Hillary Clinton’s great day - By Eugene Robinson

Here’s what happened to Hillary Clinton on Tuesday: She learned that the FBI investigation into her emails would end without charges being filed. Her political opponents embarrassed themselves with hissy fits and tantrums. And the best campaigner in America fired up her supporters at a nationally televised rally in a crucial swing state.

That’s not a good day, it’s a great day.

All year, the question of Clinton’s emails had hung over her presidential bid. Despite what her opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, told her in their first debate – that “the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails” – Clinton knew how dangerous the issue was. FBI investigations go wherever the evidence leads; and federal prosecutors have the power to ruin lives, to say nothing of presidential campaigns.

In the end, Clinton had to endure harsh words from FBI Director James Comey. She was “extremely careless” in routing sensitive information through a private server, he said. Clinton’s email traffic did, too, include some classified material, despite her carefully parsed denials. But in the end, no “reasonable prosecutor” would bring criminal charges. Comey’s tongue-lashing provided ammunition for Republican attack ads, to be sure. But imagine the alternative scenario in which his decision went the other way. Clinton’s presidential hopes just dodged a mighty big bullet.

Republicans reacted with outrage, as could have been expected. They couldn’t accuse Comey of being some sort of Democratic hack – he served as deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration – so they resorted to bleats and tweets of general outrage.

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