The “Letter” would’ve never existed but for the hubris of the Clintons, and the series of events which precipitated it were the Clintons’ own doing.

According to Clinton loyalists who still permeate the media, it was outrageous for Comey to have apprised Congress — in fulfillment of the pledges he’d made in sworn testimony — about the resumption of the criminal investigation that he’d previously declared closed.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve attempted to make this point to the people you generously refer to as “Clinton loyalists.” (I use another, less complimentary label.)

To anyone who keeps their head above the ground, and has been alive longer than a millenial, the email dustup was NOT the issue that disqualified Mrs. Clinton from gaining their vote. The email matter was a symptom of a larger matter, starting back with the abject secrecy that sunk Hilarycare in 1993; that being her apparent near-paranoia in allowing anyone outside her inner circle access to what business she was engaged in. This is not a positive characteristic in someone who seeks elective office.

And quite right: At the end of the day, Mrs. Clinton had to know that the GSA would not approve of her email-setup; if she didn’t, then she is a fool, and disqualified from office for that reason alone. All this could have been avoided if she had just moved her email address to a state.gov system, as she was undoubtedly told to do.

(I pause here to say that I use the term “apparent near-paranoia” because I refuse to engage in the same disingenuous pop psychology that is bandied about regarding Mr. Trump; that he is afflicted with something called “Narcissistic Personality Disorder”. No competent psychiatrist would make such a diagnosis without personally examining the individual one-on-one, so no layperson ought to be doing it either. So I will simply point out the hypocrisy of (a) diagnosing Mr. Trump as suffering from NPD but (b) overlooking the fact that Mrs. Clinton seems to have diagnosable traits associated with Paranoid Personality Disorder, and move on.)

Secondly, yes the bleating from the muttering fools regarding Comey is that he had broken some sort of protocol by his letter to Congress a week before the election. Missing from that point of view is that Comey has a lifetime history of being an honorable man who operates in a nonpartisan fashion, and that the letter was a fulfillment of a promise given verbally and under oath to Mr. Gowdy. To do anything other than fulfill that committment was simply not an option that Mr. Comey likely considered. His word was on the table for all to see.

Thankfully, one’s word still matters to some people.