BlackberryGate

National Security and Hillary Clinton are words that should not be used in a sentence together. As if we needed more proof of her total disregard of handling  sensitive information, Judicial Watch managed to pry more than 50 emails from the State Dept. on the use of unauthorized electronic devices.

Shortly after Clinton became SoS, the Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security warned her and her staff not to use Blackberry’s on the 7th Floor (aka Mahogany Row) and alluded that she may have been hacked while in Asia. She and Cheryl Mills were warned again in 2011 but continued to ignore the threat.

“These new State Department emails are devastating. The emails show Hillary Clinton knew about but ignored national security warnings concerning the use of Blackberries and other unsecure computing systems,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These new emails ought to be of interest to the FBI and federal prosecutors, as the emails show that her mishandling of classified information and violations of federal records laws was far from innocent.”

Voting Games or More Like Shenanigans

What is going on with Virginia these days? First they retract CCL reciprocity laws and now they want Primary voters to pledge they are Republicans? This is without a doubt to curb voter turnout for Trump, who of course tweeted out his displeasure for the state GOP’s action. If VA had a closed primary this would make sense but they don’t. They could have changed their rules long ago if they wanted a closed primary in 2016.

Changing the rules midstream isn’t unique to VA. In September, North Carolina passed House Bill 373 to change their Primary from May to March 15th, which of course is the first date with Winner Take All rules.

Also in September, Colorado voted to unbound their delegates by not holding a straw poll at their caucuses in 2016. So I guess rules are made to be broken or at least changed to illicit a particular outcome.

Ad Wars

I hope you have a DVR of sorts because the advertising wars are gearing up to flood the zone. Trump has decided to part with some of his money and spend about $2M a week come January which is about the same as what Rubio has been spending. But we know from the Jeb! campaign, that money alone can’t buy love, compassion or votes. According to MSNBC today, the campaign ad spending by candidates to date is as follows:

Bush $41.1M

Rubio $20.5M

Clinton $13M

Trump $217,000

Not sure why Clinton is spending money except for in NH, but then again I’m not sure why she’s unleashing her secret weapon this week either. It has the scent of desperation to me but my nose could be off.

Update on Cuban Refugees

Last week I reported that around 4K Cuban refugees were stranded in Costa Rico. Per the NYT’s, they report the number at 8K and an agreement has been reached with them ultimately traveling on bus via Mexico to our doorstep.

Don’t miss Erick Erickson on Rush tomorrow!

Here at the Watercooler, it’s open to everyone to comment on the stories above or opine about something that’s on your mind. The threadjack rules don’t apply here, so feel free to exercise your First Amendment. Happy Tuesday!