Lynch/Clinton

What a mess.
   Is it just me, or is it somewhat difficult to swallow the story that this was an innocent, purely personal meeting? Doesn't this require us to believe that the Big Dog has suddenly lost his understanding of the political Force? I mean...I just don't believe that he could not have realized ahead of time how bad this would look. And that makes me think that thought there was something to be gained that was worth the political cost.
   It's not that I think that there was some House of Cards-like explicit deal-cutting going on... My concern is more about the diffuse but powerful force of personal connection. I would expect that there was no discussion of HRC's case. I don't think there had to be any discussion of it. My concern is that influence can be exerted just by the force of personal connection.
   Of course all people can talk about is the "optics." It looks bad, but people need to shut up about how it looks. Stop focusing on the representations. It looks bad because it may very well be bad. That's the important concern. The media can't handle substantial questions to it turns everything into a horse-race issue.