No way out

There is no way out.

Much has been and will be said about Ms. Clinton's deliberately setting up a private unsecured server for exclusive use for all of her e-mail communications, official U. S. government and private.  As the new year begins, it has been reported that well over 1,000 of the thus far related e-mails contain classified material, up to and including Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information.

Compare this to Ms. Clinton's March 10 2015 statement, "I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material. So I'm certainly well-aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material."

From her subsequent comments, it seems Ms. Clinton now attempts to argue that classified information was "not marked" as such at the time she received and transmitted it.  Further, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that she will claim never to have "sent" classified information, per her above statement. However, two proven points are  indisputable.  Classified information was transmitted to and from Ms. Clinton via e-mail on an unsecured private server.  Those two points alone disqualify her from consideration for the presidency simply based on her abysmal judgment.  And there is no way out.

There are limited plausible explanations for her actions.  First and most damaging is that Ms. Clinton knowingly and deliberately (even arrogantly) received and transmitted e-mail communications known by her at the time to contain classified information from an unsecured server, thus by her judgment knowingly failing to protect that information and violating federal laws.  Second and equally disqualifying is that she demonstrated grossly  unsatisfactory judgment by deliberately setting up the unsecured private server that received and transmitted e-mail communications containing classified information, thus failing to protect that information and violating federal laws.

Separate from failing to protect classified information, Ms. Clinton's judgment is rightfully called into question under either explanation.  Her actions demonstrate such undeniably unsatisfactory judgment as to render her unqualified for the highest elected office in the land.  Step back and think about the manifestations of her judgment:  deliberately setting up a private, unsecured server in her private residence; deliberately and exclusively using said unsecured server for the conduct of official government business; and receiving and transmitting classified information via e-mail processed over the server.

Boiling down the matter to its most basic element, receiving and transmitting classified information she knew to be classified is a monumental failure of judgement, warranting punishment.  Alternatively, receiving and transmitting classified information then claiming it was not classified is a colossal failure of judgement, warranting punishment.  By her own acknowledgment, she was "certainly well-aware of the classification requirements."  One would believe so, since she was a former U. S. senator and was the sitting secretary of state.  It is simply absurd for her to expect the American people to believe that, quoting her, "no classified material" would be received and/or transmitted by her exclusive e-mail arrangement.  As secretary of state, it is routine for classified information to be included in her official communications.  And there were and are secured e-mail systems for use by employees of the state department.  If her judgment is so infallible  as she would have us believe, then surely she would have detected the classified information.  And if any doubt existed about whether information was classified, Ms. Clinton did not express it nor act on it.  In fact, quite to the contrary.

It is unknown at this time what the investigation will produce, just as it is unknown what action (if any) the department of justice will take when provided the results of the investigation.  What is known, however, is that there is no way out.  Ms. Clinton can not reasonably or otherwise justify her abysmal, multiple failures in judgment.  With such a history of unsatisfactory judgment, this is not a person that our country should permit to run for, let alone elect as president.