, which quickly transferred the money to Brooklyn.”

Money from the lavish fundraisers Hillary was holding all over the country for the DNC was actually laundered from the states, then to the DNC, and then to her own campaign coffers.  The state parties got less than ONE HALF OF ONE PERCENT.  So all you suckers donating in Texas to rebuild the party were actually backdoor funding Hillary’s campaign.  The party sucked wind. As Brazile describes this shameful scheme, the operation wasn’t illegal, but it was certainly unethical.

So let’s recap.  The charge that Hillary controlled the party during the primaries is true.  She controlled the DNC from the summer of 2015, controlling the primaries, party strategy, fund raising, management, and all other aspects of the DNC’s operation. Her people ran it, including the moron who ignored the FBI’s warning that the DNC’s email system was compromised.  The board of the DNC was sidelined.  The primaries WERE RIGGED.  Debbie Wasserman Schultz was nothing more than a tool for Hillary’s campaign, since she was installed to get Hillary elected.  The entire DNC effort from 2015 on had one goal – getting Hillary elected.

This shameful corruption does more damage than even Brazile described; it not only “compromised the party’s integrity” as she said, this documented and incontrovertible evidence of corruption plays directly into the stereotype of the Clintons running right on the edge of ethics and even legality.  While Hillary spoke loudly about campaign finance reform, blah, blah, blah, she was doing exactly, no, precisely the opposite.

You wanna know what really pisses me off?  These revelations of Hillary’s behavior adds fuel to the “lock her up” fire. It’s going from a bonfire to a 10,000 acre blaze that’s going to rage for months. Trump is already playing with the matches, tweet raging this morning that the FBI should investigate her criminality.  Here we go.

Hey, Hillary folks – hate Trump?  Well, goddamit, go buy a mirror.  Hang it on the wall, and then look into it for a long time.  Thanks.  For nothing.

UPDATE:  Let’s summarize comments from our hardcore Hillary supporters:

1. Nothing to see here.  Move along.
2. So?  Doesn’t everybody do it?
3. She won by 3 million votes!
4. It wasn’t criminal, so it’s OK.
5. Bernie’s not a Democrat and wouldn’t have won anyway.
6. El Jefe is an asshole.
7. Brazile is a LIAR!
8. Nuh Uh!

First, I didn’t believe Bernie would win the general, but I voted for him in the Texas primary.  What’s more important, and most Clintonistas IGNORE, is that the wall of money Hillary had erected scared off really good candidates like Joe Biden.  No one can deny that if Biden had run he would have decisively won.

Second, I’m always amazed at the prevarication and excuses from Hillary supporters.  Since when is corruption OK?  Trump and other Republicans are excoriated for this kind of conduct.  When it’s a Clinton, its like, “What? That’s a problem?”  I personally find it shocking the lengths Clintonistas reach defending her Highness, no matter the scale of the offense.

I personally witnessed the lengths that Howard Dean went to in 2006 and 2008 to make it clear that the DNC supported ALL candidates and was diligently neutral in partisan races.  He steadfastly defended neutrality and honesty.  Hillary poured kerosene all over those principles and struck the match herself.  Those who dismiss this kind of conduct are nothing short of radical hypocrites, and are no better than the hypocrites on the other side.

So there.

UPDATE 2: Lets talk about Bernie not being a Democrat.

This is the stupidest argument forwarded by Clintonistas.  “Bernie’s not a Democrat!” “He should have run on his own!”  “He should have not been allowed to run!”  And other BS.  OK, let’s settle this – BERNIE RAN UNDER THE RULES OF THE DNC.  HE QUALIFIED UNDER THE RULES OF THE DNC.  Period, end of story.  YOU may not like it, but he ran under the rules and qualified for the primaries.  He had EVERY RIGHT to run, even though YOU want to deny him that right.  The laws of the United States are stacked against independent runs.  It’s virtually impossible for an independent to qualify in all 50 states.  The state governments even pay for the major party primaries.  An independent run is virtually impossible to pull off.  You may hate him, but Bernie ran under the only rules that allowed him to run, AND HE QUALIFIED.  Don’t like that?  Then get all 50 states to make it easier for independent runs.  Until then, get over yourself and stop making stupid, irrelevant arguments.

As JJ’s readers know, I was strongly opposed to Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for president. I won’t rehash the reasons because I don’t have the energy now to re-litigate the fiasco of 2016.  I will say, though, that this political position cost me friendships, got me kicked out of progressive discussion groups, and pissed off long time friends and allies.  What surprised me, though, in no small measure, was the vitriol that my opinion generated.  I was called a misogynist and a lot worse. The anger just jumped out from the screen of my laptop and was acid in people’s voices.  From strangers I kind of got it; but from friends I had known for years, I was gobsmacked at the anger and hatred.

I guess I was naive, but my opinion, based completely on simple facts and strategy I believed would win the election, was dismissed because I am a white guy.  It didn’t matter that I was ultimately proved correct.  It didn’t matter than many others felt the same way.  What mattered in the eyes of many was that, because I’m a white male, I was automatically disqualified from deserving an opinion.  Those who know me well KNOW that I’m not any of the things of which I was accused and that I often write about social justice, equality, and diversity in our society.  In this particular case, though, simple genetics took away my right to free speech and free association.

