Indicative

For many months prior to the election, I argued that Hillary Clinton was dishonest and corrupt. Although her trained hamsters in the media did their best to protect her, celebrities and the glitterati endorsed her, and the Democratic party tried desperately to push her over the finish line, she lost. Her loss was in part predicated by her decision to use a private email server, violating national security law (the FBI's tepid exoneration not withstanding) in the process. In addition the Clinton Foundation—an influence peddling scheme masked as a charity—provides circumstantial evidence that Hillary broke the law.

Having said all of that, I'm impressed that Donald Trump has indicated that he will not endorse a criminal prosecution of Hillary or Bill Clinton. The decision shows maturity, bi-partisan political judgement, and common sense—three characteristics that have been sorely missing in Washington over the Obama years. The editors of The Wall Street Journal comment:

Donald Trump’s approval rating is up nine points since Election Day in one survey, and one reason may be that he’s setting a tone of expansive leadership. A case in point is his apparent decision not to seek the prosecution of Hillary Clinton for her email and Clinton Foundation issues ...

That’s the right move—for the country and his Presidency. We know from reading our email that many Americans want Mrs. Clinton treated like Mel Gibson in the climactic scene of “Braveheart.” Their argument is that equal justice under law requires that she be treated like anyone else who mishandled classified information.

But discretion is also part of any decision to prosecute. FBI Director James Comey was wrong to exonerate Mrs. Clinton before the election because that wasn’t his job and he let the Attorney General off the hook. Loretta Lynch should have taken responsibility for absolving or indicting her party’s nominee—and voters could hold her and Democrats accountable.

The voters ultimately rendered that verdict on Nov. 8, and being denied the Presidency is a far more painful punishment than a misdemeanor or minor felony conviction. Prosecuting vanquished political opponents is the habit in Third World nations. Healthy democracies prefer their verdicts at the ballot box.

Prosecution would also stir needless controversy that would waste Mr. Trump’s political capital. President Obama made the mistake of blessing then Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision in 2009 to have a special prosecutor investigate CIA officials over post-9/11 interrogations. This made Mr. Obama look vindictive and ideologically driven, and it was among the decisions that set the tone for the hyperpartisan Obama Presidency.

The media, still smarting from the wide spread rejection of their advocacy for Democrats, has tried mightily to characterize Trump's first weeks as president-elect as "chaotic" and his early cabinet choices as "racist" and "extreme." What the trained hamsters don't seem to realize is that the public has discounted their opinion for what it is—self-serving propaganda driven by a desperate need to demonstrate that their broad-based opposition to Trump was justified. The reality is that Trump appears to be less partisan, less vindictive, and more level-headed that his predecessor was ... at least after two weeks. His position on a Clinton prosecution is indicative of broader moderation and that is encouraging.