The first witch hunt in what would become the United States, began in March 1662, in Hartford Connecticut, with the sudden and unexplained death of 8-year-old Elizabeth Kelly. Little Elizabeth had been fine just days before when she returned home with a neighbor, Goodwife Ayres. The next night she became ill, and the parents later claimed that she woke up screaming “Father! Father! Help me, help me! Goodwife Ayres is upon me. She chokes me. She kneels on my belly. She will break my bowels. She pinches me. She will make me black and blue.” After Elizabeth’s death, accusations of bewitchment flew, and fingers were pointed at numerous townspeople. Hysteria gripped Hartford.  This particular witch hunt would end in 1665, after seven trials, many accusations, and four executions.  Thus began the American tradition of witch hunts. Later, of course, came the infamous Salem witch trials, between February 1692 and May 1693, that would end with the executions of some 20 people.  But that is another story for another day …

As is the case with most time-honoured traditions, the witch hunt has evolved and changed, though not necessarily for the better.  We are now, in the year 2016, in the midst of yet another massive witch hunt.  Though this particular “witch” has been proven innocent of all charges more than once, there are those who still call for blood.  This particular witch hunt is more a product of the current political environment than it is of any actual crime.  The accused?  Hillary Clinton, of course.  The accusation?  That her use of a private email server during her tenure as U.S. Secretary of State was somehow criminal and that she somehow operated with the intention of committing fraud or a breech of national security.  The accusers?  The “townspeople” of the Republican Party.  The victims?  The taxpayers of the United States.

The facts of the matter:

• When Clinton got to the Department, she opted to use her personal email account as a matter of convenience. It enabled her to reach people quickly and keep in regular touch with her family and friends more easily given her travel schedule.

• The laws, regulations, and State Department policy in place during her tenure permitted her to use a non-government email for work. Clinton’s practices complied with laws and regulations,

• Clinton only used her account for unclassified email. No information in Clinton’s emails was marked classified at the time she sent or received them. Classified information was handled by a separate, closed email system used by the State Department

• Clinton used only one email account during her tenure at State.

• Clinton provided all emails that were even potentially work-related—including emails about using a fax machine or asking for iced tea during a meeting—erring on the side of over-inclusion, as confirmed by the Department and National Archives.

• There is no evidence there was ever a breach in security of the server.

Given the above indisputable facts, there is no “scandal”, no “email-gate”, no reason for the politicos and the citizens to be up in arms, to be chasing a “witch” with boiling oil and clubs.  So, why ….?  Because, dear friends, we are only a few months away from a general election in which we will select a new President of the United States.  And because the Republican Party has no viable candidate who can even conceivably win that election based on his own merit.  Therefore, they find it necessary to create a distraction, a diversion to make it appear that the other candidate must be disqualified.

Make no mistake, the Republican Party is not proud of their presumptive nominee.  They are even ashamed to call him their own, as evidenced by the fact that many prominent republicans are finding excuses to stay away from the upcoming nominating convention, and the party has been scurrying to try to find speakers.  So, if you have a candidate who cannot possibly win based on merit, what do you do?  You do everything you can to make the opponent look even worse, to make her appear to have thrown in her lot with witches and warlocks and even the devil himself!  It is what is known as the “last best hope”, or “grasping at straws”.  But guess who is paying a high price for these antics?  Yes, We The People are paying.  Some $30 million, by some estimates.

After a lengthy investigation (read costly) FBI director James Comey announced that there was absolutely no evidence of criminal intent by Ms. Clinton regarding the use of a private email server.  He stated that the FBI would recommend that no charges be filed against Ms. Clinton in regards to her use of a private email server.  Had there been even the slightest shred of evidence to support further investigation or charges being filed, Mr. Comey, a Republican, would have jumped at the opportunity.  That in itself is perhaps the best evidence that there is no scandal, was no criminal intent.  At the same time, Mr. Comey seemed unable to resist giving his opinion of Ms. Clinton by saying she was extremely careless, showed poor judgment (which she herself said long ago) and so on and so forth, ad nauseam. It is that opinion, clearly done with purpose and ‘malice aforethought’, that has prompted Republicans far and wide to call for additional investigations, again at taxpayer expense.  The results of any such investigations will be the same as the FBI investigation, will not result in charges against Ms. Clinton, and will be nothing more than GOP games to try to keep the non-scandal alive and in the public eye until November 8^th.  There is no doubt that, were it not an election year, or were Hillary Clinton not running for president, this matter would have already faded into oblivion.  Thus it is nothing more, nothing less, than a witch hunt.

As a result of the FBI investigation, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that the AG’s office will not file charges against Clinton, which subsequently led to a feeding frenzy among the GOP.  This morning, Republican lawmakers grilled the Attorney General at great length, asking for details, asking endless and repetitious questions.  To her credit, Ms. Lynch stood firm in her refusal to provide details, stating that it would be inappropriate for her to disclose information about confidential briefings, as is her right and also her responsibility.

It is all over.  There can be further investigations, however there will be no new and shocking results.  The fact is that there is no scandal, there was neither criminal intent nor negligence, and it is a trumped-up (pun fully intended) witch hunt intended to distract the American voting public.  Don’t fall for it, folks.

I leave you with one final thought.  The odds are slim-to-none, but what if the Republicans were to actually succeed in getting the Department of Justice to file charges against Clinton?  And what if those charges rendered her to be disqualified from the race for president?  What would happen?  What would happen, my friends, is that Bernie Sanders would in all likelihood become the Democratic nominee, and Bernie Sanders would win against Donald Trump by a landslide!  I find it quite humorous to think about … in all this, I doubt that the Republicans actually want Clinton disqualified, I think they merely want to keep this non-scandal alive and well until after election day!