Today, Frank Bruni wrote about the same subject.  He spoke about how our college campuses and other organizations have become forums for the aggrieved where opinions are automatically qualified or disqualified by the sex, race, religious affiliation or social standing of the speaker.  Now, before you start screaming at me, I (and Frank Bruni) certainly acknowledge the reality of racial and sexual privilege.  There’s no question that it exists and is pervasive in many cultures including ours.  However, that fact doesn’t automatically disqualify the opinions of those people because of those unchangeables.  As Bruni put it, often people’s response is, “Speaking as an X, I am offended that you claim B.”  That’s unfair, especially when you know the person speaking.

Can the “privileged” KNOW the plight of the oppressed by personal experience?  Certainly not, especially without sincere effort to learn about that plight.  However, does a person’s genetics, ethnic origin, education and place of residence permanently disqualify that person from deserving an opinion?  Of course not, and that’s the point, isn’t it?  Mutual respect of others is the key to exchanging opinions.  We are endangering that exchange by this growing gap that we profess to be closing.  Sometimes we have to take off the colored glasses that we all wear to actually communicate with one another.  And, we have to avoid personal character assassination, especially over who we support politically, and more especially of those we know well but with whom we have a disagreement.

There are people with whom I agree on 99.9% of issues.  But I no longer talk with, or associate with them because of that .1% disagreement.  That’s just stupid, and doesn’t help anyone.

Our readers who are Hillary loyalists don’t like when I write about the disaster of her campaign last year and the mess that is the Democratic Party.  Like it or not, though, the criticism is true, and I’m not the only one.  Tim Dickinson wrote a lengthy piece in Rolling Stone this last week that talks about how the party got hollowed out during the Obama years especially during Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s term which set a low watermark for corruption and plain ol’ incompetence.  Even Tim Kaine, Hillary’s running mate and former DNC chair, got into the act and was quoted in the piece saying, “That congresswoman had no idea what she was doing.”  And that was the polite criticism.  Rather than grow the party, she actually used her position for self promotion to launch a campaign to land her in House leadership.  That blew up and she dug in when even Obama tried to oust her from the job.  We all know how that story ended.

It gets worse, especially for Hillary’s campaign.  An unnamed Democratic strategist described her candidacy in blunt terms:

“And she was really surprised by how strong Trump was – and part of it was she just sucked. At a really fundamental level we gotta get people to acknowledge what a f*****g piece of sh*t her campaign was, because Donald Trump should not have won this election.”

Well, OK, then.  That’s about as blunt as it gets (even more blunt than me).  The rest of the article speaks of how Tom Perez is trying to un-fossilize the party, recruit new candidates, and resurrect the money machine that it became under Howard Dean and Barack Obama during the very successful 50 state strategy in 2006 and 2008.

However, the job is not a simple one.  During the Obama administration, Democrats lost all over the country in state and federal elections due to simple neglect (and DWS’s incompetence).  No one, including Obama, was in charge during that time, and his staff had no national plan except to get him re-elected in 2012.  There’s now a huge deficit to make up for all that neglect, and Trump is certainly leaving a huge opportunity for the Dems to hoover up if only they don’t blow it…again.

This Rolling Stone article is a sobering read, and will certainly piss off loyalists.  But truth is truth, and facts is facts. This chapter is long from over, and the sooner progressives recognize what a complete disaster 2008 to 2016 actually was, the sooner they can fix it.

You know the old saying:

When you’re in a hole, stop digging.

Hillary could well take that old saying to heart.  Yesterday, during an appearance at a women’s rights conference, she was asked about the election.  Rather than demure and speak about the issues of the conference, she went to DefCon 4 and started into launch mode.  In doing so, she yet again put on display her utter tone-deafness and why she is a terrible campaigner.  She blamed the Russians.  She blamed FBI director Comey.  She groused about Trump.  While offhand acknowledging that her “campaign wasn’t perfect,” she placed the blame for her loss on everyone but herself.

She didn’t take responsibility for losing the Rust Belt by ignoring those voters.  She didn’t take responsibility for letting number grunts override the instincts of her twice elected husband.  She didn’t acknowledge rigging the primaries and packing the DNC with loyalists. She falsely accused debate moderators for not asking Trump the hard questions.  She didn’t take responsibility for being incapable of articulating exactly why she wanted to be president.

But she showed in high definition and full color the reasons why she really lost – she was a awful candidate.  She was a terrible campaigner.  Her campaign, just like in 2008, was in chaos most of the time with staff in conflict and competing against one another.  But most of all she did, and indeed still does believe it was her turn.  This was her election, and it was pre-ordained that she would win.  There was no reason to campaign in Michigan; the number grunts said it was hers.

It should have never been close enough for Russian interference or FBI letters to make a difference.  Hillary Clinton lost to the worst presidential candidate in US history.  Period.  Yeah, yeah, she got more votes in the popular, because of big turnout in New York and California, but that doesn’t count, does it?  She lost because, as Glen Thrush of Politico put it last September – she was (and is) the “Queen of Coasting”.  It was on full display yesterday.

Well, the Queen needs to stop digging and put down her shovel.  She’s not helping.